Comparative Liturgy as a Historical Discipline: An Epistemological Aspect

The study focuses on Christian Liturgics and its methodology. The goal of clarifying the place of comparative liturgy among the historical disciplines has determined the main research tasks, namely: 1) to explicate the methodological approaches of leading liturgists of the so-called “liturgical renaissance” of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as well as of contemporary scholars of liturgical history (Dom Prosper Guéranger, Dom Fernand Cabrol, Alexander Golubtsov, Anton Baumstark, Robert Taft, Fritz West, Carl H. Bieritz, Dom Alcuin Reid etc.), including the Catholic liturgical movement; 2) to test their methodology on concrete historical material in the context of inter-confessional theological debates around the question of the transubstantiation of the Holy Eucharist, which are resolved differently in the Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed and other ecclesiastical bodies, including the Church of England; 3) to identify the distinctive features of historical comparative studies. The authors conclude that the aforementioned liturgists used the historical comparative method in their studies, not theological or any other (legal, sociological, political) method, thereby creating a new historical discipline – comparative liturgy. The modern complex “liturgical method” belongs to the metatheoretical field of liturgiology, as it comprises a whole interdisciplinary arsenal of specific methods and techniques, such as causal analysis, form analysis, structural and functional analysis, methods of classification, extrapolation and modelling, which require constant revision and updating. The importance of such revision is illustrated by the example of Anton Baumstark's appeal to organicism in the mainstream of evolutionism.

Keywords

history of the Christian Church, Eucharist, history of the liturgy, liturgiology, liturgical movement, ritualism, “liturgical paradigm”, “liturgical method”, research methodology, philosophy of religion

Received

11.08.2022

Publication date

17.11.2022

Number of characters

47452

Cite

GOST	Davydov I., Fadeyev I. Comparative Liturgy as a Historical Discipline: An Epistemological Aspect // Novaia i noveishaia istoriia – 2022. – Issue 5 C. 5-20 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://nni.jes.su/S013038640021043-5-1 (circulation date: 25.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S013038640021043-5
MLA	Davydov, Ivan, Fadeyev, Ivan "Comparative Liturgy as a Historical Discipline: An Epistemological Aspect." Novaia i noveishaia istoriia 5 (2022):5-20. DOI: 10.31857/S013038640021043-5
APA	Davydov I., Fadeyev I. (2022). Comparative Liturgy as a Historical Discipline: An Epistemological Aspect. Novaia i noveishaia istoriia (5), pp.5-20 DOI: 10.31857/S013038640021043-5

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 465

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Agamben Dzh. Tvorenie i anarkhiia. Proizvedenie v epokhu kapitalisticheskoi religii [Creation and Anarchy: The Work of Art and the Religion of Capitalism] / per. s ital. pod red. M. Lepilovoi. Moskva, 2021. (In Russ.)

2. Anik'ev I.I. Uchenie o Evkharistii Paskhaziia Ratberta v kontekste bogosloviia i politiki karolingskoi epokhi [Paschasius Ratbertus’ Teaching of Eucharist in the Context of Carolingian Politics and Theology] // Vestnik Severo-Vostochnogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriia: Istoriia [Bulletin of the North-Eastern State University. Series: History]. 2022. T. 3. № 1. URL: http://vistory-svgu.ru/?page_id-149 (access date: 07.06.2022). (In Russ.)

3. Anik'ev I.I., Davydov I.P., Fadeyev I.A. Materialy nauchno-issledovatel'skogo seminara “Evkharistiia i ritual'nye mekhanizmy protsessa religioznoi identifikatsii” [Proceedings of the Research Seminar “The Eucharist and the Ritual Mechanisms of the Religious Identification Process”]. Moskva, 2022. (In Russ.)

4. Davydov I.P. Khram i ritual: sotsial'nye funktsii sviashchennogo [Temple and Ritual: The Social Functions of the Sacred]. Sankt-Peterburg, 2021. (In Russ.)

5. Fadeyev I.A. Tserkov' Anglii: problema konfessional'noi samoidentifikatsii v istoricheskoi perspektive [The Church of England: The Problem of Confessional Identity in Historical Perspective]. Moskva, 2015. (In Russ.)

6. Golubtsov A.P. Iz chtenii po tserkovnoi arkheologii i liturgike [From Proceedings of Church Archaeology and Liturgical Studies]. Sankt-Peterburg, 1995. (In Russ.)

7. Golubtsov A.P. Iz chtenii po tserkovnoi arkheologii i liturgike [From Proceedings of Church Archaeology and Liturgical Studies]. Ch. 2. Moskva, 1996. (In Russ.)

8. Ioann Damaskin. Istochnik znaniia [The Fount of Knowledge] / per. s dr.-grech. Sankt-Peterburg, 2006. (In Russ.)

9. Kassirer E. Izbrannoe. Opyt o cheloveke [Selected Works. An Essay on Man] / per. s nem. pod red. S.Ia. Levit. Moskva, 1998. (In Russ.)

