Jeremy Morris is a highly-regarded specialist in nineteenth-century religious history but he evidently relishes this broader focus of a narrative history in the mode of Tom Holland. He holds a balance between offering a coherent historical thread and challenging established preconceptions throughout. Only towards the end do we lose the momentum of quite an exciting story and that is because of the uncertainty of current trends: their outcome still has to be determined.

A press release issued at the conclusion of the meeting on Wednesday said: "Bishops spent time praying, reflecting, and discussing a spectrum of possible ways forward for the Church regarding same-sex relationship and marriage, and the theological basis for each. They will continue those discussions at a third meeting in mid-January at which it is anticipated that they will agree an 'offering' to the Church, giving a clear sense of direction."

This is despite the low threshold for establishing antisemitism used by the Church of England since it adopted the controversial IHRA definition of antisemitism in 2018. The IHRA has been widely criticised for weaponising antisemitism in order to silence critics of Israel by conflating criticism of Israel with attacks on Jews for being Jews.

This is what we must be praying for the bishops next week. Out of that meeting will come whatever proposals are to be brought to Synod in February. This won't be the final form of any motion with all the legal i's dotted and t's crossed. It is most likely to be a series of exploratory motions, testing the mind of Synod, seeing what they might be able to get through and what will cause most outcry.