Examining a wide range of English poetry by men for evidence of the articulation of heterosexual masculine desire; Sordid Images will inspire its readers to look again at some of the cornerstone works of English literature.
2007-03-20 2007-03-20File Name: B000OT83LK
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Should be required readingBy Doug ErlandsonThree years ago; when doing research for a course on the history of worship I had been assigned to teach; I came across the writings of the late Robert Webber for the first time. I found them refreshing; insightful; and challenging. Having by then spent a sixty-year lifetime in various worship settings; from the fairly informal but still structured fundamentalist church of my youth; through the informal praise choruses and Psalms set to music of the Jesus Movement; followed by a decade immersed in the simple but staid liturgy of Presbyterian and Reformed circles (including six years as a pastor of Reformed congregations); through a seven-year flirtation with Lutheranism; and finally to a ten-year but increasingly frustrating encounter with the "contemporary-style" worship in a large megachurch auditorium; Robert Webbers books; particularly "Worship Old New" crystallized many of my nascent ideas and affirmed most of the conclusions I was in the process of reaching on my own.But more than that; Webbers writings opened my eyes to new issues that I had not considered--for example; why the Lords Supper ought to be an integral part of the worship service; the importance of integrating music into the entire service (rather than having a half hour or so of music followed by a half hour of preaching; with no obvious connection between the two); why elements such as a formal call to worship and a benediction are so important; the purpose of the recitation of creeds; confession of sin; and the reading of the Word; and so forth. As a result of thinking through these issues I came to see that worship ought to be like a finely woven and rich tapestry; and not like the monochromatic entertainment that too often passes for worship today.I also found Webbers brief history of worship in the Old and New Testaments and in the Early Christian church to be helpful; as well as his history of the forms of worship in the church in subsequent centuries. Although covered briefly in "Worship Old New;" as well as in his other books; it formed an ideal primer for understanding the history of worship and gave me a frame of reference for my subsequent study of this history in works more specifically devoted to this issue.With Webbers overall analysis as a basis (along with ideas I picked up from other books on the subject) I was able to formulate my own critique of "contemporary-style" worship; one that eventually saw fruition in the book Spiritual Anorexia: How Contemporary Worship Is Starving the Church.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Florentino C.great resource0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Barbara StatonGood book