Divine Liturgy Research Articles

Varia: Атонският превод на Йерусалимския типик. Сравнителен анализ на някои указания в месецословната част на преписите Slav. 13 и ЦИАИ 201 (Oбщите указания, указанията за уставните четения, паримиите, за химнографския материал и някои изменяеми части на св. Литургия)

This article is dedicated to the two known versions of the first Bulgarian translation of the Jerusalem Typikon CIAI 201 and Slav. 13. The focus is on the general instructions, the instructions regarding the readings, the parоemias, and also on the instructions regarding the hymnography material, as well as the changeable parts of the Divine Liturgy in the Menologion part of the Typikon. The comparison and analysis of the two sources demonstrate certain editorial work on all levels of the process of transcribing the manuscripts under examination; in some cases, they allow us to determine the initial text of this translation of the Jerusalem Typikon.

Liturgie předem posvěcených darů

In this article we intend to present the divine liturgy of the presanctified gifts, an ancient and significant Lenten liturgy of the Byzantine tradition. It consists of vespers and a solemn Holy Communion.

Technics and Liturgics

AbstractIt is commonly held that Christian ethics generally and Christian bioethics particularly is the application of Christian moral systems to novel problems engaged by contemporary culture and created by contemporary technology. On this view, Christianity adds its moral vision to a technology, baptizing it for use. In this essay, I show that modern technology is a metaphysical moral worldview that enacts its own moral vision, shaping a moral imaginary, shaping our moral perception, creating moral subjects, and shaping what we imagine as moral intentions. In fact, modern technics has its own liturgics, which is foreign to Christian Divine Liturgy. Divine Liturgy is world forming, showing us a different world than the one that comes into relief in the ersatz liturgy of modern medical technics.

Les “apologies” de l’Ordo Missae de la Liturgie Romaine: Sources—Histoire—Théologie by Alain-Pierre Yao

Reviewed by: Les “apologies” de l’Ordo Missae de la Liturgie Romaine: Sources—Histoire—Théologie by Alain-Pierre Yao Uwe Michael Lang Alain-Pierre Yao Les “apologies” de l’Ordo Missae de la Liturgie Romaine: Sources—Histoire—Théologie Ecclesia orans. Studi e Ricerche 3 Naples: Editrice Domenicana Italiana, 2019 393 pages. Hardbound. €45.00. The Frankish adoption and adaptation of the Roman Rite of Mass in the early medieval period included a shift towards a more personal and emotive approach to the liturgy. This is exemplified in the incorporation of specific prayers in the first person singular or plural, to be said in a low voice by the celebrant at different moments of the Mass. These prayers, known as “apologies” (apologiae), express sorrowful recognition of the priest’s (or bishop’s) personal sinfulness as well as joyful trust in God’s mercy and calling to offer the acceptable sacrifice for the salvation of souls. Liturgical scholarship in the first half of the twentieth century tended to see in the dramatic style of these texts an infelicitous departure from the sober character of the Roman Rite. Consequently, the priest’s personal prayers were considerably reduced [End Page 311] in the post-conciliar liturgical reform. This study by Father Alain-Pierre Yao, a priest of the archdiocese of Bouaké (Ivory Coast), based on his doctoral dissertation at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of Sant’Anselmo in Rome, shows that we are now in a better position to appreciate the historical development, theological significance and spiritual benefit of these prayers in the Mass. Above all, Yao argues that, despite its general acceptance, the term “apologies” is misleading, because many of these texts do not have the character of confession or self-accusation. This insight provides him with a hermeneutical key to review the historical evidence. The first chapter (33–122) offers a lucid and instructive presentation of the origins and historical development of “apologies.” Of particular interest is the author’s discussion of the Byzantine tradition, where the introduction of the prayer “No one is worthy” (Οὐδεὶς ἄξιος) into the Divine Liturgy may date from the early eighth century. While Yao briefly reviews non-Roman Western traditions, the major part of this chapter is dedicated to the Roman Rite and concludes with the Tridentine missal of 1570. The main sources for “apology” prayers are the collections of the recurring parts of the Eucharistic celebration that developed into a distinct liturgical genre, the Ordo Missae. Although much progress has been made in this field since the seminal contribution of Bonifaas Luykx, still more work remains to be done. In the first place, not all of the known texts are available in a critical edition. Moreover, the prayers of the Ordo Missae are not always organized in a distinct section but may be dispersed throughout a liturgical manuscript. Such prayers can be found not only in sacramentaries or missals, but also in handbooks for priests or collections of prayers (libelli precum). Hence more examples of the Ordo Missae are likely to be discovered and require a revision of Luykx’s widely-accepted typology. In this context, Yao points to the Cluniac Ordo Missae, which is distinguished from other ordines, both diocesan and monastic, by its sobriety and restraint (44). While this book cannot attempt a comprehensive and systematic study of the Ordo Missae, it presents the reader with the current research on this important chapter in liturgical history. Following Adrien Nocent, the inclusion of “apologies” in the celebration of Mass is often seen in connection with the development [End Page 312] of tariff penance. In the Carolingian period, it became possible to commute an imposed penance into a specific number of “penitential” Masses to be offered. The priest was seen to identify with penitents both living and deceased and this would explain the strongly penitential character of his private prayers. Yao, however, argues that “apologies” resulted from an increasing preoccupation with ritual purity. There is certainly evidence in support of this argument, but the difficulty with Yao’s proposal is its reliance on the overstated theory of Arnold Angenendt about the importance of “cultic purity” (kultische Reinheit) in the early Middle Ages. The substantial second chapter...

