Traditionally, Christian thinkers have described the positive pursuit of knowledge as “studiousness” and the bad as “curiosity.” The goal of the good is contemplation of a gift; the ends of curiosity are aimed at control and ownership of intellectual property.

Griffiths’s Intellectual Appetite is a study of the difference between the two, with special attention to the question of ownership. What, he asks, is it like to think of yourself as the owner of what you know, and how might it be different to think of what you know as a gift given to you?

This collection of essays on Anglicanism today reflects on the role of Christian priesthood in contemporary British culture. The authors argue that some functions of the priest remain vital, even — or perhaps especially — in a culture that seems to ignore the church. As a mediator before God of society’s losses, joys, and ever-present anxieties, the priest continues “praying for England” in decisive but often uncelebrated ways.