Fall 2005/Pasadena
ST878/578
Johnson


ST878/578: THE SHAPE OF LITURGICAL THEOLOGY. Todd E. Johnson.


DESCRIPTION: This doctoral seminar is open to a limited number of master's level students by special permission. The phrase Lex Orandi/Lex Credendi attributed to the fifth century monk Prosper of Aquitaine has both described and defined the task of liturgical theology. This task is to define the relationship between the Law of Prayer (Lex Orandi) and the Law of Belief (Lex Credendi). This seminar will survey the history of this relationship and the contemporary expressions within the Christian churches to day.

RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY: Lex Orandi/Lex Credendi is the central pastoral issue for liturgy. How you worship will define what you believe. So too, what you believe should inform how you worship. The congruence between our belief and our worship is a central pastoral concern. So too, the relationship between corporate prayer (liturgy) and private prayer (spirituality). It also defines the relationship between liturgy and life in areas such as justice, evangelism, ecclesiology and eschatology.

COURSE FORMAT: The seminar will meet weekly for three-hour sessions. It will have some lectures by the professor, but will be mostly seminar presentations and discussions.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE MATERIAL:

Duck, Ruth and Patricia Wilson-Kastner. Praising God: The Trinity in Christian Worship. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1999.

Dulles, Avery. "Theology and Worship: The Reciprocity of Prayer and Belief." Ex Auditu 8 (1992).

Ellis, Christopher. Gathering: A Theology and Spirituality of Worship in the Free Church Tradition. London: SCM Press, 2004.

Irwin, Kevin. Liturgical Theology: A Primer. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1990.

Johnson, Todd E. "English Sacramental Theology from Lux Mundi to World War II: A Touchstone for Liturgical Theology." Doxology 16 (1999).

Maximus the Confessor. Mystagogy. PG 91: 657-717. ET: The Church, Liturgy, and the Soul of Man. Still River: St. Bede's Publications, 1982.

Muir, Edward. Ritual in Early Modern Europe. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Vogel, D., ed. Primary Sources of Liturgical Theology: A Reader. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2000.

RECOMMENDED READING:
Bell, Catherine. Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Casel, Odo. The Mystery of Christian Worship. Westminster, MD: Newman Press, 1962.

Kavanagh, Aidan. On Liturgical Theology. New York: Pueblo Pub. Co., 1984.

Kilmartin, Edward. Christian Liturgy: Theology and Practice. I: Systematic Theology of Liturgy. Kansas City, MO: Sheed & Ward, 1988.

Lathrop, Gordon. Holy Things. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993.

Saliers, Donald. Worship as Theology: Foretaste of Glory Divine. Nashville: Abingdon, 1994.

Underhill, Evelyn. Worship. New York: Harper, 1957.

Wainwright, Geoffrey. Doxology: The Praise of God in Worship, Doctrine, and Life; A Systematic Theology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1980.

ASSIGNMENTS: (1) Completion of assigned readings, participation in our class discussions and attendance. (2) A major oral presentation to the class on a specific liturgical theologian and their theological perspective. (3) An evaluation of a Christian liturgy outside of your tradition evaluating both the theology of the theological ordo as well as the theology of the liturgical praxis. This is also presented orally in class. (4) A paper in which the student defines his/her liturgical theology in relationship to his/her ecclesial tradition and two liturgical theologians. The third and fourth assignments will be adjusted in both scope and length for master's level students.

PREREQUISITES: For master's level students: permission of the instructor.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Elective.

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.