«Небесная литургия» в монументальной живописи Македонии XV—XVI веков

The article examines the Divine Liturgy scenes in the wall paintings of the 15th–16th centuries in Macedonia. At this time, both iconographic versions of the Divine Liturgy plot, which developed in Byzantine art, were still used. Frequently these scenes are located in the dome or altar apse. Their inclusion in the wall decoration can be explained by the continuation of the usage of the Paleologan period schemes. Artists follow a single compositional scheme: angels-deacons and angels-priests march with the Holy Gifts to the altar, next to which there are two figures of Christ the High Priest. However, there are several examples of referring to the first half of the 14th-century schemes: Assumption Cathedral of Treskavac Monastery (1480s) and St. Panteleimon Church at Nerezi (second half of the 16th century). Also, there are two churches, which were influenced by the rare Byzantine compositions such as the drum painting of the Savior Church in Thessaloniki (mid-14th century) and the altar of St. Fanourios church in Valsamonero (15th century). There are the narthex frescoes of St. Nicholas church of the Toplici monastery (1534/1535) and St. Nicholas church in Zrze (mid-16th century). In the first case, the angelic Great Entrance procession was supplemented with the images of earthly deacons as well as Sts. Basil the Great and, presumably, John Chrysostom. The depiction of the holy hierarchs together with earthly clergy express the idea of the conciliar unity of the Church and convey the state of prayer of those in the church. In the second case, the Great Entrance motif is included in the Officiating Bishops scene, which resembles the altar program of St. Demetrius church of Markov Monastery. So, liturgical plots in Macedonian post-Byzantine art had some originality.

Întrebuințarea linguriței pentru împărtășirea credincioșilor în Biserica Ortodoxă. Cadrul istoric al apariției acestui obiect liturgic și tendințe actuale privitoare la modul împărtășirii credincioșilor

The joy receiving the Eucharist (Christ) should be the first thought when we come to receive the Eucharist and not anxiety for not getting ill by using the spoom successively. If we gott ill by using the spoon successively, then the first subject tto contami- nattiion should be the priests, because they consume after each Divine Liturgy everything that remaiined in the Holy Chalice, after the believers receiived the Eucharist by introdu- cing the spoon in it successively. The realliitty shows us that the situation is different beca- use no priest gott il after consuming the Eucharist from Chalice. The Holy Eucharist is not a cause for the fact that we gett ill, but it is the fountain of life and health.

