Ancient-Future Worship: Proclaiming and Enacting God's Narrative

by Robert E. Webber

With the many models of worship available, choosing a style to worship God can be a bit overwhelming. Is it better to go with traditional or contemporary models? Christians may find themselves asking how early believers worshiped and whether they can provide insight into how we should praise God today.
Rooted in historical models and patristic church studies, Ancient-Future Worship examines how early Christian worship models can be applied to the postmodern church. Pastors and church leaders, as well as younger evangelical and emerging church groups, will find this last book in the respected Ancient-Future series an invaluable resource for authentic worship.

Genres: Theology, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Christianity, Religion, Christian, Church

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2008

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a lot to chew on here.

[Tyler Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Ancient-Future Worship with my sister-in-law, Brin. Webber, an Anglican scholar, wrote this to address the crisis in worship he has observed in the evangelical world at large. He casts a new (old) vision for what worship should look like based on the worship and practices of the early church.

His fundamental argument is that worship should retell the story of God rather than being focused on entertainment, evangelism, emotionalism, etc. or being too narrowly focused on only one aspect of the gospel (like Jesus' death on the cross (*cough* Catholics) or our personal profession of faith (*cough* revivalist evangelicals)). Rather, we must retell the whole story of God's engagement with the world from creation to incarnation to recreation.

Additionally, Webber casts a vision for reading the scriptures like the church fathers, seeing Christ as the central theme revealed in the Old Testament and New. He calls us back to a biblically & historically grounded structure of worship based around word (the scriptures) and table (the eucharist) while defending the apostolic view of the real presence of Christ in the eucharist. He concludes by articulating how all of the worship service is prayer, not just the parts we call "prayer".

Overall, this was a very accessible book written with the lay evangelical in mind but is a great resource for anyone looking for a more biblically based and historically rooted understanding of Christian worship.

[Andrew Fox]

I would take our congregation on a journey to rediscover the narrative of God not just through the incarnation, life, ministry, death, resurrection, ascension and coming again of Jesus, but through the greater narrative that threads its way throughout scripture to include all creation. This is the context of our worship where the incomprehensible and invisible Father is communicated through the comprehensible and visible world. As Webber clearly states, this centers around the Word and Table that church history reveals as two points of contention. My own British culture (where the Table is celebrated every week) adds an opposite vantage point to the Table celebrated in the American context, where it may only be celebrated 3 times a year. Every Sunday should be a time to gather together around the Table not as something we do, or simply remember the work of Jesus, but to realize that we are in the narrative of God from before the Garden of Eden through to the hope that Jesus will return for us in person.

Convenience and manpower may be the reason the Table is not celebrated in the American context, fueling the negative fact that the full story of God is being lost. Added to this is the drive for therapeutic sermons, tips and techniques for living with principles for personal success. The two extremes of objective and subjective sermons fail to connect the reader, preacher, teacher and congregation to participate in an ongoing narrative where the end-game is assured. We are left to our own analysis of spiritual life according to our personal success! How can the story of God be totally objective (worship towards something or someone) without it being subjective (how worship transforms me)? And how can this wonderful story be totally subjective without the objective who is Jesus? Word and Table have been argued and fought over with the Early Church Fathers and refined through Reformation but disemboweled by our present culture.

To rediscover the narrative of God will dramatically transform the way we do church on a Sunday. It will challenge the programs we offer from nursery through senior ministries. It will question the church board and where money is spent and change the direction of property and building projects. To enact the narrative of God every Sunday through the songs we sing, the Bible that is read and preached, and the Table will not challenge our professionalism, but control the man-management of it. We will not be standing over the Bible questioning it, but living within its narrative with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob from the Old Testament with Peter, James and John from the New Testament. The journey of rediscovery may need new leadership or redefined leadership - either way it is the leadership that must experience transformation first.

