Liturgical Theology After Schmemann

An important contribution to knowledge in an exciting new field at the intersection between philosophical hermeneutics and liturgical studies.

French philosopher Paul Ricoeur gave sustained attention to several themes pertinent to a hermeneutics of liturgy, including symbol, metaphor, narrative, subjectivity and memory. This book explores how Ricoeur’s original insights may serve to renew contemporary Orthodox liturgical theology. The Byzantine-Rite “Great Blessing of Water” serves as a case study.

While only rarely reflecting explicitly on liturgy, French philosopher Paul Ricoeur (1913-2005) gave sustained attention to several themes pertinent to the interpretation of worship, including metaphor, narrative, subjectivity, and memory. Inspired by his well-known aphorism, "The symbol gives rise to thought," Liturgical Theology after Schmemann offers an original exploration of the symbolic world of the Byzantine Rite , culminating in a Ricoeurian analysis of its Theophany "Great Blessing of Water." .
The book examines two fundamental questions: 1) what are the implications of the philosopher's oeuvre for liturgical theology at large? And 2)how does the adoption of a Ricoeurian hermeneutic shape the study of a particular rite? Taking the seminal legacy of Orthodox theologian Alexander Schmemann (1921-1983) as its point of departure, Butcher contributes to the renewal of contemporary Eastern Christian thought and ritual practice by engaging a spectrum of current theological and philosophical conversations.