The Origins of Feasts, Fasts, and Seasons in Early Christianity

by Paul F. Bradshaw, Maxwell E. Johnson

The liturgical year is a relatively modern invention. The term itself only came into use in the late sixteenth century. In antiquity, Christians did not view the various festivals and fasts that they experienced as a unified whole. Instead, the different seasons formed a number of completely unrelated cycles and tended to overlap and conflict with one another. In early Christianity, the fundamental cycle was that of the seven-day week. Taken over from Judaism by the first Christians, this was centered on Sunday rather than the sabbath. As the early Church established its identity, the days of the week set aside for fasting came to be different from those customary among the Jews. There also existed an annual cycle related to Easter.  Drawing upon the latest research, the authors track the development of the Church's feasts, fasts, and seasons, including the sabbath and Sunday, Holy Week and Easter, Christmas and Epiphany, and the feasts of the Virgin Mary, the martyrs, and other saints. 

Genres: Theology, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Timothy Braun · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find this book difficult to review. There's so much excellent content but it's delivered in a desperately dull manner. I've read my share of dry academic textbooks and this one is as dry as they come. But the content itself is fantastic.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used this book for several months for research on the Christian year, also known as the liturgical or church year. By two known liturgical scholars, it deals with Sabbath and Sunday, Easter and Pentecost, Lent and Holy Week, Christmas and Epiphany, and martyrs and other saints. The development of the Christian year in the early church is more diverse, localized, and uneven than it is usually portrayed, and Bradshaw and Johnson do a good job in portraying its complexity. (See also my review of "Between Memory and Hope," a 2000 book edited by Johnson which begins where this one does and then continues to more recent times.)

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Other reviews here seem spot on... there's an amazing amount of helpful information, hence the three stars, but it is almost unreadable in its presentation. Extremely useful as a reference, just not to be read straight through.

[River · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is possibly the worst thing I've ever been forced to read. It was really aimed at scholars of theology, not a student, so I couldn't understand most of what they said.

[Rick Stuckwisch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well organized and helpfully arranged and presented. Solid scholarship and lucid writing. Includes a balanced and careful discussion of the history of the liturgical year. An enjoyable and useful read.