How would I summarize this to a friend? I am assuming in this case that the friend does not come to church but is curious about what happens. I would tell him that in a local church you can observe the enactment of the whole Christian story from the songs we sing, the Bible that is read and preached, to the Table and prayer among the group of believers. There would be a transcendent sense of `something greater than myself' happening not just a re-telling. It would rise above culture and tradition to participation with Jesus' Spirit telling of the past, present and future. The `telling' would be the goodness and relentless faithfulness of God in what he has done for us, is doing for us and will do for us. The emphasis is not just `us' (the subjective) but `God' himself (the objective). I would tell my friend that remembrance and anticipation are part of the Christian practice. Although Jesus is our Savior who has completed the work of Salvation for us, he continues to work as the Mediator of his completed work in our lives. This is where remembering and anticipation come together so the church is not a museum of `what happened' but `what continues to happen' in the lives of humanity. We remember that what God has already done for us we cannot do for ourselves. He has done this in the person of Jesus his son. This wonderful salvation does not just affect humanity but all creation.

This would be most tangible around the Table where the bread and wine do not simply remind us of the perfect body of Jesus that was crucified, buried, raised and coming again, but the whole story of God that includes the incarnation where Jesus became a human in every sense. He was utterly dependent upon the Spirit's work within him with no supernatural advantage that is not available to us after the Day of Pentecost. In the two symbols of bread and wine remembering includes all creation that eagerly awaits the return of Jesus to be made new. This means we anticipate Jesus to return not just for us but for a new heaven and earth. Although this is something I would tell my friend, I would also remind him that we are still rediscovering this fact of God's narrative and therefore tend to perform like actors for an audience who give money if they are pleased, paying for another act the following Sunday. I would strongly emphasize that what several cultures have dissected takes a generation to restore like the historical Reformers.

All this should build a rich God-human relationship and transform human relationships. The simple act of serving `others' at the Table and participating in songs that sing out the narrative with `others' demonstrates the anticipation of every tribe, nation and language together with Jesus before the Father. This is not politically framed or organized to make a point. In taking the bread and wine as symbols of God's wonderful story, it transcends color, culture, gender and generation. It is one loaf we receive from as Jesus is one Savior. This is a supernatural experience whose only reference point within humanity would be the stroke of midnight between December 31st and January 1st 1999-2000. As the midnight moment struck across each time-zone people of mixed cultures and traditions combined in a world celebration around a new millennium. The failure in this reference is that it can only be experienced once every one thousand years eliminating multitudes from participation. Another failure would be the temporary theme that `went' as fast as it `came' but did not remain. We can remember it but anticipate nothing more. Therefore the relationships forged through this momentous occasion quickly dispersed back to what they formally were. The Table does not allow for this (as long as it is truly practiced) and the central theme of the Word (Jesus) does not exclude but includes and embraces. Again, as long as the Word is truly read and preached with the practice of the Table, the focus and theme is not `us' but the narrative of God. He became, has become, and continues to become the root of all God-human relationships through the lens of worship as we read and hear the Word whilst celebrating the Table.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

The final work from the life of R. Webber, where he brings forward the culmination of his life’s work, seeking to invite Evangelicals to reconsider the meaning & purpose (and down stream, the implementation of) Christian worship.

In the appendix Webber succinctly summarises what he is calling the Evangelical church to:

1. Primacy of the biblical narrative
2. On the church, the continuation of gods narrative
3. The church’s theological reflection on gods narrative
4. The church’s worship as telling and enacting God’s narrative
5. Spiritual formation in the church is embodiment of God’s narrative
6. On the church’s embodied life in the world

I didn’t find this the most engaging book, yet I’m convinced the message is vital in our age of confusion in the church.

I would suggest reading “the Divine Embrace” prior to this, as it gives significant context to some of his claims.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 and a half, didn't finish the book entirely, skipped around a bit here and there depending on the section. But overall, I like what I had read. Though there were some parts that I still need to flesh out.