De Simone , Peter T. The Old Believers in Imperial Russia: Oppression, Opportunism and Religious Identity in Tsarist Moscow (review)

SEER, 98, 1, JANUARY 2020 176 De Simone, Peter T. The Old Believers in Imperial Russia: Oppression, Opportunism and Religious Identity in Tsarist Moscow. The Library of Modern Russia. I. B. Tauris, London and New York, 2018. xvi + 263 pp. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. £69.00: $95.00. Peter T. De Simone’s study of the Rogozhskoe Cemetery community is a welcome addition to the literature on Old Belief in tsarist Russia. Founded on the outskirts of Moscow as a burial site for the city’s ‘priested’ Old Believers (popovtsy) during the outbreak of plague in 1771, Rogozhskoe became an important centre of Old Belief in the empire as a whole, partly because of the wealth of the Old Believer merchants who provided generous funding for the community’s sacred spaces and charitable institutions. De Simone traces the history of the community through four chronological periods. In its first decades, Rogozhskoe benefited from Catherine II’s relatively tolerant policy towards Old Belief, and its prestige was enhanced in the aftermath of the Napoleonic occupation of Moscow in 1812, when the community’s merchants made important contributions to the rebuilding of the city. With the appointment of the ultra-Orthodox Filaret (Drozdov) as Metropolitan of Moscow in 1821, however, pressure came to be exerted on the Rogozhskoe Old Believers to convert either to official Orthodoxy or to Edinoverie (‘Unity of Faith’), the state-sponsored movement which preserved the old rite while recognizing the authority of the Holy Synod. Legislation from 1822 onwards restricted the ability of Old Believers to recruit priests from the official Orthodox Church, and this encouraged the Rogozhskoe community to support the establishment in 1846 of an Old Believer hierarchy at Belaia Krinitsa, in Austrian Ukraine, that could ordain priests and bishops for the popovtsy in Russia. The timing, however, turned out to be unfortunate. The outbreak of the European revolutions in 1848, followed by the Crimean War and the Polish insurrection of 1863, understandably raised the Russian government’s suspicion of a religious movement whose hierarchy was based abroad. It also weakened the Old Believers’ claim to represent a true Russian identity; and since Old Belief had arisen in the seventeenth century largely as a protest against Greek influence on Russian Orthodoxy, it was particularly ironic that their new Metropolitan, Amvrosii, was Greek. After 1846 Rogozhskoe claimed to be a central institution of Old Belief as a whole, although not even all of the priested Old Believers recognized the legitimacy of the Belokrinitskaia hierarchy. Perhaps surprisingly, the accession of Alexander II in 1855 and the introduction of his ‘Great Reforms’ brought relatively few benefits to the Old Believers. In 1856 the Rogozhskoe community was falsely denounced for having illegally celebrated the Divine Liturgy (the Eucharist). This led to the sealing REVIEWS 177 off of the altars of its Nativity and Intercession cathedrals, preventing their use for religious services. It was only at Easter 1905, against the background of the developing revolution, that the altars were re-opened, on the eve of Nicholas II’s decree on religious toleration. De Simone’s account of the history of the Rogozhskoe community provides a detailed and illuminating picture of many aspects of the lives of the Moscow popovtsy, including the architecture of their cathedrals, the activities of their charitable and educational institutions and the growth of merchant dynasties such as the Morozovs and the Riabushinskiis. The author has made good use of archival materials, although his attitude towards his sources is somewhat uncritical, producing a highly sympathetic picture which sometimes verges on the hagiographical. De Simone focuses on the relationship of the Rogozhskoe community to the state and the official Orthodox Church, while largely ignoring its position in the broader spectrum of Old Belief. He says little about the attitude of the Rogozhskoe priested community to its priestless counterpart, the Moscow Preobrazhenskoe Cemetery community, nor to other priestless and priested communities throughout the Empire. Many of the more radical groups considered the Moscow popovtsy to be hopelessly compromised, not least by their swearing of the oath of loyalty to Alexander III after the assassination of Alexander II in 1881. It is not too surprising, therefore, that the authorities were mistrustful...

