Liturgical Theology
Very interesting review of some potentially ground-breaking books on liturgical theology. The reassessment of the Liturgical Movement is particularly interesting, but I'm also intrigued by the notion that Christian worship is rooted in the Temple rather than the synagogue. Fascinating. God I wish I were still in school.
In fact, if this is going to spark a trend in liturgical theology, I really want to get back into the academic establishment to see if I can contribute to it.
My favourite part of the article is Hemming's criticism of the conventional wisdom that the early Church was 'coming together informally to sing hymns, pray, break bread and bless wine'. No, he says, they were participating in colourful rites which were consciously continuous with Jewish Temple worship. The idea most Protestants have of the early Christians being basically house churches, with the later (and unfortunate) addition of ritualism, is actually nonsense. I've always had a suspicion that this is the case (most of the Protestant orthodoxies I was told as a child have turned out to be not-quite-true) but it's interesting to see it borne out in an academic study.
In fact, if this is going to spark a trend in liturgical theology, I really want to get back into the academic establishment to see if I can contribute to it.
My favourite part of the article is Hemming's criticism of the conventional wisdom that the early Church was 'coming together informally to sing hymns, pray, break bread and bless wine'. No, he says, they were participating in colourful rites which were consciously continuous with Jewish Temple worship. The idea most Protestants have of the early Christians being basically house churches, with the later (and unfortunate) addition of ritualism, is actually nonsense. I've always had a suspicion that this is the case (most of the Protestant orthodoxies I was told as a child have turned out to be not-quite-true) but it's interesting to see it borne out in an academic study.