Based on her 2003 Beecher Lectures at Yale University, Ellen Davis argues and demonstrates that the activities of biblical interpretation and preaching are essentially related as arts and, in fact, as the arts most fundamental to the life of the church.

“Not only for preachers, but for any reader of scripture, Ellen Davis opens up extraordinary biblical riches. She shows why it is worth spending time lovingly attending to every word, what we can learn from the moderns and the premoderns, and how superabundant the meaning of the Bible is. Then she demonstrates what she talks about in some superb sermons by past masters and by herself.”

-David F. Ford, Regius Professor of Divinity, University of Cambridge

The Oxford History of Christian Worship is a comprehensive and authoritative history of the origins and development of Christian worship to the present day. Backed by an international roster of experts as contributors, this new book examines the liturgical traditions of Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, and Pentecostal traditions throughout history and across the world.

Written to be accessible to the educated layperson, this unique and beautiful volume will also appeal to clergy and liturgists and more generally to students and scholars of the liturgy, Christian theology, church history, and world history. With 240 photographs and 10 maps, the full geographical spread of Christianity is covered, including Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, East Asia, and the Pacific. Following contemporary trends in scholarship, it covers social and cultural contexts, material culture and the arts.