Archangels Archaeology

John Sebastian Marlow Ward (1885-1949) was an English antiquarian, mystic, occult scholar, and museums' pioneer. Ward's provocative works on Masonic symbolism, secret societies, and spirit communications remain in print, and the innovative social history museum - the Abbey Folk Park - which he founded in New Barnet, north London in the 1930s, was later transplanted to Queensland, Australia, where it continues to flourish. His career demonstrates a remarkable fusion of the esoteric and spiritual pre-occupations of the early 20th century, with the deeper currents of antiquarianism and Christian mysticism. Ward's life of energetic work, spiritual exploration, and public activity presents a compelling narrative. His career moved from Cambridge Freemasonry and Edwardian Britain's occult revival to wartime spirit communications and mystical visions of a Pentecostal apocalypse as World War II approached. His unique and populist history museum fused a passion for Britain's disappearing heritage with his conviction that the collapse of Western civilization was imminent. When Ward was unfairly disgraced in a sensational court case in May 1945, he and his followers departed England for Cyprus in self-imposed exile. Archangels and Archaeology examines Ward's extraordinary life and career, demonstrating how these religious, intellectual, and cultural themes - so often treated in isolation - came together in the turbulent decades of the early 20th century. But, his career also has its own tragic arc: from youthful antiquarian, to the mature scholar, to full-blown mystic and eccentric religious leader, and, finally, to his own fall from public grace, in exile and decline.

John Sebastian Marlow Ward (1885-1949) was an English antiquarian, mystic, occult scholar, and museums' pioneer. Ward's provocative works on Masonic symbolism, secret societies, and spirit communications remain in print, and the innovative social history museum - the Abbey Folk Park - which he founded in New Barnet, north London in the 1930s, was later transplanted to Queensland, Australia, where it continues to flourish. His career demonstrates a remarkable fusion of the esoteric and spiritual pre-occupations of the early 20th century, with the deeper currents of antiquarianism and Christian mysticism. Ward's life of energetic work, spiritual exploration, and public activity presents a compelling narrative. His career moved from Cambridge Freemasonry and Edwardian Britain's occult revival to wartime spirit communications and mystical visions of a Pentecostal apocalypse as World War II approached. His unique and populist history museum fused a passion for Britain's disappearing heritage with his conviction that the collapse of Western civilization was imminent. When Ward was unfairly disgraced in a sensational court case in May 1945, he and his followers departed England for Cyprus in self-imposed exile. Archangels and Archaeology examines Ward's extraordinary life and career, demonstrating how these religious, intellectual, and cultural themes - so often treated in isolation - came together in the turbulent decades of the early 20th century. But, his career also has its own tragic arc: from youthful antiquarian, to the mature scholar, to full-blown mystic and eccentric religious leader, and, finally, to his own fall from public grace, in exile and decline.

This book takes an interdisciplinary approach in order to understand angels, focusing on Africa and the cult and persona of the Archangel Michael. Traditional methods in the study of religion including philology, papyrology, art and iconography, anthropology, history, and psychology are combined with methodologies deriving from memory studies, graphic design, art education, and semiotics. Chapters explore both historical and contemporary case studies from Coptic Egypt, Nubia, Ethiopia, and South Africa, providing a comparative perspective on the Archangel Michael, alongside 25 images. Innovative in both its methodologies and geographical focus, this book is an important contribution to the study of religion and art, Christianity in Africa, and Coptic studies.

Uniquely authoritative and wide-ranging in its scope, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church is the indispensable reference work on all aspects of the Christian Church. It contains over 6,500 cross-referenced A-Z entries, and offers unrivalled coverage of all aspects of this vast and often complex subject, from theology; churches and denominations; patristic scholarship; and the bible; to the church calendar and its organization; popes; archbishops; other church leaders; saints; and mystics. In this new edition, great efforts have been made to increase and strengthen coverage of non-Anglican denominations (for example non-Western European Christianity), as well as broadening the focus on Christianity and the history of churches in areas beyond Western Europe. In particular, there have been extensive additions with regards to the Christian Church in Asia, Africa, Latin America, North America, and Australasia. Significant updates have also been included on topics such as liturgy, Canon Law, recent international developments, non-Anglican missionary activity, and the increasingly important area of moral and pastoral theology, among many others. Since its first appearance in 1957, the ODCC has established itself as an essential resource for ordinands, clergy, and members of religious orders, and an invaluable tool for academics, teachers, and students of church history and theology, as well as for the general reader.