Spiritual chants for the female choir a cappella by IrynaAleksiichuk: features of the interpretation of canonical text

Spiritual chants for the female choir a cappella by IrynaAleksiichuk: features of the interpretation of canonical text

Căminul cultural „Regele Carol al II-lea“ din Grăjdana, Județul Buzău (1934-1940)

Căminul cultural „Regele Carol al II-lea“ din Grăjdana, Județul Buzău (1934-1940)

Liturgy and Trinity

This essay seeks to counter “liturgicism,” which gives to the liturgy alone the role of making known the content of divine revelation. Without slighting the liturgy, we should affirm that the word of God is given (as truth) in Scripture and Tradition. Thus, liturgical experience is informed by Scripture as dogmatically interpreted by the Church. Focusing on the Trinity, I defend this point by recourse to four late-patristic and medieval liturgical commentaries, each of which combines allegorical interpretation of the liturgy with the exposition of doctrine: St. Germanus of Constantinople’s Ecclesiastical History and Mystical Contemplation; Nicholas Cabasilas’s Commentary on the Divine Liturgy; Amalarius of Metz’s Liber officialis; and William Durandus the Elder of Mende’s Rationale divinorum officiorum.

The Protection of the Environment as Applied to the Environmental Education Programme of the Holy Monastery of Chrysopigi, Crete

The Holy Monastery of Chrysopigi in Chania, Crete (Greece), has been putting into action a wide‐ranging programme for the protection of the environment. There are various environmental activities, which are organized by the sisterhood for school and university students, and other groups of people. Hundreds of young people who participate can experience nature as they walk the stone paths to cave chapels for the Divine Liturgy, as they discover the springs, as they visit the workshops, as they plant trees and release birds in the monastic biotope, which is a refuge for wild birds, too. In addition, they are able to participate in the programmes being held in the Environmental Education Centre (EEC) of the Monastery. In the EEC, students have computer access to information concerning the protection of the environment. Their interest in further investigation and their sensitization about environmental issues are also nurtured through various activities.

Optional Materials of the Printed Liturgiarion [in the Light of Selected Examples from the Kyiv Metropolitanate in the 16th and 17th Century

In 16th–17th-century’s liturgical books one can find numerous additions regarded as redundant and optional. These paratextual elements are: verbal (e.g., prefaces, dedicational verses or letters, afterwords, introductions), iconic (schemas, illustrations) and both combined. Unnecessary materials in printed liturgiarions apart from the above-mentioned are: teachings of Jan Chrysostom, Basil the Great and Gregory Dialogos – the authors of Divine Liturgy and the short eulogistic compositions about Church Fathers, sometimes accompanied by their images. These additional elements are great evidence of development of liturgical practice, documents certifying intellectual level of Ruthenian clergy and renovating ambitions of hierarchy. For this reason, they should be widely considered as worthy sources in the study about religion reform in the Metropolitanate of Kiev and of a church culture in old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Joan’s of Arc Aria No. 7 from the opera "The Maid of Orleans" by P. Tchaikovsky: the spiritual symbolism of the canon of repentance when "trialed under the sign"