10. Krom M.M. Vvedenie v istoricheskuiu komparativistiku: uchebn. posob [An Introduction to Historical Comparativism: Textbook]. Sankt-Peterburg, 2015. (In Russ.)

11. Luther M. O Vavilonskom plenenii Tserkvi [On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church]. Sankt-Peterburg, 2017. (In Russ.)

12. Mateos Kh., Taft R. Razvitie vizantiiskoi liturgii [The Evolution of the Byzantine Liturgy] / per. s angl. Kiev, 2009. (In Russ.)

13. Russo O. Istoriia liturgicheskogo dvizheniia [The History of the Liturgical Movement] / per. s frants. N. Poltoratskogo. Kiev, 2013. (In Russ.)

14. Shaff F. Istoriia Khristianskoi tserkvi [The History of the Christian Church]. T. II / per. s angl. O.A. Rybakovoi. Sankt-Peterburg, 2010. (In Russ.)

15. Shaff F. Istoriia Khristianskoi tserkvi [The History of the Christian Church]. T. VII / per. s angl. O.A. Rybakovoi. Sankt-Peterburg, 2009. (In Russ.)

16. Vukashinovich Vladimir, sviashch. Liturgicheskoe vozrozhdenie v XX veke. Istoriia i bogoslovskie idei liturgicheskogo dvizheniia v Katolicheskoi Tserkvi i ikh vzaimootnoshenie s liturgicheskoi zhizn'iu Pravoslavnoi Tserkvi [The Liturgical Revival in the Twentieth Century. The History and Theological Ideas of the Liturgical Movement in the Catholic Church and Their Relation to the Liturgical Life of the Orthodox Church] / per. s serb. V. Belova. Moskva, 2005. (In Russ.)

17. Andrewes L. Responsio ad Apologiam Cardinalis Bellarmini. Oxford, 1851.

18. Baumstark A. On the Historical Development of the Liturgy / transl. by F. West; foreword by R.F. Taft. Collegeville (MN), 2011.

19. Baumstark A. Vom Geschichtlichen Werden der Liturgie [Ecclesia Orans. X. Bändchen]. Freiburg, 1923.

20. Bieritz K.H. Liturgik. Berlin, 2011.

21. Book of Common Prayer: The Texts of 1549, 1559, and 1662. Oxford, 2011.

22. Bradshaw P., Johnson M. The Eucharistic Liturgies: Their Evolution and Interpretation. London, 2012.

23. Cassirer E.A. Structuralism in Modern Linguistics // Word. 1945. № 1/2. Р. 99–120.

24. Concordia Triglotta: Libri symbolici Ecclesiae Lutheranae. St. Louis, 1921.

25. D. Martin Luthers Werke: kritische Gesamtausgabe. 12. Bd.; 19. Bd. Weimer, 1891.

26. De canone missae Huldrychi Zuingli epichiresis. Froschouer, 1523.

27. Huldreich Zwinglis sämtliche Werke. Vol. IV. Leipzig, 1927.

28. Mazza E. The Celebration of Eucharist: The Origin of the Rite and the Development of its Interpretation. Collegeville (MN), 1999.

29. Nichols A. Odo Casel Revisited // Antiphon. 1998. 3 (1). P. 12–20

30. Ninety-Six Sermons by the Right Honourable and Reverend Father in God, Lancelot Andrewes, sometime Lord Bishop of Winchester. Vol. I. Oxford, 1878; Vol. V. Oxford, 1880.

31. Olar O. Orthodoxy and Politics: The Patriarch Nikon of Moscow, the Prince Mihnea III Radu of Walachia and the Great Church of Constantinople // The Rites Controversies in the Early Modern World. Leiden; Boston, 2018. P. 233–263.

32. Raitt J. The Colloquy of Montbéliard: Religion and Politics in the Sixteenth Century. New York, 1993.

33. Reid A. The Organic Development of the Liturgy: The Principles of Liturgical Reform and Their Relation to the Twentieth-Century Liturgical Movement Prior to the Second Vatican Council. San Francisco, 2005.

34. A Relation of The Conference between William Lawd, Then, Lrd. Arch-Bishop of St. Davids; now, Lord Arch-Bishop of Canberbvry: And Mr. Fisher the Jesuite, by the Command of King James of ever Blessed Memorie // Laud W. The Works. In 7 vols. Vol. II. Oxford, 1849. P. 326–328.

35. Schluesselburg C. Theologiae Calvinistarum Libri Tres; in quibus... demonstratur, eos de nulla fere doctrinae Christianae articulo rece sentire. Frankfurt, 1594.

36. Stevenson K. Eucharist and Offering. New York, 1986.

37. The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Ritual / eds R. Uro, J.J. Day, R.E. Demaris & Rikard Roitto. Oxford, 2019.

38. The Two Liturgies: A.D. 1549 and A.D. 1552, with other documents set forth by authority in the reign of King Edward VI. Cambridge, 1884.

39. Yates N. Anglican Ritualism in Victorian Britain. Oxford, 2000.

40. Zwingli and Bucer. Louisville (KY), 1953.