News Release 

January 23, 2009 — The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, has announced the shortlist for the 2009 Michael Ramsey Prize (MRP). Eerdmans is proud to have three titles chosen for this distinguished honor. The prize will be awarded in May at the Guardian Hay Festival – an annual literature festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Wales.

The Michael Ramsey Prize, awarded biennially, and worth £15,000, aims to encourage the most promising contemporary theological writing and to identify it for a wider Christian readership. Archbishop Williams inaugurated the prize in 2005 to commemorate Michael Ramsey — Archbishop of Canterbury 1961–1974 — and his commitment to increasing the breadth of theological understanding of people in general.

“I am delighted both with the quality and variety of the shortlisted work and at the prospect of joining with an extremely distinguished panel to judge and then award the Prize this year at the Guardian Hay Festival,” says Williams. “What better way to make sure that the best of contemporary theological writing gets into the mainstream of critical thinking and reflection – exactly where it should be found.”

The shortlisted titles are:

• Imitating Jesus by Richard Burridge (Eerdmans)
• The Hermeneutics of Doctrine by Anthony Thiselton (Eerdmans)
• Jesus and the Eyewitnesses by Richard Bauckham (Eerdmans)
• The Contagion of Jesus by Sebastian Moore (Darton, Longman and Todd)
• God and Grace of Body by David Brown (Oxford University Press)

The shortlisted books will now be read by the seven MRP judges who will come together in Hay-on-Wye on May 27, 2009 to choose the winning title.

The judges are the Archbishop of Canterbury; his wife, theologian and teacher Jane Williams; Dominican friar Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, winner of the 2007 Prize; celebrated writer and commentator A.N. Wilson; Dr. Elaine Storkey, lecturer, writer, and broadcaster; New Testament expert Canon Dr. Paula Gooder; and Rev. Alison Fulford, a working mother and priest who won the “People’s Judge” competition.

The winner of the £15,000 prize will be announced at a Gala Prizegiving Lunch at the Guardian Hay Festival on May 28, 2009.

As in 2005 (Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham) and 2007 (Timothy Radcliffe OP), the Michael Ramsey Prize for 2009 will be awarded to the author of a theological work that is judged to contribute most towards advancing theology and making a lasting contribution to the faith and life of the Church.

For more information about the Michael Ramsey Prize, visit www.michaelramseyprize.org.uk

For more information about these titles or Eerdmans Publishing Co. visit www.eerdmans.com

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, founded in 1911 and still independently owned, is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It has long been known for publishing a wide range of religious books, from academic works in theology, biblical studies, religious history, and reference to popular titles in spirituality, social and cultural criticism, and literature.