Category Archives: History of Liturgy

A Common Reformed Cup?

by Gregory Soderberg

I love studying liturgical history!  I love finding out how our conceptions about worship are simply wrong-headed.  Most people, especially conservative Reformed types, would say that a “common cup” at communion is an “Anglican” thing, or even worse, a relic of “Romanism.”  Well, it seems that the Scottish Presbyterians used a common cup:

“The tradition of the Presbyterian Church is that the large common cup or chalice be passed from hand to hand, and the bread also be passed from communicant to communicant, each one breaking the bread to his neighbor.  This is sometimes said to symbolize the priesthood of all believers.  Unfortunately in many churches the practice of the individual cup has been introduced on the grounds that the common cup brings the danger of infection.  As a symbol it is very much inferior to the common cup, but once introduced it is very hard to expel.”[1]

[1] David Cairns, “The Holy Communion in the Presbyterian Churches,” in Hugh Martin, ed., The Holy Communion:  A Symposium, (London:  SCM Press LTD, 1947), 72.

Calvin and Weekly Communion

by Gregory Soderberg

The Eucharist in the Reformation“The Eucharist in the Reformation by Lee Palmer Wandel

Wandel asserts the centrality of frequent communion in Calvin’s theology:

“Perhaps most important of all, however, was Calvin’s insistence on frequency.  Most evangelicals condemned the medieval requirement of annual communion as nonscriptural.  Luther condemned it as well for denying the laity that moment of intimate communion with Christ, which, as he said, nourished faith.  But no other evangelical so explicitly situated the Eucharist within a dialogic process not simply of deepening faith, but of the increasing capacity to read the signs of the Supper itself, and by extension, of God in the world.  The Supper, for Calvin, was not “external”—a ceremony to be performed regularly—nor even “worship” in the sense that other evangelicals, such as Zwingli and Luther, used:  a mode of honoring God.  The Supper was, for Calvin, mutual:  Christ “is made completely one with us and we with him.”  One was not “made completely one” with Christ in a single communion; one was “made completely one” over time, through the interdependent activities of the Holy Spirit: preaching and the Supper.  Frequent communion, therefore, for Calvin was essential to one’s growth as a Christian—it transformed one in one’s being and epistemology.  When Calvin’s liturgy was instituted in Geneva, however, the City Council restricted the number of times the Supper would be offered to four:  Easter, Pentecost, mid-September, and Christmas.  On this essential point, the government of Geneva did not follow Calvin.” [1]

[1] Wandel, The Eucharist in the Reformation, 171-72.

On Carefully Defining our Terms in Debates

by Gregory Soderberg

Part of the tragedy of the Reformation was the split between Zwingli and Luther.  Historian Lee Palmer Wandel points out some of the lasting ironies of the debate:

“Perhaps the greatest puzzle of the Eucharistic debates of the sixteenth century lies in this:  Zwingli and Oecolampad rejected Luther’s characterization of their positions in print and in public debates again and again, for nearly a decade, and yet, Luther’s characterization of Zwingli’s position has held.  Zwingli and Oecolampad brought to those debates a deeper engagement with the Greek text of the New Testament … In a telling moment at Marburg, Zwingli cited the Greek text, and Luther responded, ‘Read German or Latin, not Greek’; as Zwingli said, he had used the Greek text for twelve years and read the Latin only once” (The Eucharist in the Reformation, 71).

St. Germanus of Constantinople

by Gregory Soderberg

On the Divine Liturgy On the Divine Liturgy by Germanus I of Constantinople

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is an important part of church history. St. Germanus was important in the Iconoclastic controversy (he was an iconodule), and his commentary on the liturgy marks an important synthesis of both the Antiochian and Alexandrian approaches to the liturgy (as Paul Meyendorff argues in the introduction). The Greek text of Germanus is also given.

What I found most interesting is Germanus’s emphasis on the heavenly nature of the liturgy. Since he was describing the liturgy at Hagia Sophia, the biggest and most splendid church of the time, it would be easy to envision the earthly liturgy mirroring the heavenly worship service. Though we moderns and post-moderns might not have such magnificent surroundings to worship in, we can still start to recover a theology of heavenly worship. Maybe someday we’ll have buildings to match!

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Thoughts on Lent

by Gregory Soderberg

I still don’t make a big deal about Lent, and nor does our church.  We know it’s happening, and we sing songs about the Passion, but that’s about it.  I’m not sure what Reformed Christians should do about it, especially if we are trying to sift through the riches of the catholic tradition.   Here’s what one PCA pastor has to say about it.

Liturgical Notes 1

by Gregory Soderberg

Here’s the first installment of what will (Lord willing) be a regular feature of this web-site.  I’m writing little tidbits on liturgy and music in order to help educate our local congregation as we grow in our use and understanding of liturgical music.  Since we use the Cantus Christi , most of the material will be drawn from there.

Liturgical Notes – Feb. 09