Why We Sing: Music, Word, and Liturgy in Early Christianity
Carl Johan Berglund|Barbara Crostini|James Anthony Kelhoffer
In a seminal study, Cur cantatur?, Anders Ekenberg examined Carolingian sources for explanations of why the liturgy was sung, rather than spoken. This multidisciplinary volume takes up Ekenberg’s question anew, investigating interplay New Testament writings, sacred spaces, biblical interpretation, and reception history liturgical practices traditions. Analyses Greek, Latin, Coptic, Arabic, Gǝʿǝz sources, as well archaeological epigraphic evidence, illuminate an array topics, including recent trends in studies; manuscript variants praxis; Ignatius Antioch’s choral metaphor; baptism ancient Christian apocrypha; significance late altar veils.