Despite the numerous famous examples of "les litanies" in French poetry, the manner in which the structures of this form of worship affect the versification strategies of poems has not previously been discussed thoroughly. Litanic verse, whose origins are as ancient as those of the litany genre, is recognized in works whose poetic diction, in whole or in part, includes the distinctive features of the litany, such as enumeration, parallelism, anaphora, and epiphora. The third volume describes the development of litanic verse from troubadour poetry and Old French religious verse up to World War II. This rich and multifaceted material is presented in chronological order and in the context of different literary genres.

This book breaks fresh ground in the interpretation of the Apocalypse with an interdisciplinary methodology called aural-performance criticism that assesses how the first-century audience would have heard the Apocalypse. First-century media culture is probed by assessing the dynamics of literacy, orality, aurality, and performance in the Gospels, parts of the Pauline corpus, and also Jewish apocalyptic literature. The audience constructs of informed, minimal, and competent assist the interpreter to apply the methodology. Sound maps and an aural-performance commentary of Revelation 1 and 11 are developed that analyze aural markers, sound style, identity markers, repetition, themes, and the appropriation of the message by the audience. The book concludes by examining the sociological, theological, and communal aspects of aurality and performance and its implications for interpreting the Apocalypse.

Being close to God means communicating with him--telling him what is on our hearts in prayer and understanding what he is saying to us. The second half of this conversation is so important--and so difficult. How do we hear God? In these daily devotionals Dallas Willard helps us understand how we can know the voice of God and act on it. Now in a new format with an expanded introduction, this classic provides daily Scripture readings and suggestions for prayer, journaling and reflection to draw you into God's presence. You may be surprised--and even transformed--by what you discover.

Religion and politics have often been called taboo topics for polite dinner conversation, but in political campaigns and religious services, the two often mix. This book looks at how religious worship remains embedded with inherent political messages and behaviors, showing that conflicts between church and state exist not just in the public arena, but in each sanctuary and house of worship. To explore this religious-political tension, the book first examines more obvious examples of worship as political action, such as when candidates speak during church services or when political parties hold prayer services at party events. The initial analysis acts as a foundation for the idea of worship serving a political purpose, and is followed by analysis of non-partisan and less obvious political worship services. Religious sacraments (such as baptism, confirmation, communion/mass, and confession) function as key moments in which religious participants pledge allegiance to a power that resides outside Washington, D.C. or statehouses, thus highlighting the alternative political messages and space carved out through worship.

The anagrams, or more generally, the mathemata and morphologically related kalophonic forms of Byzantine melopoeia, constitute the artistic creations by which Psaltic Art is known in all its splendour and becomes an object of admiration. Kalophony as ars nova was born following the recovery of the city of Constantinople after the Latin occupation of Byzantium (AD 1204-1261) during the long reign of Andronicus II (1282-1328) and reached its final form in the first half of the fourteenth century. During the years 1300-1350, four key composers and teachers of the Psaltic Art imposed a new attitude of melic composition on the preexisting forms and designated new compositional techniques dominated by the beautifying kallopistic element. They created new compositions in the new spirit of kallopismos and musical verbosity. This new musical creation was christened with the term kalophony and this period is the golden age of Byzantine Chant. Originally published under the title Hoi anagrammatismoi kai ta mathemata tes byzantines melopoiias (1979 plus seven reprints), this publication thoroughly investigates and reveals for the first time the entire magnitude of Byzantine kalophony with its individual forms, serving as a systematic introduction to the Greek Byzantine music culture and that of the Byzantine Psaltic Art at the height of its expression.

Among other relevant issues, this book adds new insights to the proposed Igbo Christian rites of reconciliation. Towards an inculturation, the resolutional equations of the Igbo cultural method of reconciliation - oriko in ala di mma - are balanced with the sacrament of reconciliation in operational life of the people who are pastorally concerned. In this context, the author refers to the Owerri archdiocesan working document on emume nsacha na ndozi, meaning a ritual of purification and peace, as well as to the Igbo Christian rite of reconciliation proposed by Augustine Echema. The method of these new rites is para-liturgical in nature which highlights the importance of reconciliation of human beings with themselves, their neighbours and God, whenever sin has taken place. Paradoxically, this new method of reconciliation can broaden ecumenism and strengthens the social, cultural, political and religious lives of the people. In this sense, reconciliation can be seen as a natural spiritual cord that ties people to themselves and to God in a communal and Christian environment.

