Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Stephen R. Shaver

This chapter introduces the idea of an ecumenical repertoire of “metaphors of eucharistic presence” and situates the book within discussions of metaphor, language, and embodiment in liturgical theology. It proposes an “additive method” that allows metaphors with different entailments to stand alongside one another as complementary rather than contradictory. Five motifs—identity, representation, change, containment, and conduit—are introduced, each of which will be more fully explored in later chapters. Each includes one or more verbal affirmations churches could be invited to endorse. The chapter concludes with some notes on the scope of the project and how it is informed by the author’s Anglican perspective.

Author(s):  
Alejandro Gómez Alanís ◽  
Antonio M. Peinado ◽  
Jose A. Gonzalez ◽  
Angel Gomez

Author(s):  
Nicholas Wolterstorff

This chapter considers why contemporary analytic philosophers of religion have neglected liturgy and focused almost all of their attention on religious belief. Following Descartes, reflections on mental activity and the mind have been central in modern philosophy. But that has not prevented the emergence of philosophy of art, philosophy of language, and political philosophy, none of which deal with mental activity or the mind. So why not philosophy of liturgy? Several explanations are considered; but none is found to be fully satisfactory. The Introduction concludes with an explanation of how the subsequent discussion relates to liturgical theology and to anthropological ritual studies.


Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 338
Author(s):  
Benjamin Durheim

Critical realism as a lens of thought is not new to theological inquiry, but recently a growing number of theologians have been using its conceptual frameworks to guide their thought on how social structures function theologically, and how ethics might function in light of its insights. This article pulls these developments into the nexus of liturgy and ethics, applying critical realist categories to contemporary understandings of how liturgical celebration (and the structures thereof) form, inform, and/or malform Christian ethical imaginations and practices. The article begins with a brief survey of the main tenets of critical realism and their histories in theological inquiry, and argues that a main gift critical realism can offer liturgical and sacramental theology is a structural understanding of liturgical narrative- and value-building. Having described this gift, the article moves to a concrete application of this method in liturgical theology and its implications for ethics: addressing consumerism as a culture that can be both validated and challenged by liturgical and sacramental structures. The article ends with some brief suggestions for using and shifting liturgical structures to better facilitate the Christian conversion of consumerism.


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