Liturgy outside Liturgy: The Liturgical Theology of Fr. Alexander Schmemann

"Finally one may ask: but what do you propose, what do you want? To this I will answer without much hope, I confess, of being heard and understood: we need liturgical theology, viewed not as a theology of worship and not as a reduction of theology to liturgy, but as a slow and patient bringing together of that which was for too long a time and because of many factors broken and isolated – liturgy, theology, and piety, their reintegration within one fundamental vision. In this sense liturgical theology is an illegitimate child of a broken family. It exists, or maybe I should say it ought to exist, only because theology ceased to seek in the lex orandi its source and food, because liturgy ceased to be conducive to theology."Table of ContentForeword (Chad Hatfield)IntroductionPart I: A Sketch of Alexander Schmemann’s Thought on Liturgy, Theology, and PietyChapter 1: Should Liturgy Matter Outside the Church? Schmemann on the Study of LiturgyLiturgy and the WorldDefining AntinomyThe Kingdom and the World Meet in LiturgyThe Liturgical Mission to the WorldChapter 2: Can Theology be Done outside the Academy? Schmemann’s Concept of TheologyThe Easy Path Not TakenThe Harder Path We Will TakeLiturgy as Ontological Condition for TheologyA Conversion RequiredChapter 3: Do We Need Liturgy in Our Life? Schmemann’s Connection between Liturgy and SpiritualityWhat Liturgical Piety is NotWhat Liturgical Piety IsBaptismal FoundationsCosmic PriesthoodConclusionPart IIChapter 4: Liturgy and the Consecration of the World1. Liturgy and cosmos2. Liturgy and Anthropology3. Liturgy and Hearts4. Liturgy and HistoryConclusionChapter 5: On Liturgy, Theology and Asceticism1. A Theological Definition of Liturgy2. A Liturgical Definition of Theology3. A Liturgical Theology of the World