Liturgy and Ethics

Contents

List of Contributors

Introduction

Liturgy and Ethics in the Reformed Tradition

Liturgy as Ethics

Liturgy in Practices

Liturgy and Cultures

Epilogue

Bibliography

Liturgy as Ethics

What Makes Worship Good?

Introduction

Good in the Sense of Pleasant?

Good in the Sense of Important?

Good in the Sense of Proper?

Good in the Sense of Performing?

When Would Worship Not be Good?

Bibiography

“God Waits for and Responds to Sincere Prayer and Responsible Actions”1

Introduction

Biography

The Psalms

Internal Coherence between Liturgy and Ethics in Bonhoeffer?

Bibliography

Catholic Reformed Ethics

Bavinck’s Concept of Catholicity Described

Bavinck’s Concept of Catholicity Evaluated

Bavinck’s Concept of Catholicity Applied

Conclusion

Bibliography

Theatricality of Liturgy and Its Relevance to Ethics

Liturgy as Ethics: Improvisation and Emptiness

Liturgy is Less Than Ethics: Hypocrisy

Conclusive Remarks Referring to Calvin’s View of Theater

Bibliography

Liturgy in Practices

Liturgy and Justice

Ways in Which Justice is Present in Christian Liturgical Enactments

The Injustice at the Heart of the Biblical Story

Jesus’ Crucifixion in Mainline Liturgies

African-American Liturgies

Identification

Does It Matter?

Bibliography

Eucharist and the Ethics of Sacrifice and Self-Giving

Withering Rituals and Shrinking Conceptual Frameworks

The Offertory in the Context of the Early Church’s Eucharistic Theology

The Gifts as ‘Sacrifice’

The Offering of the Gifts as Self-Giving of the Faithful

What Has been Lost with the Withering of the Offertory

Bibliography

Weekly at the Lord’s Table

Introduction

The Christological Motive of Purification and Sanctification through Christ

The Pneumatological-Mystical Motive

The Ecclesiastical-Liturgical Motive

The Heavenward Directed-Eschatological Motive

Motives Not Explaining Calvin’s Plea for Weekly Communion

Final Remarks about Calvin’s Eucharistic Spirituality

Conclusion

Bibliography

“Do This in Remembrance of Me”

The Lord’s Supper as “Performative Remembrance”

Calvin and the Frequent Celebration of the Lord’s Supper

Performative Remembrance and Embodied Participation

Bibliography

Celebrating the Lord’s Supper as Act of Moral Formation

Theoretical Framework

Research Design

Different Styles of Celebration

Quantitative Data

Frequency of Participation in the Lord’s Supper

Qualitative Data

Conclusion

Bibliography

Liturgy and Cultures

Cutting, Binding, and Re-Membering

Introduction

A Covenantal Approach

Worship

Worship as Communicative Process

Unity between Worship and Ethics

Covenant and Liturgy: Comparisons with a Postliberal Approach

A Covenantal Perspective on Formation

Conclusion

Bibliography

Celebrating God’s Works

From Work to Worship

Work Put into Perspective

Starting from the Sabbath

Liturgy as Formative Practice

Bibliography

A Day to Remember

Introduction

Theological Reflection on Marriage

A Retrieval of Wedding Ceremonies from Church History

Community-Based Preparation, Celebration and Remembrance

Bibliography

The Priestly Liturgy of Creation in the Book of Leviticus

Introduction

Ritual and Liturgy

Ritual and Ethics in the Book of Leviticus

Ritual and Ethics in the Context of Indonesia

Conclusion: On Applying the Rituals of Leviticus

Bibliography

Liturgical Formation and Practical Ecclesiology

Introduction

Outline

Mapping the Field

Practical-Ecclesiological Comments

Systematic and Practical Ecclesiology

Liturgical Formation in Practical Ecclesiology

The Church is a Community sui generis

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index