Female Images of God in Christian Worship: In the Spirituality of TongSungGiDo of the Korean Church examines problems that arise from the use of exclusively patriarchal images in modern Christian worship. The author asserts that female images in the Bible could help worshippers find a relationship with God and provide encouragement and comfort in difficult situations. As a Korean Christian, MyungSil Kim explores the possibilities of employing God's female images in the services of the Korean Church, noting that Korea's native religions, the ancient religions and Muism, had many female deities unlike patriarchal foreign religions such as Buddhism and Confucianism. These female deities have comforted the Korean people when they experienced han, a distinctive emotion of deep sadness and resentment that is characteristically Korean. TongSungGiDo, the unique Korean prayer style of communal lament, provides an opportune space and time for the consideration of female images in the Bible. MyungSil Kim examines how female images could more effectively function in the context of TongSungGiDo in accordance with traditional practices to express the complementarity among the concepts of han, lament, female images of God, and prayer. This book is strongly grounded on biblical studies, feminist studies, Christian ethics, and religious studies, including principles of inculturation. The volume is a valuable resource to pastors who are sensitive about language justice in worship and to those seeking to explore feminist theology and particularly feminist liturgical studies.

Story and Song: A Postcolonial Interplay between Christian Education and Worship examines the roles of Scripture and hymnody in a Christian community in the twenty-first century, an era marked by a growing awareness of complex issues and migrating contexts. This work identifies the divisions that have existed between these two disciplines. The postcolonial approach employed here offers insights that uncover the colonial assumptions that led to division rather than integration of worship and Christian education. Furthermore, this book seeks to employ qualitative research methods in studying a Korean-Canadian diasporic congregation and a Korean feminist Christian group. Such research demonstrates how the Gospel Story and the congregation's stories can be woven together in a particular context, while the Song of Faith can help to build a postcolonial feminist community. Readers will be equipped to mend the divisions between Christian education and worship, to respond to the needs of non-Western Christian communities, and to attain postcolonial insights. A balanced theoretical work with reflective practical descriptions, this volume will be useful to those who are looking for a text to guide Christian education and worship courses and contribute to the readings of courses in practical theology, postcolonial studies, feminist pedagogies, and feminist liturgies.

It is a new day, a new season for women at this unique time in history. With this new season comes a responsibility and opportunity to live life to its fullest potential . . . but how, exactly, can women wake up to all the possibilities and make the right choices to make each day matter? Popular author and speaker Holly Wagner is calling women to set aside 90 days to awaken to the life God has waiting for each of his daughters. Based on Holly's book Warrior Chicks and on Proverbs 31, these daily devotions go right to the heart of every woman's hopes and dreams for her life, and will stir readers to claim their freedom as heiresses to God's promises. Each reading includes action steps to help women make an impact on and in their day and questions to inspire deeper meditation.

When Carol Floch realized that her marriage was about to end and that she was about to join the ranks of moms left to raise their children on their own, she could not stop crying. She mourned her shattered hopes and grieved the loss of the family she had always dreamed of. But mostly, she cried for her children. Into Carol's grief, regret, and fear, God's Spirit came with a message from Psalm 84: Build your nest near my altar, and I will be your children's source of security, protection, provision, and blessing. In The Single Mom's Devotional, Carol tells her story and shares with the sisterhood of single moms how they can build their family's nest in the protective shadow of God's presence. Single mothers, whether on their own after a divorce or a husband's death, will discover how to find true life in Christ and allow the strength of that inner life to be the compass by which they navigate an unpredictable future. Near God's altar, the cross of Christ is where single moms will discover life through relinquishment, power through dependence, and hope through surrender. Anchored at the foot of the cross, readers will find daily security and hope as they nourish their souls and nurture their children at a place near God's altar.

For thirty-five years, J. I. Packer's Knowing God has revealed to over a million Christians around the world the wonder, the glory and the joy of knowing God. Now, you can discover the riches of the character of God in a devotional format. The daily reading includes Scripture, a suggestion for action or reflection, and space to journal or write out your prayers. Next to Scripture, Knowing God could be the most significant book you will read this year.

In the time of the church, transformation, renewal, and the process of coming-to-faith rely on the symbolic efficacy of speech, where God is encountered as a word. The Sacramentality of Preaching examines the thought of Louis-Marie Chauvet and incorporates it into contemporary homiletical theory in order to bolster and renew Christian proclamation that has an intentionally sacramental character. Liturgical preachers will find practical pathways, frameworks, and common language through the use of this innovative sacramentology.