The article examines the spiritual symbols of the musical and sound structure of Joan’s Aria No. 7 " Forgive me, hills and native fields " from the opera "The Maid of Orleans" by P. Tchaikovsky. The subject of the study is the iconic expositional characteristics of the dramatic development of the image of the protagonist of the opera as a vividly representative historical and symbolic phenomenon, expressed through the centuries-old context of musical spiritual symbols. "Liturgy of John Chrysostom" and "The Maid of Orleans" were marked by a powerful creative core, bravely creating a new level of thinking, opening new opportunities for the Transfiguration. P. Tchaikovsky reflected deeply on the spiritual quality of the man. By the wisdom of the Gospel postulates, one can realize how indissolubly these two works have merged together: "Divine Liturgy" and the history of the Divine feat of the main heroine of the opera. The birth of a new spiritual quality in Tchaikovsky’s music was accompanied by a sufficiently strong resistance of the surrounding psychological field of belief and world outlook. The composer had been working on the opera for about 9 months, which is associatively comparable to the bearing and birth of his "spiritual child". The spiritual meaning of the genre canvas of Aria is liturgical which is the canon of repentance. Syncretism of symbols manifested in systems of semantic and genre assimilation is represented by rhetorical signs and baroque genres. The ostinato spiritual and psychological Credo of the personality of Joan of Arc is explained - 1) in her legendary 19-year-old life, a young peasant girl who could not read and write possessed the greatest gift of purity of thoughts and an unshakable faith in the Spiritual World, which governs the earth; 2) she had intuitive-hearted Mercy to her persecutors, enemies, executioners; 3) she subtly felt the highest signs and symbols that were inaccessible and incomprehensible to her surroundings and contemporaries; 4) Joan at her own and sole discretion considered the form, colors and meanings of her symbols – a white embroidered banner, a coat of arms with holy symbols and a sword that she used only to defend and repel the blows. We should pay attention to the fact that both the composer and the heroine of the the "font" of the spirit materializes. Hence, perhaps, the source of the inner potential of spirituality for the related and beloved female images in his works, embodied by the composer one after another – Tatiana and Joan, – being so distant historically and socially from one another are both so close to the great spiritual potential and victorious level of morality, invigorated by the naturalness of the free space of nature, the inner beauty and sincere kindness, concealing the heroic courage of female charm behind the delicate refinement, able to illuminate many generations of people with the centuries-old example to follow. The 18-year-old Joan at the moment of exhibiting the image in the first act of the opera is shown in the vital fullness of a thinking person, who can follow her Divine Principle. The dramaturgic line of Joan is a mono opera of Spirit in the whole opera. In the context of the analysis of the melody, there attracts attention the symbol of harmony of the "lyrics of light" with the intonations of the achieved through much suffering world of the loving heart – the rhetorical formula of the Baroque era - the figures of "pathopoija:" the excitement of passions " parrhesa "," relatio non harmonia ". In the melody of Aria, there is a tension that arises under another symbol, but does not go into it, but psychologically preserves the previous harmony through inclination to the main tonic. This symbol in music of different styles and creative interpretation in the article is defined as "trial under the sign" - powerful in its might, which originates from the environment of reflective knowledge of the Spirit. In the Aria melody, the symbol tirata is not associated, as is customary, with a "shot" or "lightning," but is a symbol of a sparkling spiritual instrument – a sword. Such is embodied in a rather rare image of St. Nicholas the Miracle-Worker, for example, on the icon in the Church of the Holy Trinity in the monastery of St. Iona in Kiev. Saint Nicholas is depicted with a mighty sword, passionately raised vertically upward in the name of protecting holy justice. The sword is also associated with the power of the spiritual thought-arrow, reflected in the symbols of the graphic hooked notation of Kievan Rus.

Joan’s of Arc Aria No. 7 from the opera "The Maid of Orleans" by P. Tchaikovsky: the spiritual symbolism of the canon of repentance when "trialed under the sign"

