The Search for the Origins of Christian Worship: Sources and Methods for the Study of Early Liturgy

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Kelley Glenn
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1 ONCE MORE The Search for the Origins of Christian Worship: Sources and Methods for the Study of Early Liturgy, Second Edition, Paul F. Bradshaw, SPCK 2002 ( X), pp. xi + 244, Pb It is ten years since Paul Bradshaw produced his in depth survey of scholarly opinion on the documents which might give us an insight into the origins of Christian worship in the period to the late fourth century. In this second edition he makes some major changes and additions as well as updating the survey by reference to the new literature. A major change is in the order of presentation. In a new first chapter he brings to the fore the current consensus among scholars that in early liturgy variety was more likely than uniformity, and that it is better to speak of possibilities than of probabilities. In this he follows the line of argument he used in his recent contribution to the Ecclesiastical History Society s Studies in Church History Volume 35, edited by R. N. Swanson. He has also rounded off this edition with new chapters on Ministry and Ordination, and on the Effects of the Coming of Christendom in the fourth century. Bradshaw has used the opportunity of a second edition to update the literature to recognize that published in the last ten years. I noted for example his reference on page 23 to Professor Larry Hurtado s book At the Origins of Christian Worship (1999) which I have previously reviewed in this journal. A major feature of this second edition is the consistent sceptical view shown towards any attempt to find a unified rite in apostolic times from which might have grown the variety of later liturgies known to us from the literature up to the fourth century. Examples of this viewpoint are found in nearly all the concluding paragraphs to each chapter. At the end of Chapter 3 Worship in the New Testament we read: There is relatively little about which we can be sure with regard to this subject We must therefore be content to remain agnostic about many of the roots of Christian worship practices. (p. 72) Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.

2 Once more 523 In his lengthy conclusion to the summary on the debate over 50 years on the evolution of Eucharistic rites he adds this warning: But to pick from the debris of history only those pieces that fit our preconceived pattern and to ignore those that do not is to distort the picture. (p. 140) His conclusion after the survey of writings about Christian Initiation is a similar view: What seems to emerge from this review is that we cannot talk of a standard or normative pattern of early initiation practice in primitive Christianity. (p. 169) However he does go on to note that by the third century from regional variety emerge certain fundamental ritual elements though these are combined in a variety of sequences. I note that such a sceptical point of view is overridden on one key occasion when Bradshaw expresses his own opinion: The true story of the development of Christian worship seems to have been a movement from considerable differences over quite fundamental elements to an increasing amalgamation and standardization of local customs. (p. 8) Even this true story can only be a matter of conjecture, and maybe the best words we can use are the author s, When the dots are carefully joined, a faint picture can indeed emerge. (p. 20). No doubt the debate about origins will continue and a future scholar will have to produce a third edition in another ten to 15 years. In the meantime this second edition will be an essential volume in the library of all those engaged in the study and writing of liturgy. Much of the value lies in the footnotes which really do form part of the material on each page. At the end of the volume there is an index of Modern Authors and another for the subjects covered. The footnotes also contain the bibliography which does not appear again in summary form at the end of the book. This is probably correct as the aim of the book is stated as an annotated bibliography of primary and secondary literature pertaining to Christian worship in the first four centuries. (p. x) This new reordered, enlarged and revised edition is well warranted and libraries in particular should consider it essential to replace the first edition by the second on their shelves. Peter Atkins Auckland, New Zealand

