Books on Liturgy

[luvroftheWord]

Does anybody have any good recommendations on books concerning liturgy? I am really looking for something that is more of a "high church" liturgy, much like Anglican, Catholic, and some Presbyterian churches.

 

[C. Matthew McMahon]

Terry Johnson's book "Leading in Worship" has all the old services in them (Knox, Calvin, Westminster, etc) if that helps.

 

[luvroftheWord]

I guess I'm really more interested in the theology of worship that lies behind such high church liturgies. Is this book helpful in that regard as well?

 

[fredtgreco]

[quote:72c8884045][i:72c8884045]Originally posted by luvroftheWord[/i:72c8884045]
I guess I'm really more interested in the theology of worship that lies behind such high church liturgies. Is this book helpful in that regard as well? [/quote:72c8884045]

No. You won't find it useful for your purposes, Craig. (I think) Terry is perhaps the most articulate and ardent defender of the Regulative Principle of Worship, specifically in a plain (Puritan style) context.

He is not a proponent of "high church"

 

[5 Solas]

Liturgy

Another book is "RECOVERING MOTHER KIRK" by D.G. Hart
Part 1
1. Is High-Church Presbyterianism an Oxymoron?
2. Church Growth
3. The Spirituality of the Church
Part 2
4. Reverence and Reformed Worship
5. Worship That is Deformed
6. Spirit-Filled Worship
Part 3
7. Whatever Happened to Office?
8. The Keys of the Kingdom
9. Office, Gender, and Egalitararianism
Part 4
10. Confessional Presbyterianism and the Limits of Protestant Ecumenism
11. Evangelicals and Catholics Together, Presbyterians Apart
12. What Can Presbyterians Learn from Lutherans
Part 5
13. The Irony of American Presbyterian Worship
14. Revived and Always Reviving
15. The Inevitability of Liturgy
16. Twentieth-Century American Presbyterian Hymnody
Here is the table of contents.

 

[Puritan Sailor]

Horton Davies has a book called [i:53ef3b14e6]The worship of the English Puritans[/i:53ef3b14e6] which has alot of comparison between the Anglican and Puritan ideas of worship, including liturgies. It may answer some of your questions.

 

[luvroftheWord]

Cool, thanks y'all. The Hart book looks especially interesting.

 

[Scott]

Craig:

Here are some resources:

[1] Why We Do What We Do by Ray Sutton
http://users2.ev1.net/~providencechurch/anglicanworship.htm
Short article on Anglican liturgy. Good intro.

[2] The Book of Common Prayer (Anglican)
Various versions online:
http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/bcp.htm

This is the liturgical manual for the Anglican church, including the ECUSA.

[3] Thomas Howard: Evangelical is not Enough: Worship of God in Liturgy and Sacrament
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t..._1_1/103-3965725-5643832?v=glance&s=books


[4] www.liturgica.com has several articles on liturgy from different traditions.

Scott

[Edited on 7-7-2004 by Scott]

 

[yeutter]

In addition to what Scott posted let me suggest to Lutheran works.

1. The Lutheran Liturgy: A Study of the Common Service of the Lutheran Church in America by Luther D. Reed Published by Muhlenberg Press, Philadelphia 1947
It is probably long out of print.

2. A Handbook of Church Music edited by Carl Halter and Carl Schalk Published by Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis 1978
Despite its title it deals with a wide spectrum of issues concerning the liturgical life of the Church. Much good historical information.


Let me also suggest you look at the works of Peter Toon. Peter Toon is the head of the Prayerbook Society and a contemporary prolific writer. He has written a number of works defending traditional Anglican worship. He can be read with profit by those trying to understand the liturgical position.

 

[Scott]

Thomas:

Is Toon orthodox and reliable? I assume yes from your endorsement. I have heard his name but not heard much about him. He has a book on meditation on scriptures that looks interesting to me.

Scott

 

[yeutter]

Peter Toon

I have found Toon to always be reliable as a historian. [I note that our webmaster cites him in his recent treatment of the solemn league and covenant.]

As a theologian he tends to be bit of a high churchman of the Reformed Catholic variety, as opposed to being a high churchman of the Pretridentine Catholic variety. He would oppose the reintroduction of all the things in the Latin Sarum (Gregorian) Mass that Archbishop Cramner had taken out in his Book of Common Prayer.

I have not read his work on meditation and the scriptures. I will look it up.

 

[yeutter]

Two specific books by Toon on liturgy may be helpful.

Proclaiming the Gospel through Liturgy: The Common Prayer Tradition and Doctrinal Revision

Knowing God through Liturgy

 

[DTK]

Liturgy

You may want to pick up a paperback copy of Bard Thompson, [i:9ea94aee3e]Liturgies of the Western Church[/i:9ea94aee3e] (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1961). It begins with a selection from Justin Martyr around 155 AD, and goes through various Roman Catholic, Reformed, Anglican, Puritan, and Wesleyan liturgies. It's helpful, and one of the books that Hughes Oliphant Old used as a reference work to write his book, [i:9ea94aee3e]The Patristic Roots of Reformed Worship[/i:9ea94aee3e].

Cheers,
DTK