The article examines the spiritual symbols of the musical and sound structure of Joan’s Aria No. 7 " Forgive me, hills and native fields " from the opera "The Maid of Orleans" by P. Tchaikovsky. The subject of the study is the iconic expositional characteristics of the dramatic development of the image of the protagonist of the opera as a vividly representative historical and symbolic phenomenon, expressed through the centuries-old context of musical spiritual symbols. "Liturgy of John Chrysostom" and "The Maid of Orleans" were marked by a powerful creative core, bravely creating a new level of thinking, opening new opportunities for the Transfiguration. P. Tchaikovsky reflected deeply on the spiritual quality of the man. By the wisdom of the Gospel postulates, one can realize how indissolubly these two works have merged together: "Divine Liturgy" and the history of the Divine feat of the main heroine of the opera. The birth of a new spiritual quality in Tchaikovsky’s music was accompanied by a sufficiently strong resistance of the surrounding psychological field of belief and world outlook. The composer had been working on the opera for about 9 months, which is associatively comparable to the bearing and birth of his "spiritual child". The spiritual meaning of the genre canvas of Aria is liturgical which is the canon of repentance. Syncretism of symbols manifested in systems of semantic and genre assimilation is represented by rhetorical signs and baroque genres. The ostinato spiritual and psychological Credo of the personality of Joan of Arc is explained - 1) in her legendary 19-year-old life, a young peasant girl who could not read and write possessed the greatest gift of purity of thoughts and an unshakable faith in the Spiritual World, which governs the earth; 2) she had intuitive-hearted Mercy to her persecutors, enemies, executioners; 3) she subtly felt the highest signs and symbols that were inaccessible and incomprehensible to her surroundings and contemporaries; 4) Joan at her own and sole discretion considered the form, colors and meanings of her symbols – a white embroidered banner, a coat of arms with holy symbols and a sword that she used only to defend and repel the blows. We should pay attention to the fact that both the composer and the heroine of the the "font" of the spirit materializes. Hence, perhaps, the source of the inner potential of spirituality for the related and beloved female images in his works, embodied by the composer one after another – Tatiana and Joan, – being so distant historically and socially from one another are both so close to the great spiritual potential and victorious level of morality, invigorated by the naturalness of the free space of nature, the inner beauty and sincere kindness, concealing the heroic courage of female charm behind the delicate refinement, able to illuminate many generations of people with the centuries-old example to follow. The 18-year-old Joan at the moment of exhibiting the image in the first act of the opera is shown in the vital fullness of a thinking person, who can follow her Divine Principle. The dramaturgic line of Joan is a mono opera of Spirit in the whole opera. In the context of the analysis of the melody, there attracts attention the symbol of harmony of the "lyrics of light" with the intonations of the achieved through much suffering world of the loving heart – the rhetorical formula of the Baroque era - the figures of "pathopoija:" the excitement of passions " parrhesa "," relatio non harmonia ". In the melody of Aria, there is a tension that arises under another symbol, but does not go into it, but psychologically preserves the previous harmony through inclination to the main tonic. This symbol in music of different styles and creative interpretation in the article is defined as "trial under the sign" - powerful in its might, which originates from the environment of reflective knowledge of the Spirit. In the Aria melody, the symbol tirata is not associated, as is customary, with a "shot" or "lightning," but is a symbol of a sparkling spiritual instrument – a sword. Such is embodied in a rather rare image of St. Nicholas the Miracle-Worker, for example, on the icon in the Church of the Holy Trinity in the monastery of St. Iona in Kiev. Saint Nicholas is depicted with a mighty sword, passionately raised vertically upward in the name of protecting holy justice. The sword is also associated with the power of the spiritual thought-arrow, reflected in the symbols of the graphic hooked notation of Kievan Rus.

“The Chants of the Divine Liturgy” by Porfiriy Demutskiy for the mixed choir: genre and style features

The article studies the genre and style features of the work “The Chants of the Divine Liturgy adapted for rural choirs by P. Demutskiy”. The paper analyzes the musical and verbal material as well as the structure of the work. In the process of analysis it has been established that in the Liturgy the author’s compositions by P. Demutskiy, his harmonization of everyday melodies, church tunes, melodies recorded from voice, marked “from old notes” and without indicating the source, were used. It is proved that the work is a vivid example of the Ukrainian spiritual music of the beginning of the 20th century and demonstrates the author’s (P. Demutskiy) vision of the genre in refraction through folkloric experience, which is an indicative trend of the musical culture of that period of time.

Youth Camp for Preventing Violent-Extremism: Fostering Youth Dialogue, Encountering Diversity

On the Saturday late night, 10th February 2018, Basit––an Islamic teacher (ustādh)––admonished street children because of their perturbing behaviours in the front of his store. However, feeling offended by the ustādh, the children had battered down of him instead. His right hand was severely torn due to knife cuts and got a bruised face after being showered with punches from the children. On the next day, 11th February 2018, Mass (Divine Liturgy) at St. Lidwina Church in Sleman, Yogyakarta turned out to be “Bloody Mass” after being attacked by a 23-year-old young man. Allegedly running toward choir, the youngster swung repeatedly his blade in the front of the church and slashed pastor, churchgoer, church congregation and police officer as well.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v25i2.7924

Pentecost or Babel Tower? Challenges and Perspectives of the Translation of Liturgical Texts in the German-speaking Christian Orthodox Diaspora

Abstract Uniform translation of liturgical texts into German has been an important field of work of Orthodox churches in Germany for several years. This task has been accomplished by the translation commission which was convened by the Orthodox Bishops’ Conference in Germany. The essay first introduces the current situation of Orthodoxy in Germany under the conditions of the diaspora situation. Then the development of the unified text of the Divine Liturgy is presented. Subsequently, challenges and perspectives of the translation work are discussed.

