Something happens at the eucharistic table. When Jesus' story meets Jesus' presence, Jesus happens there, and the hungry are fed. Christians' beliefs--that they believe and what they believe--are formed by Jesus happening. This book explores the theology inscribed on communities through their encounter with Jesus at the table. It begins with the theology of radical grace embodied in the invitation of everyone, baptized or not, to the table, and it addresses from this vantage the whole of the Christian life: the truth of Jesus, the work of the Spirit, the significance of baptism, and the integrity and mission of the church.
Fr. Alexander Schmemann continues to influence liturgical and sacramental theologies some thirty-five years after his death. Despite the wide acceptance within Protestant circles of his timeless classic, For the Life of the World, there has been relatively little written about him from an ecumenical context. This volume of collected essays seeks to explore his theological legacy and further his work. With essays from leading scholars such as David Fagerberg, Bruce Morrill, Joyce Zimmerman, and more, this volume is meant for both teachers and students of liturgical and sacramental theology. In an effort to introduce Schmemann to a wider audience and to celebrate his work through meaningful engagement and dialogue, contributors come from a wide variety of ecclesiastical backgrounds: Anglican, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, Free Church, and more. "The Eucharist is therefore the manifestation of the Church as the new aeon; it is participation in the Kingdom as the parousia, as the presence of the Resurrected and Resurrecting Lord. It is not the 'repetition' of His advent or coming into the world, but the lifting up of the Church into His parousia, the Church's participation in His heavenly glory." Fr. Alexander Schmemann, Introduction to Liturgical Theology, p. 72.
Something happens at the eucharistic table. When Jesus' story meets Jesus' presence, Jesus happens there, and the hungry are fed. Christians' beliefs--that they believe and what they believe--are formed by Jesus happening. This book explores the theology inscribed on communities through their encounter with Jesus at the table. It begins with the theology of radical grace embodied in the invitation of everyone, baptized or not, to the table, and it addresses from this vantage the whole of the Christian life: the truth of Jesus, the work of the Spirit, the significance of baptism, and the integrity and mission of the church. ""Jesus feasted with sinners to reveal God's work and presence. Twenty-first-century Christians welcoming all to share communion follow him and find his practice converts people and forms us all for mission. This renewed ancient practice now asks us to make a fresh and renewed Christology, baptismal theology, and a deeper understanding of the Spirit in Christian community and the whole world. Liturgical Theology Revisited makes an early and invaluable contribution to that conversation."" --Donald Schell, President of All Saints Company and Cofounder, St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church, San Francisco Stephen Edmondson is the rector of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in McLean, Virginia. He is the author of Calvin's Christology.
Nearly everything that theologians write on liturgy, Father Kavanagh notes, is often called liturgical theology, although on closer examination such works appear to be either dogmatic theologies about the liturgy or systematic theologies making use of liturgical data. None truly reflects how liturgy shapes theology or is theology or even relates to theology. This work is Father Kavanagh's effort to substantiate the existence of a truly liturgical theology. It will raise almost as many questions as it answers, but it will also further insight into theology and liturgy as it assays their relationship.
"While the intent of the editors is to honor Steve Bevans, SVD, a towering figure in the field of missiology and a longtime author of Orbis books on missiology, this book will be designed less as a festschrift than as a textbook for classroom use. Designed around the three main foci of Bevans' theology (mission, contextual theologies, and dialogical theory), it will appeal to teachers of courses in Christian mission, theological method, contextual theologies, and contemporary Third World theologies. The contributors are a who's who of contemporary mission studies in a global context, including representatives from various Christian traditions and from throughout the global church"--
Offers a comprehensive survey and interpretation of contemporary Christian political theology in a newly revised and expanded edition This book presents the latest thinking on the topic of contemporary Christian political theology, with original and constructive essays that represent a range of opinions on various topics. With contributions from expert scholars in the field, it reflects a broad range of methodologies, ecclesial traditions, and geographic and social locations, and provides a sense of the diversity of political theologies. It also addresses the primary resources of the Christian tradition, which theologians draw on when constructing political theologies, and surveys some of the most important figures and movements in political theology. This revised and expanded edition provides the most comprehensive and accessible introduction to this lively and growing area of Christian theology. Organized into five sections, Wiley Blackwell Companion to Political Theology, Second Edition addresses the many changes that have occurred over the last 15 years within the field of political theology. It features new essays that address social developments and movements, such as Anglican Social Thought, John Milbank, Anabaptist Political Theologies, African Political Theologies, Postcolonialism, Political Economy, Technology and Virtuality, and Grass-roots Movements. The book also includes a new essay on the reception of Liberation Theology. Offers essays on topics such as the Trinity, atonement, and eschatology Features contributions from leading voices in the field of political theology Includes all-new entries covering fresh developments and movements like the urgency of climate change, virtuality and the digital age, the economic crisis of 2008, the discourse of religion and violence, and new modalities of war Addresses some important social movements from a theological point of view including postmodernism, grass-roots movements, and more Provides both Islamic and Jewish responses to political theology Written for academics and students of political theology, Wiley Blackwell Companion to Political Theology, 2nd Edition is an enlightening read that offers a wide range of authoritative essays from some of the most notable scholars in the field.