[Daniel Markin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Webber is a gem. His chapter on the Eucharist is worth the price of the book.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review was written for a class project, which shaped my approach to the content:

Webber's work seeks to reclaim corporate worship for the church that is consistent with its broader and ancient history. For Webber, "[w]orship proclaims, enacts, and sings God's story" (Webber, 39), and this grand story within the worship of the church has been lost in contemporary liturgies. The various contortions of worship liturgies that have developed over time have been built around fragments of God's story. This is what Webber calls “fragmentation”: “Fragmentation in worship is expressed in a worship that emphasizes one or another aspect of God's story but neglects the story as a whole” (Webber, 41).

Throughout his work, Webber sketches the major emphases of the church's liturgies with broad strokes. He highlights the broad “creation, decreation, recreation” story arc of the ancient church, especially those of the East, in contrast to the “creation, fall, redemption, renewal” arcs of the West. Within this comparison are various critiques of how the Reformation reclaimed aspects of its liturgies, but still laid a disproportionate emphasis on sin, especially personal sin. For example, Webber notes:

There is one noted shift in Reformation worship from the ancient liturgies of the church: worship now places greater attention on the individual's condition before God... The Reformed liturgies continue to emphasize the sacrifice of Christ, not as a re-sacrifice as in the Roman liturgy, but Christ's a substitute for my sin. (Webber, 77)

He goes on to develop how the emphasis on substitutionary atonement plays out in the modern era as another fragmentation of God's broad story: “The problem is that God's overall work in history is ignored. His mighty deeds for world redemption are individualized” (Webber, 90). While it is true that Christ has died for my sin, in the corporate worship liturgy, this contortion truncates the purpose of the congregation's worship to be around personal sin and guilt, and Christ's care for the individual, rather than remaining focused on God's broad work through Christ to renew all creation. For Webber, this emphasis on substitutionary atonement loses the force of the ancient church's emphasis on Christus Victor which tells a broader story of God's purpose not only for the individual, but for the cosmos as well.

These points are brought out most clearly in his engagement with the purpose of the Lord's Supper:

It would be more appropriate to describe the ancient view of God's presence at bread and wine this way: an incarnational and supernatural dimension is attributed to bread and wine. When bread and wine are received in faith, we are transformed. Bread and wine nourish our union with Jesus. It transforms us into his image and likeness" (Webber, 140)… Bread and wine reveal God's intention for the whole world. The offering and sacrifice of Christ is meant to manifest the church as God's new creation. Bread and wine manifest to the world its own ultimate destiny. Bread and wine are a glorious display of the union between heaven and earth, the visible and the invisible, the overcoming of the powers, and the transfigured glory of the new heavens and new earth. (Webber, 145)

The story says, 'you do not live in a natural world explained by reason and science.' The story says, 'You live in a supernatural world of wonder and mystery. Stand in this world and receive the mystery of bread and wine. It discloses the goodness of creation and the union of the human and divine. Bread and wine embody the images of heaven and earth united and the future anticipated restoration of the whole world under Jesus. Be free from the constraints of reason and science and meet the true meaning of life in the mystery of these elements.' (Webber, 146)

Webber's balance within his critiques is the way his arguments become so winsome. The Lord's Supper is an element of worship that produces internal change, but it's focus is on God's story through Jesus to renew all creation. This captures the personal faith of the worshiper, but also situates them inside an unfragmented story that telegraphs the grand purposes of God. This is essential for Webber, since week in and week out, people are inundated with secular stories that emphasize the primacy of a scientific, factual explanation of the world, or a therapeutic, self-centered approach to personal development. The purpose of the worship service is to proclaim, enact, and sing God's story, week in and week out, so that the Christian's imagination isn't diluted into thinking they are the center of God's universe, but are graciously included in God's renewal of all things through Jesus.

Critiques or disagreements with Webber's work are minor. While he emphasizes the early church, one is left wondering why the New Testament's witness to congregational worship is lacking. This may be simply due to the reality that we do not have an articulated liturgy within the NT canon (e.g. no one chapter or book tells us how to craft calls to worship, congregational prayer, preaching, sacrament, etc.). While this may be the case that there is no assembly guide for a worship service within the early church, there are clear emphases that could have bolstered his work so as to emphasize the Biblical critiques he brings to contemporary worship.

