Orthodox Worship: A Living Continuity With the Temple, the Synagogue and the Early Church [Paperback]

Benjamin D. Williams (Author), Harold B. Anstall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1990

The Orthodox liturgy a living continuity with the worship of Judaism (temple and synagogue) and the Early Church. Written in a non-theological manner for the average lay person, this book offers inspired insights into the Orthodox liturgy. Early Christians preserved a continuity of worship from the Old Covenant to the New, employing elements from the Jewish Temple liturgy, the synagogue liturgy and the rituals of the Jewish home. Shows how divinely revealed Old Testament worship is not only continued but also fulfilled in the Orthodox liturgy. A line-by-line explanation of the liturgy is included

Product Details

• Paperback: 221 pages
• Publisher: Light & Life Pub Co (June 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0937032727
• ISBN-13: 978-0937032725
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,109,335 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Benjamin D. Williams is Director of Strategic Accounts for Welch Allyn, Inc, a manufacturer of medical equipment. He holds an undergraduate degree in Zoology from Southern Utah State University, and a Master of Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary (1979). Since then he has served in various facets of Christian ministry, including pastor, cantor, prison chaplain, and parish council chairman. He has been actively involved in the founding of three mission parishes. Since graduating from seminary, he has been employed in the health care industry, serving in various sales management leadership positions for the past twenty years. Ben also co-authored Orthodox Worship, an introduction to the origins and development of the worship practices of the Orthodox Church.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The author's view, April 2, 2001

By 

Benjamin Williams (Beaverton, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Orthodox Worship: A Living Continuity With the Temple, the Synagogue and the Early Church (Paperback)

This book was written with a specific audience in mind: western Christians, especially Protestants, interested in the history and development of Christian worship. As the sub-title demonstrates, Christian worship developed out of Jewish worship practices, that were informed by the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, and were transformed by the early Christian church into the core of Christian worship. For most western Christians, and particularly Protestants (and both author's were raised as Protestants) this is a little known fact. Besides tracing the history and development of Christian worship, the book also contains a step-by-step commentary on the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, the common Sunday morning service of the Orthodox churches. This book was written for "the common person", and does not require a theological background. It is straight forward and accessible.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent history, review & invitation to liturgical worship, November 17, 2001

By 

Volkert Volkersz (Snohomish, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Orthodox Worship: A Living Continuity With the Temple, the Synagogue and the Early Church (Paperback)

"Orthodox Worship" is essentially two books and a pamphlet under one cover.

In Part I: "Understanding the Divine Liturgy", Benjamin D. Williams, explains the development of Christian worship, starting with the Early Church and its roots in Scripture and the Jewish traditions of temple and synagogue worship.

In Part II: Harold B. Anstall takes the reader on "A Journey Through the Liturgy." Here he starts with "The Interior of an Orthodox Church," which is appropriate, since that is usually the first thing someone experiences upon attending any service in the Orthodox Church. The rest of this section goes through a step-by-step explanation of everything that is said and done in a Divine Liturgy, the "main event" of Orthodox Christian worship.

In the conclusion: "A Call to Worship," Williams invites the Western reader to visit, understand and experience liturgical worship as practiced in the Orthodox Church. Here he gives a quick, understandable overview of how Christianity in the West has departed, and continues to travel farther, from its historical roots in liturgical worship.

I first read "Orthodox Worship," after attending a series of lectures by Frank Schaeffer (son of the late Evangelical apologist and theologian, Francis Schaeffer) in 1997. At that point I was firmly entrenched in an Evangelical church as a praise band director and worship leader. Schaeffer explained his departure from Evangelicalism and his "coming home" to the Orthodox Church. (For more about that, see his book "Dancing Alone.") I began visiting a couple of Orthodox churches in our area, and decided I wanted to understand what was going on.

After my first reading of "Orthodox Worship," I concluded that:

1. Liturgical worship does indeed have its roots in Scripture and in the practices of the Early Church, as practiced in the book of Acts.

2. There is a reason for everything that is said and done in the Divine Liturgy, and that it is all based on Scripture and the development of the Christian faith in the first three centuries.

Now, several years later, as I approach the second anniversary of my own "coming home" to the Orthodox Church, I decided to reread this volume. Now that I've gradually let liturgical worship become an integral part of my life, and now that I sing in (and sometimes direct) our parish choir, I found completely different quotes jumping off the page than the ones I highlighted the first time through, such as:

"It is worth noting...that the frequently quoted passage..."where two or three are gathered in My name, I am there in the midst of them" is not a stand-alone proposition. It has a very specific context, and that context is The Church! (page 80)."

I'd recommend this fine introductory volume to people who want to investigate the roots of liturgical Christian worship, to those who are inquiring about the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as to those Orthodox Christians who need a refresher course on the Divine Liturgy. The only drawback of the edition I read was the many typographical errors scattered throughout the book, which was a little distracting.

(...)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good introductory book, December 29, 2005

By 

D.DeVries "book mom" - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Orthodox Worship: A Living Continuity With the Temple, the Synagogue and the Early Church (Paperback)

I just finished reading this book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and found much to learn. I have only been attending DL regularly for a few months and this book helped me to figure out what's happening. However, the biggest problem is that there were a lot of typos (I wonder if the placing of St. Justinian was just such a typo). Most of these were pretty easy to spot (like "form" instead of "from"), but in general they were annoying.

This would be a great book for a serious inquirer into either Orthodoxy or Church History- since much of this type of history is left out of Protestant history.