For nearly forty years George of Laodicea (c. 290–359) played a significant role in the fourth-century Trinitarian controversy. Yet among scholars of the period his contribution has been understudied, underappreciated and misunderstood. This article aims to reconstruct George's career in a way that eliminates earlier distortions, corrects certain oft-repeated mistakes and includes frequently omitted evidence. It argues that George was one of the principal leaders of the Eusebian alliance in its last two decades. It also suggests that his leadership role in the Homoiousian alliance was more significant than is usually thought: he was the catalyst for its formation and emerged as its champion in the aftermath of the failed leadership of Basil of Ancyra.

This paper adopts an exegetical approach to Bede's narrative of the conversion of King Edwin of Northumbria in the Historia ecclesiastica ii. 9–14. HE ii. 12–13, which is loosely based on passages in the Whitby Life of Gregory the Great, diverge significantly from the latter in order to explore biblical parallels. Bede's description of Coifi's ride to the pagan shrine at Goodmanham in order to throw a lance into it is an inversion of the account of the piercing of Christ's side in John xix.34: just as water flowed from Christ's side so the piercing of the shrine led to the baptism of the Northumbrians.

Most of Archbishop Williams's manuscript remains were destroyed in a fire in 1695. However, the Pepys Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge, contains a volume of manuscript sermons and sermon notes that have not been significantly studied. On closer examination, the sermons can all be dated to the 1640s, and several were delivered on significant occasions. They show that Williams was a far more committed preacher than has generally been acknowledged, and demonstrate his explicit and consistent adherence to Reformed theology. They therefore help in explaining his close links with godly communities and so his significance during the Long Parliament.

The early nineteenth century saw a turn in Anglican Evangelicalism towards respectability and regularity. The same period paradoxically saw renewed controversy with some High Churchmen while others were more inclined to cooperate with the Evangelical movement. A case study of the early episcopal career of Henry Ryder illuminates this phenomenon, showing that while there were important divisions in doctrine between Evangelicals and High Churchmen, Evangelical innovations in practice proved more radical and controversial and provoked a divided response among their High Church brethren.

Histories of the English Christmas tend to downplay the role of religion in the development of the modern festival. This article examines the place of religion in the popular celebration of Christmas, as well as the provision of worship offered by the Protestant Churches during the festive season. It argues that although some churchmen viewed Christmas pessimistically as part of a broader battle between sacred and secular, the Churches played an important role in the expansion of the urban public culture of Christmas in the late nineteenth century, whilst the doctrine of the incarnation provided a religious framework for the celebration of childhood and domesticity that the festival had come to embody.