Psalms in Christian Worship: Patristic Precedent and Anglican Practice

The use of the Psalms in Christian worship is a vast topic. The academic disciplines of biblical and liturgical study have not always been in contact with each other. Aimed at a broad readership and yet steeped in a lifetime of scholarship in both disciplines, Anthony Gelston offers much background and fresh insights into the use of ancient texts which resonate richly with human religious experience throughout the ages and to the present day. Gelston considers the Psalms as part of the Bible, in early Christian worship and in the worship of the Church of England. With a view to current practice, Gelston argues that it is up to clergy and church people to make use of the rich provisions of the Anglican liturgical tradition past and present, if we are not to cut ourselves off from an element of Christian worship that has been, until recently, practically universal.