Webber's work ultimately is refreshing and helpful for my own worshipping community. Over the years we have increasingly moved towards a “creation, de-creation, re-creation” emphasis in our worship services through the preaching and exhortations. Webber's work reminds me to emphasize these mysteries within our weekly practice of the Lord's Supper. We live in a world that belongs to God, who has told us his grand story through Jesus, and is renewing all creation. While this broad storyline is emphasized within our worship, it is a fresh renewal of faith for the impact of these dynamics.

Our congregation meets in an addiction recovery community center, and while I take exception to Webber's comments about the physical space implications of worship [“In the beauty of the temple God keeps before his people the vision of the new heavens and new earth. Historic Christian churches have also kept God's vision alive in their worship space. Unfortunately the modern and contemporary church has, for the most part, disregarded God's cosmic vision and has reduced space to a utilitarian usage. Now that we live in a more visual period of history, younger learners in particular are rediscovering how space speaks and are looking once again to the rediscovery of biblical and historical worship” (Webber, 65).], his emphasis on the Eastern v. Western models of liturgical meaning have deep implications for our congregation and neighbors. Most, if not all, of our neighbors are afflicted in one way or another either by “Catholic Guilt” or nagging guilt due to their addiction(s). Our neighbors are well aware of their misdeeds. While it is essential to experience the forgiveness of Christ and his imputed righteousness, moving our focus towards “creation, de-creation, renewal” speaks in language that empowers and renews people in a wholistic way. For the “recovering Catholic,” it moves the emphasis away from all the minutia of how they have offended God, and into a story about a happy God, who sees their affliction, who is happy to save them, and is happy to renew creation - of which they are a part. For the recovering addict who is well aware that their addiction is driven by more than mere moral choices, and knows the depths of how broken they are physically and mentally, an emphasis on the renewal of creation offers intimate hope to them because God sees the whole world as being roughshod by death and in need of renewal. The physical body is within God's attention and view within his redemptive work in Christ. This emphasis brings a grit to the Gospel that our neighbors track with. While not ejecting or even diminishing the substitutionary work of Christ, the Christus Victor model speaks hope and healing to our neighbors in desperate need of grace.

[Martijn Vsho · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book brings readers back to the early church's definition of worship: worship does God's story; it remembers what he has done in the past and anticipates what he will do in the future.
I love this definition of worship. It really expands the way I perceive worship and my life. My life can join God in his story, whether that is through work, school, ministry, relationships, or music.
However, I gave this book 3 stars because I disagreed with a lot of his arguments and conclusions. Nonetheless, it is still an interesting book that brings the reader back to what ancient worship was like.
God invites us all to join his narrative. We just need to accept his invitation and join him in redeeming the world.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a call to return to the depth and richness that was a part of early Christian worship. Webber argues that modern worship has tended toward superficiality, consumerism, entertainment, and individualization. He argues that the way back is found in proclaiming the biblical narrative in worship and learning from the historic practices of the church. The book focuses more on the content and structure of worship than on its style (90) emphasizing that worship should not merely be an event, but a transformative encounter with God that reflects the grand story of scripture. “Worship does God’s story,” Webber says. He categorizes the narrative of scripture through the acts of creation, incarnation, and recreation with specific attention given to prioritizing the Christus Victor (86) theme of the plan of redemption in worship. In doing this, Webber critiques evangelicals (37) who prioritize the cross over what he calls the full scope of the redemptive work. He presents a form of ancient-future worship by viewing the elements of worship, word, eucharist, and prayer through the lens of the practices and teachings of the early church and ancient church.

