The Shape of the Liturgy

by Gregory Dix

A new edition of Gregory Dix's masterpiece, still essenytial reading for students and scholars and in print constantly for fifty years.

Dom Gregory Dix's classic account of the development of the Eucharist rite continues to be the definitive and authoritative work on the subject. He presents his massive scholarhsip in lively and non technical language for all who wish to understand their worship in terms of the framework from which it has evolved.

He demonstrates the creative force of Christianity over the centuries through liturgy and the societies it has moulded. His great work has for nearly fifty years regularly been quoted for its devotional as well as its historical value, and has regularly attracted new readers.

In this book for the first time, critical studies in the learned periodicals of many countries have been carefully sifted and the results arranged to give a clear picture of the development of the Eucharistic rite.

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

808 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1945

Reviews

[Jack Mullins]

Providentially, I finished the last of this tome on Corpus Christi. I'd been meaning to read this one for a few years, but its length kept me away. Now that I'm living on monastic time, though, I thought I'd finally give it a whirl.

I learned a great deal about the development of the Eucharist through the centuries, despite the author's insistence that this was not the purpose of his work. His treatment of the late medieval western development was of particular interest, since that is a liturgical world I am already pretty familiar with. Also, his final chapter on Cranmer's communion service, which he persuasively characterizes as Zwinglian, was very compelling.

I found Dix's writing to be very engaging, despite the subject which can be a tad dry. (And I say that as a lover of all things liturgical.) He slips deftly between technical exposition and startlingly beautiful prose. Given his style and zeal, I can understand why this book had the enormous influence it did.

[Louis R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gregory Dix is most definitely from the Anglican tradition, and definitely has a little bit of a historicists view of liturgical development. Being an Anglican, some antiquarian ism definitely shines through, and some of his scholarship has most definitely been contested buy more recent Scholars. There are definite views that are helpful in understanding the development of the liturgy, but it is not necessarily a full View of what liturgy should look like today by any means.

[Fred Kohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really a classic in the field. Dix says that he did not intend this book to be a history of the liturgy, but it served that purpose pretty well for me. As a history the main lack is a proper exposition of some of the ideas of major Reformation figures such as Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli. In the chapter on Reformation liturgical innovations Dix, being an Anglican, focuses heavily on Cranmer.

[Nathaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A masterly piece of liturgical study. Clearly written, scrupulously researched and hardly any moments of cumbersome narrative. Dix puts forward a thesis of the liturgy where the Eucharist is primarily examined from the perspective of its 'Shape', that is to say the holistic practice of the rite of Holy Communion with the constituent parts that bishops, priests, deacons and laity have in its formation, evolution and present state.

After dealing with Eucharistic practice all the way from the upper-room of Jesus's 'passover' right down to Luther Dix does not shy away from the controversial issues surrounding differences between the Anglican-reformed community (under the hand of Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer)and other denominational rites.

Once he arrives at Cranmer's role in the development of the English church and its central forms of worship and brings a damning judgement of where the Church of England became then is currently up to in (only 1945!) , interested Anglicans will note, with some concern and intellectual satisfaction, the cool and unrelenting conclusion that most Eucharistic practice from parish church to Canterbury is in no way accurate, uniform, or orthodox after the 1928 reforms of the Book of Common Prayer.

He then holds that (in penitence and a spirit of liberty) a new Shape should be found for the liturgy which becomes an increasingly diverse Church of England in (certainly in today's theological standards)and a Church where Establishment with the Crown counts for very little and a House of Bishop's where most of them couldn't spell anamnesis never mind explain what it is!

[Toby · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is actually a very fun read. Dix would have been a fascinating teacher to sit under. If you're interested in liturgical theology, it tells like a story.

I only read about half of this, for a directed reading under Dr. Old, and he said that was enough. He said it was important to read at some point, but that he considered it the most important piece of "liturgical fiction" available. I don't know all that he meant by that, but he said that there are number of places that Dix "tells the story" in a fairly romantic way, smoothing over diversity and discrepancy for the sake of a good storyline.

So fun read, but check your facts.

[carl · Rating 5 out of 5]

my first ever book on liturgy so it holds a dear place for me.

[Alan Swartz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The shape of the liturgy by Gregory Dix (1954)

[David Pucik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thorough. Good intro to the subject. Well written, but dense and difficult at times. Needs comparison with other sources since it's somewhat dated, but worth the effort.