«Откровение святого Григория Богослова о литургии»: исследования, текст и его славянские переводы

«Откровение святого Григория Богослова о литургии»: исследования, текст и его славянские переводы

The Spirit, the Affections, and the Christian Tradition ed. by Dale M. Coulter and Amos Yong

Reviewed by: The Spirit, the Affections, and the Christian Tradition ed. by Dale M. Coulter and Amos Yong Tom Schwanda (bio) The Spirit, the Affections, and the Christian Tradition, edited by Dale M. Coulter and Amos Yong. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2016. 326pp. $60.00 (hard-cover). This stimulating volume is bookended by contributions from the two editors. Dale Coulter, associate professor of historical theology at Regent University (VA), provides an introductory chapter that orients the reader while Amos Yong, professor of theology at Fuller Theological Seminary, completes this study with suggestions for additional research. The marrow of this book contains twelve chapters that offer a chronological tour of the study of affections from the patristic period to the eighteenth century. The stated goal is to create a "renewal historiographic lens" through the study of affectivity (1). This focus, reflective of the history of Pentecostalism, includes an appreciation for and recovery of "popular religiosity" and "folk theologies" (2). In consideration of the vocabulary of affectivity the authors in this collection stress the distinction between affectivity and emotion (essentially a later development at the beginning of the nineteenth century), whereby the affections are deeper in nature and more connected with the will. Within this dynamic conversation, the passions, which have often been understood as diseases of the soul, are also examined. The Holy Spirit is operative throughout this discussion as the "intersection between divine affectivity and human affectivity" (7). The first three chapters explore affectivity through the patristic writers of the Christian East and West. Robert Louis Wilken provides a succinct treatment of Origen's, Gregory of Nyssa's, and Maximus the Confessor's writings on love [End Page 280] that highlight the interplay between agape and eros. Wilken summarizes the early understanding that "Knowledge without passion does not bind one to God" (37). James K. A. Smith engages Augustine's critical assessment of the theater and demonstrates how it can be redeemed to recover a richer exposition of affectivity through the action of the Holy Spirit. Bradley Nassif deftly examines the deification of passions through St. John Chrysostom's Divine Liturgy. Central to his argument is how baptism, the Eucharist, Scripture, icons and dogmatic hymns (Nassif's language) form the affections of the worshiper. Nassif helpfully grounds this through the theological foundation of union with Christ and the Holy Spirit. Michael J. McClymond's expansive chapter employs holy tears as the lens through which affectivity can be studied in both the East and West and from the patristic era to the present. He concludes this fascinating chapter by asserting, "Unless we weep and grieve, we will never experience the deep joy that God offers" (103). The next three chapters concentrate on the medieval period. First, Elizabeth A. Dreyer reviews the contribution of Hadewijch of Brabant's bridal mysticism, elevating the topic of sacred eros, and Bonaventure's emphasis on Christ's humanity, revealed through his wounds of love. In both cases the affections are elevated in ecstatic delight. Next, Craig A. Boyd merges Aquinas's dual themes of desire and appetite with love and charity. He asserts that the human freedom of expressing affections must be guided by the rational soul that is always held accountable for those desires. Sharon L. Putt concludes this trilogy of medieval chapters with her study of detachment in Meister Eckhart. His treatment of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38–42) reverses the frequent tendency of elevating Mary. Instead Martha's detachment creates greater approbation since she "represents the perfection of a life of action born from contemplation" (173). The next cluster of chapters surveys three representatives of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Simeon Zahl explores Luther's famous principle of the bondage of the will and perceives parallels to the bondage of affections. Significantly, Zahl reminds readers that to focus only upon the affections restricts the much broader spectrum of Luther's vocabulary, including desire, voluntas (usually rendered as "will"), and the heart. Building on the centrality of the heart, Zahl corrects the mistaken impression that Luther, not John Wesley, was the originator of "heart religion" (199). In his chapter on Blaise Pascal, Klaas Bom continues with the priority of the...