What were three (or more) things you learned from reading this book?
The danger of fragmentation in worship when one person of the trinity or one aspect of God’s story is emphasized to the neglect of others. This leads to a reduction of the Christian message. (41-42, 83)
The importance of intentionally ordering the structure of liturgy under our statement of faith and around the biblical narrative. Lex orandi; Lex credendi. Show me how you worship, and I’ll show you what you believe. The question, “What does our order of worship actually communicate?” was helpful. (104)
Rather than resulting in compliments for the performer’s skill or the leader’s planning, the end result of worship that proclaims God’s story is a delight in God’s people that produces participation. (111)

Which chapter or section of the book had the greatest impact on you? Why?
Chapter 6 on the Word was most impactful to me. I was especially helped by his call to read the Biblical story as an insider rather than as outsiders more concerned with objective historical critical methods or subjective personal experiences. His four points of application for reading and proclaiming the word were especially helpful: 1) Read with an ancient mindset (embracing mystery and the supernatural), 2) Read passionately and relationally, 3) Read as metaphor (though I’d have concerns about taking this point beyond what he describes), and 4) read so that the Bible reads us and our world.

What is one quote from the book that made an impression on you?
His description of “real presence” at the table made me think quite a bit, and I’m still considering its implications for my own view of communion. “Bread and wine disclose the union we have with Jesus, which is not a mere standing, but a true and real participation lived out in this life as we become the story of God in this world individually in all our ways and corporately as the people of God…We take God's whole story into our stomach, let it run through our bloodstream, let it then energize our entire living-our relationships, our work, our pleasure; all of life is now to be lived as Jesus lived his life. As he took into himself the suffering of all humanity, so we are to take into ourselves the suffering of the world and do something about it. As he rose above all that is evil in the world through his resurrection, so we too are to rise to the new life by the Spirit of God. All our death to sin and rising to life finds its true and ultimate meaning in him who lives in us, living in our sufferings, living in our struggles with evil, living in our resurrections to new life.”


What is a disagreement you have with the author?
While I see the importance of proclaiming and enacting the whole of the story of redemption, I disagree with Webber’s interpretation of the acts of the story of redemption as simply creation, incarnation, recreation. I think instead that scripture emphasizes four acts--creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. I believe that Christ’s cross and the substitutionary atonement that He accomplished there are at the heart of the Biblical narrative. And, while I followed Webber’s logic throughout the book, his emphasis on Christus Victor (86, 170) and the incarnation seems to reduce the cross (37) to simply a part of God’s plan rather than what J.I. Packer calls the “central reference point.”

If you could interview the author, what question(s) would you ask?
How can we incorporate Ancient-Future Worship content and structure in ways that are not as wordy or thick in content as what you’ve referenced from the practices of the ancient church? It seems that the examples from church history, especially the prayers, were quite heavy and would be difficult for modern congregations to follow.

What is your most useful takeaway from this book?
Making sure that I take seriously the responsibility or planning services that “do” the grand narrative of scripture in remembering “God’s work in the past, anticipates God’s rule over all creation, and actualizes both past and future in the present to transform persons, communities, and the world.” (43)

[Rosemary · Rating 2 out of 5]

For traditions (like the Anglican) that never lost the ancient traditions, this book does not have much to offer. It critiques both shallow contemporary worship and tired, stagnant worship. Let's hope we can all work to invigorate worship as, in the author's words, "doing God's story."

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid book. not perfect, but lots of good wisdom for church leaders and it points out much of the empty worship we see in the western church today.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book that had been on my TBR list for a long time. Since 2009, I believe, because I've been digging way back to the beginning of that list.

Robert E Webber (1933-2007) truly believed that we, as the Church, have lost the "ancient ways" when it comes to our worship of God, and I tend to agree with him. Worship, in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, has become extremely "me-centric" and individual. In fact, the entire "Christian life" has become more and more individualized, and the community suffers when that happens.

Webber addressed that, to a large degree, in a previous book (which I also read, earlier this year), The Divine Embrace. This book addresses mostly the worship aspect, and how we can return to the ways of the ancients.

