TRS 748 Rational Worship?: An Analysis of Byzantine Liturgy Today
Logikê latreia (Roman 12: 1) is how the Byzantine tradition describes what transpires in church during liturgy. At almost every Eucharist, during the heart of the anaphora, the presider twice proclaims: "We offer You this rational worship" and at Great Vespers every eighth week the assembly chants the words "We offer you, O Christ, an evening hymn and rational worship." Such explicit - and repeated - claims demand attention. After a detailed examination of contemporary scriptural exegesis of Romans 12:1, we will examine the interpretation of the phrase in the works of more than 100 Greek patristic authors. We will then apply this scriptural and patristic exegesis to an array of Byzantine liturgical practices, attitudes and texts to analyze their coherence with the biblical and patristic understandings of "rational worship" with a view to proposing avenues of renewal and reform of present-day Byzantine worship.