Bible and Liturgy in Dialogue

Dear Colleagues,

“Sacred Scripture is of the greatest importance in the celebration of the liturgy” (Sacrosanctum concilium, 24). The Bible shapes the liturgy like no other book: readings are recited and psalms are sung from it, prayers and hymns are scriptural in their inspiration, signs and actions (e. g. the washing of feet on Holy Thursday, baptismal rites like the Ephphetha rite or the bapstismal garment, etc.) derive their meaning from Scripture. The Bible, therefore, helps to understand liturgy.

At the same time, the liturgy interprets the Bible and makes Scripture present. Liturgy helps us to understand the Bible for instance through intertextual connections of various Scripture passages. Liturgy uses the Bible as a means of encountering God and enables the listeners to perceive it as a living and timly “Word of the Lord” to us. Worship makes Scripture accessable to many faithful and fosters a liturgical-biblical sprituality. The reception of Scripture is part of active participation in the liturgy. A liturgical hermeneutics of Scripture is a recent field in academia. Also the magisterium of the Catholic Church (e. g. Verbum Domini 52) backs such a “liturgical approach.”

This Special Issue aims to explore the rich relationships between Bible and liturgy, both in history and in the present. It looks into the field of liturgy in Scripture, the various usages of Scripture throughout history and in today’s liturgy in which the use of the Bible has been expanded through the liturigal reform of the Second Vatican Council and of other denominations (e.g. Revised Common Lectionary). The special issue opens up a dialogue between liturgical and biblical studies which in recent years has been intensified.

Contributions from multiple disciplinary perspectives are encouraged. In this Special Issue, we are pleased to invite your original research articles and reviews in this field of interaction of Bible and Liturgy. Research areas may include the following:

• Liturgy in the Old and New Testament: How does the bible describe liturgy? How does the Bible delineate foundamental principles for worship which are relavent for today as well? What socio-cultural factors determine the nature, essence and content of (early Jewish and early Christian) liturgies? How did the public reading in the liturgy contribute to the emergence of the canon?
• Understanding the Liturgy from Scripture: How is the Bible the basis for understanding liturgical acts and language (biblical quotations, allusions etc.)? How does it help to understand certain rites and rituals better? What changes if you look at /analyse the liturgy through the lens of Scripture?
• Understanding Scripture from the liturgy / liturgical hermeneutics of Scripture: What hermeneutical principles for Scripture emerge from its liturgical use? How did/does the liturgical setting (feast, season, genre of use, type of worship etc.) or the intertextual combination of pericopes, psalms, and prayers/orations influence the interpretation of the used biblical passages? What adds the comparison of liturgical traditions to a liturgical hermeneutics?
• The reception of Scripture in the liturgy: How is Scripture used in the various genres (like readings, songs, prayers, signs and actions)? What aspects of Scripture were/are highlighted, what ignored? The aim here would be to understand the use of Scripture in the liturgy as part of the “reception history” and to examine the historical factors and forces: What of the biblical canon has been received in the liturgy or what/why not?
• Order of Readings in various Western and Eastern rites and donominations: What has shaped the historical or current reading order? Assessing the current order or reading, what would be appropriate for further development?
• Liturgical reform and Scripture: What did the liturgical or the biblical movement before the Second Vatican Council contribute in the field of Bible and liturgy? How did the liturgical reform highlight the importance of Scripture?
• Systematic reflections like on the sacramentality of the word; anamnesis of Scripure; unity of Scripture in Christ; Word and Holy Spirit.
• Interdisciplinary research: How can liturgical, biblical, sytematic or historical studies contribute to a dialogue of Bible and liturgy? 

Prior to submitting a manuscript, please submit a proposed title and an abstract of about 300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor ([email protected]), or to the Assistant Editor of Religions. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the special issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Marco Benini
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• bible
• liturgy
• hermeneutics
• old/new testament
• interpretation
• reception
• readings
• psalms
• sacramentality
• anamnesis