Oikonomia: Divorce and Remarriage in the Eastern Orthodox Tradition by Kevin Schembri

Reviewed by: Oikonomia: Divorce and Remarriage in the Eastern Orthodox Tradition by Kevin Schembri Patrick Viscuso Kevin Schembri. Oikonomia: Divorce and Remarriage in the Eastern Orthodox Tradition. Rome: Orientalia Christiana & Valore Italiano, 2017. 336 pp. This study, submitted as part of the requirements for a doctorate in canon law from the Gregorian University in Rome, purports "to offer a comprehensive and systematic presentation of the Eastern Orthodox position on marriage, the principle of oikonomia, ecclesiastical divorce, and successive marriages." The scope is "limited to the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Churches," which are compromised of the "autocephalous Patriarchates and Churches that are united in faith and order." They include "the Patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Russia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Georgia, and the Churches of Cyprus, Greece, Poland, Albania, and of the Czech lands and Slovakia." In general, the work is intended as a resource for the "Latin Catholic Church" in conducting ecumenical dialogue, dealing with mixed marriages, and conducting ministry to Catholic divorced and remarried (7). In addition to a general conclusion section, the work has four brief chapters entitled "the sacrament of marriage," "akribeia and oikonomia," "the indissolubility of marriage," and "ecclesiastical divorce and successive marriages." Unfortunately, this work has many shortcomings. The scope is left largely undefined, but appears to encompass the patristic period up to the present. The proposal to [End Page 116] offer a comprehensive presentation of the entire Eastern Orthodox tradition is unrealistic given the study's length and lack of depth. References to sources are mixed from various historical periods with little success in tracing institutions, concepts, and language within their historical and cultural contexts. While surveying a range of diverse secondary literature and modern Orthodox writers, the author tends to accept these sources, including encyclopedia entries and popular works, uncritically and without sufficient evaluation based on research in primary canonical texts. In fact, when not quoted in an English translation, most excerpts of Byzantine Greek primary source texts are cited in Latin. Such lack of engagement is made especially obvious when the major late Byzantine author, "Symeon" (Συμεών) of Thessalonike, is repeatedly and incorrectly referenced as "Simon." Also, few references can be found to canonical scholarship in Greek, Russian, or the languages used in the various local Orthodox churches listed above. Furthermore, large and complex issues are summarized in short paragraphs or in brief numbered points and based on only a few selected sources, at times including articles such as those by Nicon Patrinacos in his Dictionary of Greek Orthodoxy (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Department of Religious Education, 1984) and dated studies by Martin Jugie, whose scholarship was often influenced by his views of the Orthodox as dissidentes Orientales. The entire corpus of the Orthodox Church's writings on the indissolubility of marriage from the eleventh through seventeenth centuries is covered by three short paragraphs, one of which deals with a Byzantine military work (148–49). Also, wide generalizations are made, unsubstantiated beyond singular references to journal articles or particular pages in overall works. The author has a tendency to consider John Meyendorff's theological opinions on a supposed eternal nature of marriage to be reflective of the entire "Orthodox tradition." Moreover, the work also tends to anthropomorphize the church, thus ignoring historical causality and giving the false impression of an ecclesiastical center, whose decision-making is implemented by its parts in a consistent manner. For example, on the so-called separation of the Eucharist from the marriage rite, the following analysis is provided: "Finding herself at a crossroad, the church wanted neither to single out or embarrass those couples who were entering a prohibited marriage, nor to give them communion and offend the holiness of the Eucharist. Unable to maintain her longstanding practice, the church decided to develop a new rite of crowning that had a structural similarity to the Divine Liturgy, but was separate from the Eucharist" (23). At times, strange statements are made that reflect a lack of familiarity with current liturgical practices. For instance, "finally, the permanence of the matrimonial bond is highlighted by other liturgical actions such as the joining of the hands of the spouses by the priest during the first two prayers, and the covering of...