What motivates practice of the liturgy and sacramental rites of the church? Does the worship of God begin and end within each ritual enactment, or does the truth and value of sacramental celebration reside in the broader context of Christian life in church and society? For more than two decades, prominent Jesuit sacramental-liturgical theologian Bruce Morrill has explored the promise and problems inherent in the Second Vatican Council's call to renew liturgy's basic purpose--namely, the glorification of God and the sanctification of people. Morrill's fundamental argument is that this ancient Christian principle is of a piece, that divine glory and human holiness are, so to speak, two sides of a single coin. The value of liturgy and sacraments is depleted, if not lost, unless they function within a holistic practice of faith that seeks the upbuilding of ethical lives, personal and social. With numerous real-life examples plus references to current sociological studies, the chapters address both modern challenges to and biblical and traditional resources for the celebration of sacramental rites today.
This book presents the work of leading hermeneutical theorists alongside emerging thinkers, examining the current state of hermeneutics within the Pentecostal tradition. The volume’s contributors present constructive ideas about the future of hermeneutics at the intersection of theology of the Spirit, Pentecostal Christianity, and other disciplines. This collection offers cutting-edge scholarship that engages with and pulls from a broad range of fields and points toward the future of Pneumatological hermeneutics. The volume’s interdisciplinary essays are broken up into four sections: philosophical hermeneutics, biblical-theological hermeneutics, social and cultural hermeneutics, and hermeneutics in the social and physical sciences.
"How has the liturgy of the Roman rite developed and changed in history before and after the Council of Trent? What principles have determined the boundaries of legitimate liturgical reform over the centuries? What was the Liturgical Movement? Did Gueranger, Beauduin, Guardini, Parsch, Casel, Bugnini, Jungmann, Bouyer and the Movement's other leaders know and respect these principles? And what is to be said of the not insignificant liturgical reforms carried out by Pope Saint Pius X, Blessed Pope Pius IX, Pope Pius XII, and Blessed Pope John XXIII in the course of the twentieth century?" "In The Organic Development of the Liturgy, Dom Alcuin Reid examines these questions systematically, incisively and in depth, identifying both the content and context of the principle of "organic development" - a fundamental principle of liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Concilium - making a significant contribution to the understanding of the nature of the Liturgical Movement and to the ongoing re-assessment of the reforms enacted following the Council."--BOOK JACKET.
Christos Yannaras is one of the most significant Orthodox theologians of recent times. The work of Yannaras is virtually synonymous with a turn or renaissance of Orthodox philosophy and theology, initially within Greece, but as the present volume confirms, well beyond it. His work engages not only with issues of philosophy and theology, but also takes in wider questions of culture and politics. With contributions from established and new scholars, the book is divided into three sections, which correspond to the main directions that Christos Yannaras has followed – philosophy, theology, and culture – and reflects on the ways in which Yannaras has engaged and influenced thought across these fields, in addition to themes including ecclesiology, tradition, identity, and ethics. This volume facilitates the dialogue between the thought of Yannaras, which is expressed locally yet is relevant globally, and Western Christian thinkers. It will be of great interest to scholars of Orthodox and Eastern Christian theology and philosophy, as well as theology more widely.
This book gathers a wide range of theological perspectives from Orthodox European countries, Russia and the United States in order to demonstrate how divergent the positions are within Orthodox Christianity. Orthodoxy is often considered to be out-of-sync with contemporary society, set apart in a world of its own where the church intertwines with the state, in order to claim power over the populace and ignore the individual voices of modern societies. As a collective, these essays present a different understanding of the relationship of Orthodoxy to secular politics; comprehensive, up-to-date and highly relevant to politically understanding today's world. The contributors present their views and arguments by drawing lessons from the past, and by elaborating visions for how Orthodox Christianity can find its place in the contemporary liberal democratic order, while also drawing on the experience of the Western Churches and denominations. Touching upon aspects such as anarchism, economy and political theology, these contributions examine how Orthodox Christianity reacts to liberal democracy, and explore the ways that this branch of religion can be rendered more compatible with political modernity.
