Liturgies of the Western Church

by Bard Thompson

The liturgies of the Word and the Lord's Supper that are included in this volume range from those of the church fathers Justin Martyr and Hippolytus through the Roman Mass (in both Latin and English), to the great Reformation liturgies of Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Knox, Baxter, and Wesley, as well as the Middleburg Liturgy of the English Puritans and the Westminster Directory. In addition to his translations, Thompson draws upon copies of many original documents to insure accuracy. An introduction, which places the liturgy within its tradition, accompanies each text.

Genres: Theology, Christianity, History, Church, Nonfiction, Church History, Religion

434 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Bard Thompson (1925-1987) received a PhD at Union Theological Seminary in 1952. Before coming to Lancaster Seminary in 1961 he served on the faculties of Candler School of Theology and the Divinity School of Vanderbilt University. He is the author of Liturgies of the Western Church (1961) and co-author with Howard Paine of Book of Prayers for Church and Home (1962). His lecture "The Heidelberg Catechism and the Mercersburg Theology" constituted his inaugural address as professor of church history at Lancaster Theological Seminary.

Reviews

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the liturgical texts are interesting, it is Thompson's history of their liturgical development which makes this such a great book. Thompson's writing is concise, lucid, informative, and pleasurable. His sympathies are broad, his judgement fair, and his summations accurate.

For a Reformed reader, this study is especially interesting as it covers efforts by Zwingle, Bucer, Knox, and Baxter, as well as those of Luther, Calvin, and the English Divines responsible for the Book of Common Prayer.

I would follow up with Maxwell's respective studies of the liturgical reformations in Geneva and Scotland, as well as his more general history of liturgies; Davies's Worship of the English Puritans; and Hugh Oliphant Old's books: The Reformed Baptismal Rites of the Sixteenth Century, and Worship: Reformed According to Scripture.

Loved it.

[Aaron Crofut · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent book for a thrift store raid. The book consists of a short historical introduction to various Western Christian liturgies, followed by the text of the liturgy itself. The history of the Roman Mass is skimpy, but I found the sections on various protestant liturgies and worship services helpful. I do not know how anyone can take the Protestant "reformers" seriously. Each and every one of them claimed to go back to the "ancient church" for its practices, but each and every one of them came up with different worship services based on different theologies and ecclesiology. Sometimes I had to stop and realize the dates of these arguments, in the 1540's and 1550's, were only a few decades time after the Reformation even began. Instant and unceasing chaos.

Why? Nearly all of them tried to hang their hat on two sources: the primitive church's worship and Scripture. The only thing that united these various sectarians was that the Mass of the Roman Rite was bad, largely for not even claiming to be the primitive church's worship or based entirely on Scripture. But here's the thing: we have very little idea what the primitive church's worship was like, even today. What can be said with certainty is that they did not base it on a Scripture that did not yet exist. So much was made of the Gospel of St. John's sixth chapter (heavily edited, of course), but all of the other Apostles were dead when said Gospel was composed. Not having frankly any basis to really base their worship on, the various reformers pretty much made stuff up whole-cloth and claimed it to be in accordance with the ancient church. But of course, no two of them made it up in the same way, hence the incessant bickering. So much arguing over whether communion should be held monthly or quarterly, as if there was anything in theology or Scripture to back either answer. Seriously, that came up at least half a dozen times.

So what did they produce? There were two general camps, one looking to revise the Roman Rite and the other to scrap it altogether. Neither improved upon it. An example: the Confiteor is a simply beautiful prayer. The various Reformers saw the need for a penitential introduction, but nearly all of them ended up with dour, depressing, endless statements. And that note stays present throughout their services. There are very few aspects of adoration and thanksgiving is downplayed; penance and petition are the prevailing notes. The focus has become upon the people at the Church, not God. Most of these services were designed to obfuscate rather than clarify in an attempt to keep the various factions happy (though I can't think of an example where that worked, and more than a few were aborted before even being promulgated). That makes for some wordy and boring passages.

I doubt Mr. Thompson would be thrilled with this review. I'm not thrilled that some dingbats decided the Catholic liturgy should be modified to "accommodate" Protestants. The Protestants could not even accommodate to the Protestants, so that's clearly a fool's errand. We'll be sticking to the Tridentine Mass, thank you very much.

[Riley Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book about the different liturgies of the Christian Churches. I especially appreciate how the author articulated the different beliefs about the Eucharist (or- as Protestants' commonly call it- The Lord's Supper or AKA Holy Communion). A concise, enjoyable read!

[Sam Bostock · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very handy compendium of liturgies with useful introduction and a good focus on the British Isles.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I acquired this book nearly a half-century ago, and I am very glad to see that it is still in print.

This collection of liturgies is the one resource needed to explore the rich heritage of the Western Church as a worshiping community. Here is explained why the Roman liturgy became known as the Mass, and the evolution of variations of the Eucharistic practices from Justin Martyr to John Wesley. It stops short of the liturgical developments in the 19th and 20th Centuries, but this is not an issue because resources are readily available and plentiful. The value of this book is putting what is known about the earliest worship of the Western Church through the more influential variations brought on by the Continental and English Reformations.

My copy is somewhat battered and marked from years of reference. The earliest forms of Christian worship and the modern share a participatory drama in which the congregation act out their faith by entering into the story of salvation as they understand it.

This book is an essential resource for anyone who would want to understand the richness and depth of the liturgical heritage of Western Christianity.

[Luke Brodine · Rating 5 out of 5]

critical work for studying the development of the liturgy throughout the history of the church. includes Strasbourg and Genevan Liturgy, highly influential upon American Presbyterian worship. ends at Richard Baxter, so it is somewhat incomplete.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book includes the main liturgies used in the western church, from the second century through the Methodists. It was interesting to look at the similarities and differences between them. Very good reference.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am using this book as a reference and have not yet read it in its entirety. So far, it has been a great resource for understanding church life through the centuries.

[Timothy Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very useful reference. It is also rewarding devotional reading in its own right. The similarities across 'diverse' traditions are striking.