Ezra–Nehemiah presents multiple theological themes in accord with the complex experiences of repatriation. This chapter is divided under several subheadings, such as trauma, power, identity, hope, prayer, and others, as accessible topical introductions to the theological contributions of Ezra–Nehemiah.

This chapter treats liturgical experience. It finds that there are few textual sources for the study of this experience and that instead practices, postures, gestures, and other elements of lived ritual experience must be considered. Liturgical experience is characterized by structures of repetition and predictability that enable participants to integrate their own experiences and to feel that they belong to something that has preceded them, thus providing a sense of stability and meaningful identity. Liturgy features cycles of confession and celebration that in their back-and-forth movements allow people to process their emotions and to participate in bodily practices that express their convictions and deepest concerns. Liturgical participants are thus shaped in their identity within communities of belonging that provide meaning to their daily experience, both regular and extraordinary.

This chapter traces the consequences of the Laudian ideal of the beauty of holiness for questions of bodily worship and ceremonial conformity. For the Laudians, the reverence and fear necessarily evoked by the divine presence in the church had to take an outward physical form. God had to be worshipped by the body as well as the soul, and indeed uniform, orderly bodily worship both practised by oneself and witnessed being practised by others was deemed to have specific edifying spiritual effects. The result was an elevated view of the significance of forms of worship, and certain key ceremonies previously regarded as merely ‘indifferent’ were conceded to have religious significance and spiritual potency.

A gift of a patron necessitated a response on the part of the recipient, which most often took the form of loyalty and other honors befitting the gift. Especially magnanimous benefactions were considered “divine” and compelled “divine” honors, including festivals, processions, priesthoods, crowns, and hymns. Chapter 5 presents a survey of the honors-for-benefits system inherent in systems of patronage and benefaction in the ancient Mediterranean world, with attention to the varieties of “divine” rewards requited for “divine” gifts, including especially divine hymns. This survey contextualizes the divine honors requitted to the Lamb, namely, allegiance to the point of death and hymns of praise, which befit his divine gifts as God’s royal vicegerent.

A gift of a patron necessitated a response on the part of the recipient, which most often took the form of loyalty and other honors befitting the gift. Especially magnanimous benefactions were considered “divine” and compelled “divine” honors, including festivals, processions, priesthoods, crowns, and hymns. Chapter 5 presents a survey of the honors-for-benefits system inherent in systems of patronage and benefaction in the ancient Mediterranean world, with attention to the varieties of “divine” rewards requited for “divine” gifts, including especially divine hymns. This survey contextualizes the divine honors requitted to the Lamb, namely, allegiance to the point of death and hymns of praise, which befit his divine gifts as God’s royal vicegerent.

This chapter discusses the right to freedom of religion, thought, conscience and belief as it is protected by the European Convention on Human Rights, other Council of Europe instruments, in EU law and in international instruments. Attention is paid to both the forum internum and the forum externum (religious manifestations). In the final section, a short comparison between the different instruments is made.

Chapter 4 treats Augustine’s dialogue with the Platonists in books VIII–X of The City of God on philosophic or natural theology. Augustine emphasizes the excessive, false humility he considers Apuleius to have promoted, and the philosophic pride that may have prompted Porphyry’s harsh critique of Christianity, even as he lauds their achievements together with those of Socrates, Plato, and Plotinus.

This chapter discusses a series of high-profile cases in which significant disputes arose involving the application of ecclesiastical law. It begins with Parliament’s debates on its role and authority in this area as it attempted more than once to frame legislation for clergy discipline and the discussions in Convocation. It considers the Gompertz case, raising questions about the role of the bishop; the contrasting churchmanships of Evangelicals and Tractarians; and the controversy about biblical interpretation prompted by the publication of Essays and Reviews. The case of James Shore tested the law on the effect of a clergyman’s finding his opinions had changed to such an extent that he was no longer a member of the Church of England, while still effectively retaining his Anglican priesthood. The chapter also covers the cases of William Bennett and the ‘real presence’, and George Denison’s lengthy dispute with the Bishop of Exeter on the effect of baptism. It ends with the case of Alexander Mackonochie and controversy over the regulation of public worship.

The role of Christian worship and devotional practices in making the gospels come alive in ever-changing historical circumstances and across ecclesial traditions is explored. Among the arts, attention is paid to the signal contribution of music (J. S. Bach, Black gospel music, and hymns) to the appreciation and appropriation of gospel texts.

Outlines the supranational framework of treaties, conventions, protocols, etc. relating to religion and explains the limited remit of the accompanying judicial and regulatory bodies. Considers the importance of the freedoms of religion, expression and association, their tendency to become entangled and their significance for the state–church relationship. Explains that a broadly similar platform of human rights and equality provisions now exists in all modern developed nations. Discusses the levelling effect of such national provisions when applied in tandem with international convention requirements. Focuses on the related case law generated by issues arising on the church–state interface, identifying governing principles from judgments delivered by the ECJ and the ECtHR, and drawing attention in particular to principles such as "proportionality" and "necessary in a democratic society". It notes those judicial rulings that specifically uphold the state’s duty of neutrality and impartiality when dealing with religious matters and the state’s right to protect its traditional primary religion and cultural identity. It identifies and discusses problematic aspects of the role of the state as it intersects with religion, such as the funding of faith schools, and considers their destabilising consequences for civil society.

Malaysia and Singapore are alike in many respects. Both are melting pots of cultures of three main ethnic groups, namely the Chinese, the Indians, and the Malays. Singapore was even once part of Malaysia, and quite a few living on either side of the Causeway are related by blood and family ties. Both countries also inherited the common law system, a legacy from the days when they were under British protection and rule. More specifically in the realm of copyright law, Singapore and some states in Malaysia had once applied the UK Imperial Copyright Act 1911. In fact, this imperial legislation remained in force in Singapore and those states in Malaysia for many years after these two countries became sovereign states. On the international front, both countries are World Trade Organization (WTO) members as well as contracting parties to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (“the Berne Convention”), the World International Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

This chapter considers how the English Reformation was, or, mostly, was not recalled in official liturgical documents. The first section surveys the evolution of calendars of saints from the 1530s to the version that became fixed in the Book of Common Prayer from 1562 onwards, which included a great many ancient and medieval commemorations but none from later than the thirteenth century, and cites alternative commemorative models which Tudor regimes could have embraced but chose not to. It then discusses why the Book of Common Prayer so pointedly ignored the upheavals of the Reformation, unlike the Scottish Book of Common Order, arguing that this reflects the need to unite a bitterly divided nation through ‘common prayer’ which was also an act of oblivion. The final section traces how a new myth of the English Reformation was created by occasional services of national prayer during Elizabeth I’s reign, a myth in which the Reformation’s central event was Elizabeth’s own accession, providentially delivering her people from Mary Tudor’s tyranny. This myth faded from the liturgy with the queen’s death, to be replaced by a new liturgical emphasis on popish cruelty based around a new commemoration.