This Is the Night is a work of "liturgical theology," understood as a theology inspired or informed by the liturgies of Christian Holy Week. In the context of modernity in crisis, it is an attempt to think with the principal liturgies of the "PaschalTriduum" - Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Great Vigil of Easter - about human suffering.
The author works from an analysis of the structure of the Christian paschal liturgies to offer an account of suffering that is more compassionate and honest than that of western modernity. Moreover, this account is the theoretical correlate of an ethic performed by the paschal liturgies: their structure and rhythm give rise not only to an account of suffering and its remedy, but to a compassionate practice into which Christians are called.
In both the philosophical and the popular imagination, modernity is a context in which "progress" is the defining human telos. Because of this commitment to progress, modernity is often allergic to the concrete pain and horror of suffering. Modernity sidelines suffering as an unfortunate but necessary moment in the course of human progress, not infrequently because it is a byproduct of our "progress" - our technical mastery of nature and leadership of global capitalization. In this context, suffering is more a concept than an existential fact or experience. Yet downplaying human suffering in this way creates even greater suffering, by anesthetizing us to its effect on human beings.
Some of the critics of modernity also criticize Christianity as a religious version of the modern myth of
progress, or even as its very source. Inspired in part by the political theology of Johann Metz and by the
liturgical scholarship of Don Saliers, Robert Taft, and others, the author argues instead that in the liturgies
of Holy Week, the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ form a context in which Christians recognize
human suffering not as an unfortunate moment on the way to salvation but as the very field of God's saving
activity. That divine activity is saving precisely as we enter into it by practice. To be saved - to enter into
an abundant and vigorous human life - is to become a priestly people, orienting ourselves toward suffering
in the same way that Jesus Christ did, facing it with courage where necessary and resisting its ravages
where possible.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
But the Holy Week rites have an importance that goes beyond their historical richness or their relevance for the Episcopal Church's baptismal focus, and James Farwell's excellent book This is the Night: Suffering, Salvation, and the Liturgies of the Holy Week opens up the theological riches of the Holy Week rites for a postmodern cultural context... essential reading for those who will minister in a postmodern cultural context or in a place where humans suffer- in short, for all clergy, everywhere."- Sewanee Theological Review, Easter 2006 issue
(Sewanee Theological Review)But the Holy Week rites have an importance that goes beyond their historical richness or their relevance for the Episcopal Church’s baptismal focus, and James Farwell’s excellent book This is the Night: Suffering, Salvation, and the Liturgies of the Holy Week opens up the theological riches of the Holy Week rites for a postmodern cultural context... essential reading for those who will minister in a postmodern cultural context or in a place where humans suffer- in short, for all clergy, everywhere."- Sewanee Theological Review, Easter 2006 issue
(Sewanee Theological Review)"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
US$ 2.64
Within U.S.A.
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 3354755-n
Book Description PAP. Condition: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. THIS BOOK IS PRINTED ON DEMAND. Established seller since 2000. Seller Inventory # L0-9780567027603
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0567027600
Book Description PF. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 6666-IUK-9780567027603
Book Description Condition: New. Book is in NEW condition. Seller Inventory # 0567027600-2-1
Book Description Condition: New. New! This book is in the same immaculate condition as when it was published. Seller Inventory # 353-0567027600-new
Book Description Condition: New. PRINT ON DEMAND Book; New; Fast Shipping from the UK. No. book. Seller Inventory # ria9780567027603_lsuk
Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # ABLIING23Feb2416190029281
Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. This item is printed on demand. New copy - Usually dispatched within 5-9 working days. Seller Inventory # C9780567027603
Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. This item is printed on demand. Seller Inventory # 9780567027603