God, Webber says, has a story, and we need to rediscover that story. The Bible, of course, is that story, and the mistake we have made with that is in trying to dissect it, like a biology class dissects a frog. While there is certainly value in knowing the Bible inside and out, there is more value to reading it for what it is, the story of God.

In fact, this book, he declares, is not an academic book. And I believe the reason for that is that Webber is encouraging us to not read the Bible as an academic book.

This book is divided into two parts. The first part is about rediscovering the story of God in worship. The phrase which is the first chapter title, and occurs multiple times in the book, is "Worship does God's story." And Webber shows this by examining ancient ways of worship, all the way back to the first century of Christianity. In doing God's story, worship remembers the past and anticipates the future. And, if you know the Bible, that is also the pattern that the Bible follows.

There's a bit of history in a chapter where he describes how we lost this aspect of God's story in worship, and he traces worship from the first century up until the late twentieth century, and shows how it went from being an event of remembering the past and anticipating the future to an event which focused first on education, and then became more of an experience. In Webber's opinion, this has mostly happened in the West, while the Eastern churches seem to have managed, at least to a degree, to maintain that aspect of story in their worship. In the West, especially in the U.S., worship has become entertainment and program; the next big thing to draw the people in.

The entire worship "experience" should be wrapped up in what Webber calls "Word and Table." This refers to the Scriptures and what he refers to as the Eucharist (also known as Communion and The Lord's Supper - I tend to refer to it as simply "The Supper").

The second part of the book is about applying God's story to worship. There is an overview chapter on worship, then a chapter on Word, a chapter on Table, and finally a chapter on Prayer, in which Webber opines that the entire worship service is actually a prayer in which the community of saints prays for the world.

I enjoyed this book, and find that it bears re-reading, at some point, perhaps not the whole book straight through again, but a chapter here and there, just to refresh my memory on what it was that he said. For the most part I find that I am in total agreement with Webber and his assessment on Western worship practices. I have been struggling with this for a number of years, now, especially as I look at the trend of modern worship music to be almost entirely "me-centric," rather than God-centric. Worship and the Christian life have become things that we do, rather than things that God do in us.

This (and other volumes in the Ancient-Future series) is Robert E Webber's attempt to draw us back.

[Jeffrey Faux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Webber’s definition of Ancient-Future worship as “the common tradition of the church’s worship in Word, Table, and song, practiced faithfully and communicated clearly in every context of the world.” (Webber, p. 168) comes from an analysis of worship that is derived from scripture narrative. The title of chapter 1, Worship Tells God’s Story” is the foundation of the ancient future concept. The story is understood not only as ‘history’ but as being acted currently and continuing until its completion in the second coming. The old testament points to the incarnation. The incarnation, God with us, is being played out now with an understanding that the story continues beyond us into eternity. This large story of the past, the present and the future should be acted out, and replayed, and rehearsed in worship.

His opening chapter, “Worship Does God’s Story” outlines how the old testament prefigures and prepares us for Christ. This is a concept I understood to a degree but could not articulate as clearly as it is laid out in this book.

Every story has a nexus and the Eucharist is that nexus for Christians. Christ among us becomes Christ within us through the sacrifice the Last Supper which both remembers Passover and prefigures Christ’s crucifixion. This sacrifice is the connection of the past to the faith we live out today and what is celebrated in the feast to come. This understanding of the eucharist has given it new meaning for me personally. This book has encouraged me to think differently about the importance of the communion remembrance. In worship services that emphasize the practical application of the Word, the Eucharist can provide a needed link to the divine that is beyond our understanding.

[Kim Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Webber wrote many excellent books on Christian worship in his life, and in Ancient-Future Worship, he explains the importance and necessity for grounding our worship in the Bible and history. Webber interacts with worship history from biblical times, through important teachings from church fathers and reformers, and continually discusses the impact of worship decisions today. Early in the book Webber explains the difference between Eastern Christianity’s emphasis on creation – incarnation – re-creation, in contrast to Western Christianity’s creation – fall – redemption understanding. Not only does he rightfully handle the development of Christian worship through the teachings of church fathers, but he summarizes how our Western lenses have sometimes skewed our understanding of true, biblical worship.

