Translating Tradition: A Chant Historian Reads Liturgiam Authenticam

by Peter Jeffery, R. Kevin Seasoltz

2006 Catholic Press Association Award Winner! Liturgiam Authenticam , issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in 2001 has provoked much comment, both positive and negative, from many people involved with the liturgy. Translating Tradition reprises a four-part series by Dr. Peter Jeffery, Obl.S.B., that appeared in the journal Worship in 2004. Jeffery conducts a thoughtful and respectful reading of Liturgiam Authenticam , to identify core principles, understand what the document is really saying and relate it to other church teaching. Chapters are The Latin Liturgical Traditions, The Bible in the Roman Rite, "Languages and Cultures," and "Human and Angelic Tongues." Peter Jeffery, OblSB, PhD, is the Scheide Professor of Music History at Princeton University. He is the author of A New Toward a Renewed Rite for the Washing of Feet published by Liturgical Press. "

168 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2005

About the author

Peter Jeffery was born in 1937. In 1955, at the age of 17, he became a Christian — in spite of the fact that the very day he was converted he vowed, ‘I will never become a Christian!’ Peter married his high school sweetheart, Lorna, at the age of 21 and they had their first child two years later. Nine days after the birth the baby died of spina bifida.

Though Peter had been preaching since he was 18, this incident was used by God to call Peter into his service. He was ordained to the ministry in 1963 and served as the Minister at Ebenezer Congregational Church in Cwmbran, Wales. In 1972 he accepted a call to Rugby Evangelical Free Church where he ministered until 1986.

In 1986 Peter went to Bethlehem Evangelical Church in Port Talbot, South Wales (‘Sandfields’, where Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones had previously ministered), where he pastored until 1994. Since then he has had an itinerant ministry of preaching and evangelism allowing him to preach at churches and conferences around the world.

Now retired, Peter Jeffery has been preaching for more than 50 years. He has written over forty books, which have been translated into many languages. Many of his works focus on new Christians, the foundations of faith, evangelism and salvation. The Trust has published his titles, Windows of Truth, and Stepping-Stones: A New Testament Guide for Beginners (the latter also in Spanish – De Piedra en Piedra).