The volume at hand is in fact two volumes bound as one, the first being Geschichte der Auflösung der alten gottesdienstlichen Formen in der evangelischen Kirche Deutschlands bis zum Eintritt der Aufklärung und des Rationalismus (A History of the Dissolution of Ancient Liturgical Forms in the Lutheran Church of Germany until the Rise of the Enlightenment and Rationalism) published in 1921, the second edition published in 1937, and a two-volume edition by a similar name published in 1938.
The first volume treats of the Lutheran liturgies in Germany from the Reformation to the advent of the Enlightenment and Rationalism. The second volume examines the Lutheran liturgies in the time of the Enlightenment and Rationalism.
As the title so clearly indicates, the study of the Lutheran liturgies of Germany over almost 300 years is an examination of their dissolution. The amazing quantity of original sources examined by Graff (1878–1955), is perhaps due to his position as librarian at Loccum Abbey in Lower Saxony.
Graff, a pastor and the son of a pastor, presents a 53-page list of primary sources (29–82) in his first volume, and 69 pages (475–503) in his second volume. These original sources provide Graff a deep well from which he then chronicles the dissolution, by era, region, service type and ordo, of the liturgical forms, as well as that of church music. “The history of the Lutheran divine service thus became a history of its decay” (17).
Graff examines liturgical space, liturgical time, the congregational Divine Service, and the occasional services in detail. He notes the theological currents driving the continual revision of the rites. He includes an interesting chapter on the “discipline of liturgics and the history of liturgical studies” for both eras (21–27, 471–74). Informative appendices (Lutheran hymnody [288, 678], liturgical gestures [327, 733], Roman Catholic liturgical life [830]) and helpful indexes are included.
Matthew Carver is to be thanked for the monumental task of putting this valuable resource into English. The book is a “must have” for any serious student of the holy liturgy.
Mark P. Braden
Pastor, Zion Evangelical-Lutheran Church
Detroit, Michigan
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