Quote: “A dominant error of some Christians is to say, ‘I must bring God into my story.’ The ancient understanding is that God joins the story of humanity to take us into his story. There is a world of difference. One is narcissistic; the other is God-oriented’” (23).

[Laney Dugan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a thoughtfully studied, considered, and written work on how the liturgies of worship in the ancient church have been lost and might be recovered for the church today. I am definitely interested in reading more in his Ancient-Future series, and would be interested to see if any of those had more content that was new to me. This felt like a helpful refresher of a lot of things I’ve picked up along the way or learned elsewhere, but you can tell that Webber is deeply passionate about this topic… this movement, if you will. I appreciated the implicit articulation that worship is not confined to singing, and the emphasis on the whole narrative of God’s story being central to the worship of God’s people. His language around worship both remembering and anticipating was helpful and concise.

[Michael Romans · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful primer

Weber does a wonderful job of starting the reader on a journey to recapturing their place in the story of God. Worship is not about singing or preaching or even the table. Rather worship is about God. Our singing, proclaiming and Eucharist all remember what God has done, point to what God is doing in the world, and to what God will do ultimately when His kingdom is fully consummated.

If you want a look into what it might be like to come back to a worship that isn't about "me" but about God this is a wonderful place to start.

[Lucas Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ancient-Future Worship is exactly what many of us in the Church have been longing for. Robert E. Webber does an amazing job showing how the early Christians worshiped, and why those practices still hold meaning for us in a postmodern world. I love how he blends history with practical insight, helping believers and leaders rethink worship in a way that feels both deeply rooted and refreshingly relevant. It’s a thoughtful reminder that honoring ancient traditions can actually move us forward in our faith journey. A truly valuable guide for anyone passionate about authentic worship!

[Ryan Dufoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Christian raised in the west who has committed to minister and lead worship at his local church, this book really stretched, inspired, and challenged me. It deals with the overarching story of God through history and calls in to reflection every aspect of our Worship services today. Webber's book helps you see worship in the Church within the historical practice as well as today's, and I'm forever grateful for the journey.

[Nicholas Varady-szabo · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting discussion on what is true christian worship, and what evangelicals can learn from the ancient church fathers, and the Eastern church.

[Cameron Combs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was incredibly pithy and insightful. It is rare to come upon a book that contains such serious and deep theology but is expressed in practical and plain language. Webber’s book is a treasure. I plan on handing out copies to any who will read.

[Jeff Lukens · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could give Zero stars I would. I didn't even get past the introduction. Once the author started making anti-semitic and Islamaphobic generalizations I stopped reading.

[Jon Anderson]

Thought provoking look at worship as remembrance and anticipation, Word and Table

[Mallory Garrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed Webbers take on the Eucharist. Very thoughtful and offers a special invitation for examining this practice.

[Steven Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weber’s work helped me formulate language that both solidified and transformed how I think and speak about Christian worship.

[Tobi · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Worship is narrative." He had me at hello.

Great deconstruction/reconstruction of the state of worship in the West. A must-read for anyone disenfranchised with the way we do church.

[Josh Welker]

I had mixed feelings on this one. Overall, a good book that does a great job of describing the narrative of Christian history. It also gives a very good account of Christus Victor atonement. Webber's thesis is that something has been lost by Western churches after the ancient era.

On the other hand, I found Webber to be somewhat condescending and parochial. According to Webber, the Eastern Orthodox churches are the only ones that "get it right," and he is very dismissive of modern western churches, especially Catholicism.