Scholars and experts in anthropology, theatricality, ethnoscenology, dance, religious studies, theology, history and art have contributed to the inspiring exchange of intellectual inquiry in this book. It presents the revised lectures and a selection of the revised papers from the international and interdisciplinary conference Religion, Ritual, Theatre which took place in April 2006 at the University of Copenhagen. The aim of the book is to intertwine new theories with concrete case studies in an empirical and practical manner. Case studies from different places and various cultures in Europe, South Africa, the Near East and India demonstrate noticeable parallels concerning the notions of embodiment and practice. Even though these upcoming perspectives share a rather redundant vocabulary they nevertheless seem to contribute to a common ground of a phenomenology of the body, of action and perception.

This book, which developed from an understanding of the dialectical relationship between theology and the church, provides information about the function and domain of language in the church through an analysis of its creedal statements. The study begins with an historical investigation of the crisis in linguistic interpretation in the church and theological community. Subsequently, a philosophical framework is presented through an investigation of particularly significant aspects of Ludwig Wittgenstein's later writings. Following a discussion of the alternative readings of Wittgenstein by theologians, examples are presented for ways in which we can apply Wittgenstein's linguistic approach to the interpretation of creeds. After distinguishing optional approaches to the creeds, the book presents an understanding of creedal statements in light of Wittgenstein. Reclaiming the functional nature of doxological language within its liturgical context provides a central connection between the language of the church and the actions of its members.

Achttausend Predigten und mehr durfte Augustinus in den fast vierzig Jahren seines pastoralen Wirkens gehalten haben. Nicht einmal zehn Prozent davon sind uberliefert, und doch macht dieser Bruchteil allein ca. 17 Prozent seines erhaltenen Opus aus. Augustins Predigttatigkeit war also mehrfach umfangreicher als alle anderen seiner Schriften zusammengenommen. Diese Zahlen machen die tatsachlichen Dimensionen des Wirkens Augustins deutlich, die oft zugunsten seiner philosophischen und theologischen Traktate verkannt werden. Der sechste Band der ersten deutschsprachigen Gesamtausgabe der Predigten legt daher die 32 Sermones zum oesterlichen Triduum vor (Karfreitag, Osternacht, Ostersonntag), von denen zwanzig erstmals ins Deutsche ubertragen wurden. Der en face abgedruckte Text gibt die grundlegende Edition der Mauriner unter kritischem Vergleich mit den spateren Editionen und Angabe der Abweichungen wieder. Die Einleitungen und Anmerkungen erlautern das zur Einordnung und zum Verstandnis der Texte Erforderliche: Echtheit, UEberlieferung, Chronologie, Struktur, Stil, historische Daten, Theologie und Liturgie. Ein besonderer Schwerpunkt liegt auf dem Nachweis des biblischen Gedankengutes.

How can a young couple start off on the right foot, helping to ensure that their marriage remains strong and vibrant? This dynamic sixty-day devotional from well-known Christian counselor H. Norman Wright is written expressly for pre-engaged, engaged, or dating couples. The Starting Out Together devotional allows engaged couples to spend quality time together, learning what God says about marriage success. This beautifully designed devotional is a practical, inspirational tool that will help prepare couples of all ages for the wonder and mystery of marriage.

Gerard Manley Hopkins's extant religious prose, compiled in its entirety for the first time, and with material not seen since Hopkins's death, is of value to theologians, church historians, and Victorianists scholars and critics. The Sermons and Spiritual Writings of Gerard Manley Hopkins features the thirty-two sermons and fragments Hopkins preached between the 1870s and 1880s, personal meditations on biblical passages and religious occasions, undergraduate notes on Henry Parry Liddon's Sunday evening lectures, marginalia in the authorized version of the Bible, vows made in the Society of Jesus, private meditations written during his Dublin years, and the Commentary on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. The sermons represent the only texts Hopkins prepared for public performance, and show his creative engagement with classical oratory, patristic scholarship, pastoral theology, and the social and religious controversies of his day. The spiritual writings, stylistically similar to his diary entries, reveal the spiritual consolations and inner struggles of a Victorian Jesuit with remarkable sensibilities. A sometimes vexed and invariably complex spiritual life emerges from the volume, one that encompassed both the 'grandeur of God' and the 'forepangs' of suffering. The new introductions and notes provide expanded historical and theological commentary. The edition also includes new annotations, complete translations of Latin and Greek texts, definitions of Jesuit customs and terminology, a biographical register, and a selected bibliography of key studies on Hopkins sermons, religious writings, and spirituality.

Based on the major themes found on the most active Facebook page in history, JESUS DAILY is a 365-day interactive devotional that goes beyond even the fan page to create a deeper experience and cultural movement that celebrates your redemption in Christ. JESUS DAILY presents a devotional thought but also challenges you to respond to each daily reflection using a variety of social media tools.
JESUS DAILY is a worldwide revolution in how you can connect, share, and worship the Father personally and with other believers.