A History of Christian Worship, Part 1: The Word

This first segment of a six-part series on Christian worship combines voiceover narration with commentary from assorted academics and other experts (representing Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox viewpoints) to chronicle the story of Christianity, which is centered on the words and deeds of Jesus Christ. Christianity sprung up in an organic fashion after the death of Jesus—its stories and other elements of scripture recorded at a later date. The Word notes the largely oral tradition of the first Christians, explores what ancient documents reveal about early worship practices, describes the transformative effects of the printing press and the translation of the Bible into different languages, traces the arc of various preaching movements in the history of sermons and homilies, and explains why the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds have been essential tools of Christian faith—used, in some cases, to combat alternate versions of Christianity, such as that presented in the Gnostic gospels. Also covered are other means by which the Bible has been preserved and presented to believers, including writing on the walls of churches, the art of stained glass, and Gregorian chants and other forms of music. Also currently available are the second and third volumes in the series: The Body and The Feast. A scholarly but also nicely accessible introduction to the subject, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Block)