Eucharistic Liturgies: Their Evolution and Interpretation

by Paul F Bradshaw, Maxwell E Johnson

Overview

In graduate theology programs across the United States and elsewhere, Maxwell Johnson's The Rites of Christian Initiation: Their Evolution and Interpretation has become a standard text. Now Johnson and Paul Bradshaw together offer a companion volume on the historical development of the liturgy and theology of the Eucharist.

Like the earlier volume, this study proceeds historically, from the origins of the Eucharist up to our own day. Unlike most studies of this kind, it includes an introduction to and developmental summary of the diverse eucharistic liturgies of the Christian East. It also explores the various Western rites (Ambrosian, Gallican, and Mozarabic) in addition to the Roman.

With regard to theological themes, the authors give special attention to the topics of real presence (including the "consecration" of the bread and wine) and eucharistic sacrifice, the most central and most ecumenically challenging issues since the sixteenth-century Reformations.

Making the book especially teacher- and student-friendly are the summary points at the end of each chapter. Each chapter also contains an abundance of liturgical texts for ease of reference.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814662403
Publisher:	Liturgical Press
Publication date:	06/01/2012
Series:	Pueblo Books
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Paul F. Bradshaw is emeritus professor of liturgy at the University of Notre Dame and an Anglican/Episcopal priest. The author or editor of over thirty books and of more than 120 articles and essays, he is also a past president both of the North American Academy of Liturgy and of the international Societas Liturgica. From 1987 to 2005 he was editor-in-chief of the scholarly journal Studia Liturgica.

 

Maxwell E. Johnson is emeritus professor of liturgy at the University of Notre Dame and a retired presbyter in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. His numerous publications are on the origins and development of early Christian liturgy, contemporary rites, and current ecumenical and theological questions in both East and West. He is the author and/or editor of more than twenty books and over one hundred essays and articles. He is also a former president of the North American Academy of Liturgy, a member of the Society of Oriental Liturgy, a member of Societas Liturgica, and a member of the scientific advisory board for the journal Ecclesia Orans.

Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations ix

Acknowledgments x

Introduction xiii

Chapter 1 Origins 1

Chapter 2 The Second and Third Centuries 25

Chapter 3 The Fourth and Fifth Centuries: Historical Context, and Rites 61

Chapter 4 The Fourth and Fifth Centuries: Questions in Anaphoral Development and Eucharistic Theology 111

Chapter 5 The Christian East 137

Chapter 6 The Medieval West 193

Chapter 7 The Protestant and Catholic Reformations 233

Chapter 8 The Modern Period 293

Index 358

Editorial Reviews

The Eucharistic Liturgies is an invaluable sourcebook for liturgical studies and is fully able to serve as a standard text in the field.
Anne M. Carpenter, Marquette University


In this long-awaited companion to The Rites of Christian Initiation (2007), Bradshaw and Johnson draw upon their own extensive research, as well as up-to-date scholarship in several academic fields, in order to unravel and analyze the development of the Eucharist from the early church’s meals and emerging rites through to (selected) rites in the twentieth century. Rites, practices, and theologies from the West and East are carefully examined from within their respective social, cultural, and religious contexts. Along with the extensive commentary, the use of liturgical texts, comparative charts, and summaries within each chapter makes this volume an especially valuable resource for student and specialist alike.
Karen B. Westerfield Tucker, Professor of Worship, Boston University


Can one book give a complete overview of the history and theology of the eucharistic prayer from its origins to its recent manifestations, from East to West, from Catholic to Protestant, Anglican to Orthodox, with generous quotations and insightful analogy, charts and footnotes, and an ability to make you feel at the end that you have really understood more about how Christians offer their most important prayer? Well, yes. It's this one.
Paul Turner
Author of Glory in the Cross: Holy Week in the Third Edition of The Roman Missal


Anyone who wants a comprehensive and up-to-date history of the Eucharistic liturgy and Eucharistic theology in one volume will find it brilliantly provided in this book. An Anglican and a Lutheran teaching at a Catholic university have combined their considerable learning and skills to give us a text that will remain a standard for scholar and student alike for years to come.
John F. Baldovin, SJ, Professor of Historical and Liturgical Theology, Boston College


"If pastoral musicians have the money and time to read only one book on the Eucharist in their continuing education this year, this should be the book."
Pastoral Music

From the Publisher