This widely-used student text has been extremely successful in the past 8 years. It offers a basic introduction to all those who need to apply Christian thinking to the service of Church and society. The alterations in the new edition are minor, but academically significant - a new chapter has been added on inner city issues, which covers a wide range of more recent issues: post-modernism, pluralism, the new spirituality, emergence of congregational studies, stress on mission, Black theology and charismatic theology.