The Rites of Christian Initiation: Their Evolution and Interpretation

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The Rites of Christian Initiation: Their Evolution and Interpretation​ -  Maxwell E. Johnson
Revised and Expanded Edition. Originally published in 1999, The Rites of Christian Initiation was hailed for its clarity and comprehensiveness. Kilian McDonnell, O.S.B., called it the best overall treatment of Christian initiation available," and Paul Bradshaw predicted it would be the standard textbook on the subject for very many years to come." The current edition draws on new translations of early texts on baptism as well as recent scholarship on the early traditions in the East and West. It is sure to replace itself as the new standard reference on the rites of Christian initiation. Maxwell E. Johnson's expanded and revised text provides a more complete view of the history and interpretation of the rites in the Eastern Church, including two chapters that explore the pre-Nicene Eastern and Western traditions in detail. Revisiting the theology of baptism, this edition also provides more nuanced positions on the Eastern and Western traditions. Finally, recent liturgical developments in American Protestant churches, particularly Lutheran, as well as the ongoing development of the RCIA and confirmation practices of Catholics, made it necessary to revisit the place and meaning of these rites in the church today.

Maxwell E. Johnson, Ph.D. is professor of liturgy at the University of Notre Dame and an ordained minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He has published in Worship and is the editor of and contributor to Living Water, Sealing Spirit: Readings on Christian Initiation and the revised and expanded edition of E.C. Whitaker, Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy, to which this study serves as a companion volume.

Reviews
"If you think Maxwell Johnson has already written the definitive book on the history of Christian initiation rites, you are right. But now he has made it better. A revised and expanded edition is only necessary because scholars have new insights into the history of these rites, and because their contemporary celebration continues to develop. Johnson has written a textbook case of writing good textbooks: clear in organization, generous in quoting sources, precise in analysis, and provocative in expositing contemporary theological issues. Maxwell Johnson is a mystagogical Titan at the top of his form. "
-Paul Turner, S.T.D.: Author of When Other Christians Become Catholic (Liturgical Press)

"The revised and expanded edition of Maxwell Johnson's The Rites of Christian Initiation: Their Evolution and Interpretation further enhances the reputation of the Liturgical Press for publishing first-rate liturgical studies that both keep abreast of the field and ahead of it. The first edition clearly established itself as the best overall treatment of the subject and the most widely used textbook available. This new edition captures the fast-moving developments in scholarship on the rites of both eastern and western Christianity. Particularly instructive is Professor Johnson's discussion of the most recent fruitful engagement of Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches on initiation, including directions to be taken in the future. Most arresting, however, is his penetrating theology and spirituality of the rites of initiation. For everyone interested in the rites of Christian initiation, no matter from what faith tradition, this revised and expanded edition is must reading and study."
-T. M. Finn, Chancellor Professor of Religion Emeritus, College of William and Mary

"The first edition has already established itself as the standard history of the rites of initiation, and the updating in this second edition will further enhance its reputation."
-Rev. Paul Bradshaw, Ph.D., Professor of Liturgy, University of Notre Dame

"By adopting Maxwell Johnson's The Rites of Christian Initiation as the standard text for courses liturgy professors across the English speaking world have recognized the author as among the premier liturgical scholars. Johnson is especially competent in the early period. The revised version has substantial additions: chapters for both East and West in the ante-Nicene period, including new material on the Odes of Solomon; new material on the Cappadocians; a new chapter on all of the seven living Eastern Christian traditions (available nowhere else); the chapter on the modern period now includes the new rites of the Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELCA), and Lutheran Service Book (Missouri Synod) together with more recent scholarship on the RCIA. This makes it the most up to date and comprehensive book on the rites of initiation."
-Kilian McDonnell, O.S.B., Saint John's Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota

Specifications
Paperback
508 pages
Size: 6" x 9"
Code: 6215
ISBN: 9780814662151       

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Model: 6215

ISBN: 9780814662151

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