This is a sparkling collection of essays by one of Britain's best-known and acute commentators of the church scene and of contemporary religious life. Martyn Percy explores new liberalism, the churches and human rights in the European Union, football and religion, pilgrimage, demonology, common spirituality, religious attitudes to nudity, and the relationship between religion and advertising. The argument running throughout this book is that despite claims--and the appearance--of increasing secularity, the influence of religious themes and values on our everyday life remains pervasive.

This is a sparkling collection of essays by one of Britain's best-known and acute commentators of the church scene and of contemporary religious life. Martyn Percy explores new liberalism, the churches and human rights in the European Union, football and religion, pilgrimage, demonology, common spirituality, religious attitudes to nudity, and the relationship between religion and advertising. The argument running throughout this book is that despite claims--and the appearance--of increasing secularity, the influence of religious themes and values on our everyday life remains pervasive.

IntroductionPart I - Church and Culture1. Resistance and Accommodation: Theology and Contemporary Culture2. A Knowledge of Angles: How Spiritual Are the English?3. Cultural History: The Revision of Secularization Theories4. Church-State Relations in Britain: Transforming Culture5. A Clash of Cultures: Church Autonomy and Human RightsPart II - Christianity and Popular Culture6. The Church in the Market-Place: Advertising, Media and Religion7. Shopping for God: Production, Consumption and Globalization8. Leisure, Ecstasy and Identity: Football and Contemporary Religion9. From Eternity to Here: Sin, Censorship and Society10. Sympathy for the Devil: On Discerning the DemonicPart III - Ministry and Mission in Contemporary Culture11. Pilgrimage and Place: The Journey Within12. Religious Power: People, Politics and Prophecy13. Care-Taking and Health in Contemporary Culture: Exploring the Vocational14. The Gift of Authority: Of Ministry, Morals and Money15. Christ and Culture: The Development of Doctrine and the Meaning of MissionAfterword: The Perennial Need for ReligionBibliographyIndex