Living Water, Sealing Spirit: Readings on Christian Initiation

Maxwell E. Johnson

Jan 1995 · Liturgical Press

About this ebook

Now that further research into the various rites of Christian initiation has challenged traditional assumptions, it is time to rewrite the textbooks. The ritual structure, specific detail, prayer content, and theology within the various rites indicate significant differences, ones that cannot be forced to fit the single, normative" Western model that has been advanced. These essays for seminary or graduate-level courses recognize the richness of the Christian liturgical tradition: multi-layered, multi-formed, multi-liturgical. They are presented in an order that facilitates their use in a study of the historical development and theological interpretation of Christian initiation. They offer the solid foundation in initiatory theology and history needed to promote an informed pastoral practice in the Churches today.

Following the model of editor R. Kevin Seasoltz's Living Bread, Saving Cup: Readings on the Eucharist, this ecumenical collection will forward the teaching and study of the rites of Christian initiation by gathering in one volume the significant contributions of many of the most important scholars working in the field. The contributors are Aidan Kavanagh, Georg Kretschmar, Adela Yarbro Collins, Gabriele Winkler, Paul F. Bradshaw, Jean Laporte, Joseph L. Levesque, Frank C. Quinn, Paul Turner, Laurence H. Stookey, Eugene L. Brand, Bryan D. Spinks, Paul F. X. Covino, and Mark Seale.

Maxwell E. Johnson, an ordained minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is assistant professor of liturgy in the School of Theology, St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota. He received his doctorate in liturgical studies from the University of Notre Dame.

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About the author

Maxwell E. Johnson is emeritus professor of liturgy at the University of Notre Dame and a retired presbyter in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. His numerous publications are on the origins and development of early Christian liturgy, contemporary rites, and current ecumenical and theological questions in both East and West. He is the author and/or editor of more than twenty books and over one hundred essays and articles. He is also a former president of the North American Academy of Liturgy, a member of the Society of Oriental Liturgy, a member of Societas Liturgica, and a member of the scientific advisory board for the journal Ecclesia Orans.