Foundations in Ritual Studies: a Reader for Students of Christian Worship

Jacket Description/Back: The study of liturgy used to mean studying what Christians did in the past and how worship traditions developed over the centuries. The focus was especially on liturgical texts. Now the spotlight is on liturgical actions--what people do in worship, how they do it, and what their actions mean. And a comparative dimension is added: no longer looking only at the Christian past, scholars now look at the global present and compare what Christians say and do in worship with analogous actions in various religious and cultural settings. New perspectives require new methods. Enter ritual studies, a discipline built on methods and insights developed by anthropologists. "Foundations in Ritual Studies" offers an anthropological and theological approach to the study of Christian liturgy, providing key essays for an orientation to this fruitful new approach. ContributorsRomano Guardini, Mark Searle, and John D. Witvliet on the application of ritual studies to Christian liturgiesMary Douglas and Victor Turner on the anthropological basis for ritual studiesNathan D. Mitchell, Ronald L. Grimes, and Catherine Bell on ritualMargaret Mary Kelleher on liturgical theologyBiographical Note: Paul Bradshaw (PhD, University of London) is professor of liturgy at the University of Notre Dame and director of Notre Dame's London Centre. He is also a priest-vicar of Westminster Abbey and the author of "The Search for the Origins of Christian Worship." John Melloh (PhD, St. Louis University) is director of the John S. Marten Program in Homiletics and Liturgies at the University of Notre Dame. Publisher Marketing: The new field of ritual studies applies anthropological methodology to the study of religious actions. The first collection of its kind, "Foundations in Ritual Studies "offers students of Christian liturgy fresh insights from specialists in anthropology, religious studies, and Christian liturgy. The list of contributors includes Romano Guardini, Mark Seale, John Witvliet, Mary Douglas, Victor Turner, Nathan Mitchell, Ronald Grimes, Catherine Bell, Margaret Mary Kelleher, and Herbert Fingarette. This one-volume collection makes their landmark contributions available to professors, graduate students, theologians, and biblical scholars.

Contributor Bio:  Bradshaw, Paul Paul Bradshaw (PhD, University of London) is professor of liturgy at the University of Notre Dame and director of Notre Dame's London Centre. He is also a priest-vicar of Westminster Abbey and the author of The Search for the Origins of Christian Worship. John Melloh (PhD, St. Louis University) is director of the John S. Marten Program in Homiletics and Liturgies at the University of Notre Dame.