Probably the biggest issue I had with the book is that Webber's model of Christian life and worship was that Webber's divine narrative of Christian history had very little to do with the life and ministry of Christ. Webber does great justice to the Incarnation and Resurrection, but he basically ignores the life of Christ. This manifests itself in a model of Christianity that is completely absorbed in remembering the past to the neglect of the transformation of the world in the present. One of the great strengths of Christus Victor atonement in my opinion is that it lays a theological foundation for the redemption and transformation of the world and the self. Webber's idea of transformation was eschatological, something that we should anticipate and praise God for but not actually do anything about. As much as I loved Webber's narrative conception of worship in the Church, I got an image of a Church facing in on itself and trapped inside its own four walls. Webber has a great appreciation for God's activity in the past, but he does not show much concern for God's activity in the present.

The book's title is perhaps a little too telling. It is concerned about the past and the future but not the now.

[Jacob Aitken]

This is the first Webber book I have read. I was originally uncomfortable with his ideas (about five years ago) but having recently been dismayed with all modernist Christianities (be they liberal, Evangelical, or some Reformed), and given a recent interest in Patristic thought, I decided to give this book a chance.

Webber defines "ancient-future" worship as "publically enacting God's narrative." The worshipping church tells God's narrative, which Webber carefully defines, following the Eastern tradition, as "Creation-Incarnation-Recreation." Given this, an ancient-future church will proclaim God's Scriptures as "true," but not merely in the Enlightenment style of "proving the Bible."

Ancient-future worship will climax in the Eucharist. Don't worry, he isn't advocating Roman transubstantiations. His "Word and Table" model, in my humble opinion, is the best I have ever seen. The Eucharist tells the story of the Incarnate, who while being in the womb of the Virgin, united humanity to his nature so that he may redeem humanity and the world. The bread and wine symbolize the life of the world; the life being given to the world. Christ is really present. The Patristics, contra the moderns (be they conservative or liberal), saw the reality inherent in a sign.

Conclusion:
I don't have any cons with this book. It is very easy to read and flows very well. Webber cuts across the so-called "worship wars." He notes how staid traditionalism and silly happy-clappyism easily tend toward idolatry and man-worship. An ancient-future model provides a glorious alternative.

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides a solid framework for how worship "does God's story." As someone who works at a church and whose responsibility it is to plan worship services, I had to overcome a tendency toward defensiveness with Webber's overall opinion of the contemporary church. I did, however, appreciate his focus on the church as a whole, and also on the world in a culture that has given too much attention to the individual, individual experiences, and consumerism. I felt that Webber had a bias toward "high" church settings where liturgies are formal and very traditional, and a bias against more contemporary settings. While I do not agree with such a disparity (as both settings can get it wrong and both can be on the right track), I do agree with Webber's assertion that biblical worship is all about God's story of creation-incarnation-re-creation and affects all parts of worship- the Word and Table, prayer, song, etc. Whether high church, low church, or somewhere in between, it is vitally important to remember that worship publicly enacts God's narrative and is shaped by God's story in every way.

[Nate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Webber's the person any young or old evangelical needs to read who is interested in a Christianity that is rooted in the early church's faith and practice, but also ready for the challenges of our present time. Before you convert to Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Confessional Lutheranism, read his Ancient-Future series.

Ancient-Future Worship emphasizes God's story as the basis for worship. It's about us connecting to the narrative of what God is doing in the world through word, song, eucharist, and community. We embody God's story, we celebrate it through the Christian year, we remember and reenact it through communion, we sing it and proclaim it through songs and scripture readings.

It is so basic, but at the same time so revolutionary. Basic in that its simplicity helps the Bible and Christian history and theology make sense. Revolutionary in that a recovery of true worship and not one-sided "me-therapy" evangelicalism can bring us back to a more biblical and coherent perspective of how to approach God as a community of believers who confess Christ as Lord.

[Paul Mullen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Robert Webber makes a great point: Worship is about God, not about the worshippers. His writing about how differing traditions have placed emphasis in different aspects of this. The book is exhaustive and complete. That is its problem. Webber makes his point and then remakes it and then remakes it and then remakes it.

I am very sympathetic to his argument, if only he'd just make it an move on.