Ancient-Future Worship: Proclaiming and Enacting God’s Narrative
Overview
There is a crisis of worship today. The problem goes beyond matters of style—it is a crisis of content and of form. Worship in churches today is too often dead and dry, or busy and self-involved. Robert Webber attributes these problems to a loss of vision of God and of God's narrative in past, present, and future history. As he examines worship practices of Old Testament Israel and the early church, Webber uncovers ancient principles and practices that can reinvigorate our worship today and into the future.
The final volume in Webber's acclaimed Ancient-Future series, Ancient-Future Worship is the culmination of a lifetime of study and reflection on Christian worship. Here is an urgent call to recover a vigorous, God-glorifying, transformative worship through the enactment and proclamation of God's glorious story. The road to the future, argues Webber, runs through the past.
Save more when you get this book as part of the Robert Webber Ancient-Future Collection (4 Vols.)!
Top Highlights
“Fragmentation in worship is expressed in a worship that emphasizes one or another aspect of God’s story but neglects the story as a whole.” (Page 41)
“Two words capture what is new. New understanding and new empowerment.” (Page 30)
“What does it mean to say, ‘Worship does God’s story?’ It is this: Worship proclaims, enacts, and sings God’s story. Worship is not a program. Nor is worship about me. Worship is a narrative—God’s narrative of the world from its beginning to its end. How will the world know its own story unless we do that story in public worship?” (Pages 39–40)
“Reflection on the incarnation and its connection to every aspect of God’s story is the missing link in today’s theological reflection and worship. The link is found in these words: God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves.” (Page 35)
“ brief, the saving deeds of God are remembered through historical recitation and dramatic reenactment.” (Page 48)
[Robert Webber has] introduced so many of us to the early church as a period of unique theological insight, spiritual vitality, and prophetic correction. [He does so] in a way that energizes practicing pastors and lay Christians. It was said of Princeton’s Peter Brown, ‘He rescued the past from the tyranny of stereotypes.’ That is also true for Robert Webber, especially when it comes to worship.
—John D. Witvliet, director, Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and professor of worship, Calvin Theological Seminary
- Title: Ancient-Future Worship: Proclaiming and Enacting God’s Narrative
- Author: Robert Webber
- Publisher: Baker
- Publication Date: 2008
- Pages: 192
Robert E. Webber was, at the time of his death, Myers Professor of Ministry at Northern Seminary in Lombard, Illinois, and served as the president of the Institute for Worship Studies in Orange Park, Florida. Over 30,000 people have attended his workshops, and he has authored over forty books on worship and the church, including the Complete Library of Christian Worship, available from Logos. He has also written Renew Your Worship and developed a complete audio and video series based on the book and its related workshops. Prior to his appointment at Northern Seminary, Webber taught at Wheaton College for thirty-two years as professor of theology. He has taught courses on the history, theology, and practice of worship and spirituality.
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Michael Herbert, M.Div., Pastor
4/8/2014