3 524 Once more The People Called: The Growth of Community in the Bible, Paul D. Hanson, Westminster John Knox Press 2002 ( ), pp. xix + 564, Pb 25 In this substantial study, first published by Harpers & Row in 1986, Hanson seeks to chronicle the long and lively development of Israel s and the early church s understanding of community (p. xvi). The People Called is now reissued with a new (seven page) introduction. An updated bibliography would also have been useful. The Bible Makes Sense, Walter Brueggemann, Revised Edition with a New Introduction, Westminster John Knox Press 2002 ( ), pp. ix + 102, Pb 9.99 A new edition of Walter Brueggemann s clearly written brief introduction, in which his aim was to make the theological claims of the Bible accessible and credible to people who care for their faith but have little opportunity for sustained study. (p. vii). Brueggemann also provides a brief new (two and a half page) introduction. Handbook of Biblical Criticism, Richard N. Soulen and R. Kendall Soulen, Third Edition, Westminster John Knox Press 2002 ( ), pp. xiii + 234, Pb This edition (appearing some 20 years after the second edition) of the Handbook of Biblical Criticism has been substantially expanded and revised with over 40 new articles, reflecting renewed interest in precritical approaches and the growth of postmodernist and postcritical perspectives. A useful and clearly written reference tool for students.

4 Once more 525 Old Testament Exegesis: A Handbook for Students and Pastors, Third Edition, Douglas Stuart, Westminster John Knox Press 2002 ( X), pp. xx + 179, Pb The third revised edition of this primer has added new explanations, provided additional references and updated its existing listings. It retains its target audience lay and academic persons and continues to offer a practical guide to traditional exegetical practice and its resources. Deryn Guest Wilderness Wanderings: Probing Twentieth-Century Theology and Philosophy, Stanley Hauerwas, Radical Traditions. Theology in a Postcritical Key, SCM Press 2002 ( ), pp. xiv + 242, Pb This is a reprint of Hauerwas 1997 book launching Radical Traditions: Theology in a Postcritical Key. SCM have thankfully salvaged the series that had been launched by Westview Press/Harper Collins. It is a kind of scriptural-hermeneutical oriented American equivalent to Britain s Radical Orthodoxy, supported by Routledge. Hauerwas engages in critical conversations with a wide range of theologians and philosophers such as Paul Ramsey, Reinhold Niebuhr, Martha Nussbaum, Jeffrey Stout, Tristam Engelhardt, Iris Murdoch, John Milbank, and Martin Luther King Jnr. Hauerwas style is seductive and incisive, going to the heart of the question with clarity and creativity. He continues to develop his virtue forming, communitarian theology, throwing hints out and opening avenues in many directions. The one weakness of these essays is their failure to develop scriptural reasoning, the main plank of the Radical Traditions project. But there is much to compensate and the essays are well worth the read. Gavin D Costa University of Bristol Revelation Restored: Divine Writ and Critical Responses, David Weiss Halivni, Radical Traditions. Theology in a Postcritical Key, SCM Press 2002 ( ), pp. xxiii + 114, Pb Also first published in 1997, Revelation Restored has been reissued alongside Wilderness Wanderings to launch the series Radical Traditions (accompanied by brief forewords by the series editors, Peter Ochs and Stanley Hauerwas). The choice of these two texts to launch the series

5 526 Once more sets a high standard and engenders anticipation. We can only hope that subsequent publications match this high standard, and are equally diverse. It is also to be hoped that the series will, in time, include specifically commissioned publications in addition to reissues. In his foreword, Ochs notes that Revelation Restored is a particularly appropriate choice to launch the series because of the focus upon the unique position and situation of Ezra (Halivni, p. 78). This focus upon Ezra complements the choice of an unidentified scribe (i.e., a figure who might represent Ezra, or Jerome, or any number of known and unknown individuals) as an appropriate icon or image for the series as a whole (Ochs, p. xii). The editors are to be thanked for, hopefully, introducing the work of this century s most innovative Talmudist (Ochs, p. xii) to a wider audience. Speaking in Parables, Sallie McFague, SCM Classics, SCM Press 2002 ( ), pp. xx + 172, Pb 9.95 The Making of the Creeds, Frances Young, SCM Classics, SCM Press 2002 ( ), pp. xvi + 121, Pb 9.95 Here we have the latest two contributions to the series of reissues, SCM Classics. These two books reflect SCM s commitment to republishing the best of both British theology since the 1960s (Young) and European/American theology (McFague). As with the other books in the series the text is reissued unchanged save for the addition of a brief new preface commenting on the significance of the text: Gerard Loughlin on McFague and Gareth Jones on Young (both four pages long). The decision to reissue Speaking in Parables (first published in 1975) is an interesting choice. Was it chosen because of the value of the text in and of itself, or was it chosen as a representative sample of the work of one of the leading North American feminist theologians on SCM s list? If it was chosen as the former, fair enough, for as Loughlin comments, McFague was a pioneer in this area even if other, heavier, names are perhaps now more readily associated with this kind of theology (p. x). If it is intended to represent McFague s work, then the choice seems a little odd because as Loughlin also notes, to some extent McFague has distanced herself from her first book, which is more obviously orthodox than her later writings, where she has developed a pantheistic account of the God-Nature that human beings inhabit (p. x). Why, therefore, not reissue a text more representative of her work, such as Metaphorical Theology or Models of God? The latter two texts are surely

6 Once more 527 more frequently cited on reading lists and used in the classroom these days. Protestant Theology in the Nineteenth Century: Its Background and History, Karl Barth, New Edition, SCM Press 2001 ( ), pp. xx + 652, Pb Twentieth-Century Religious Thought, John Macquarrie, Fifth Edition, SCM Press 2001 ( ), pp. 496, Pb Spirit and Beauty: An Introduction to Theological Aesthetics, Patrick Sherry, Second Edition, SCM Press 2002 ( ), pp. viii + 184, Pb Three more reissues from SCM s wide-ranging backlist. The first, in chronological order of their first appearance, is Karl Barth s Protestant Theology in the Nineteenth Century (translated by Brian Cozens and John Bowden) and previously published by SCM in abridged form in 1959 and then fully translated in Having been out of print, it is now reissued with a new (five and a half page) introduction by Colin Gunton. John Macquarrie s Twentieth-Century Religious Thought was first published in This is the fourth time that it has been updated since then (new editions having previously appeared in 1971, 1981 and 1988). It is somehow appropriate that there should be one final update of this classic text of British philosophical theology now that the twentieth century has drawn to a close. The fifth edition includes a new chapter (published previously in abridged form in The International Journal of Philosophy of Religion) on Postmodernism in Religious Thought, reflecting on the contributions of Levinas, Lyotard, Derrida, Mark Taylor, Graham Ward and Jean-Luc Marion. Macquarrie also provides a brief new (one and a half page) preface. Spirit and Beauty was first published in There are some minor changes to the body of the text and the bibliography has been updated, as have some of the references. The author provides a new six page postscript reflecting on the developing interest in theological aesthetics.

7 528 Once more Death, Ritual and Belief: The Rhetoric of Funerary Rites, Second Edition, Douglas J. Davies, Continuum 2002 (Pb , Hb ), pp. viii + 263, Pb 17.99, Hb 60 A second edition of Douglas Davies widely used analysis of death, ritual and belief, first published in The author provides a very brief (less than half a page) new preface. The text itself has been expanded to develop Davies theory of offending death (chapter 14): offending deaths occur when one or more people die in circumstances that cause a massive public response in demonstration against people in authority who are blamed for causing the deaths of these innocent people and from whom some form of response and reparation is sought. (p. 211). There is also new material in chapters 3, 8, 9, 10 and 14. The author makes brief reference to relatively recent events such as the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. The bibliography has also been updated. Highly recommended.

TH 628 Contemporary Theology Fall Semester 2017 Tuesdays: 8:30 am-12:15 pm

TH 628 Contemporary Theology Fall Semester 2017 Tuesdays: 8:30 am-12:15 pm INSTRUCTOR: Randal D. Rauser, PhD Phone: 780-431-4428 Email: randal.rauser@taylor-edu.ca DESCRIPTION: A consideration of theological