[sionnsar]

[Posted for discussion... --sionnsar]

[sionnsar]

ping

[narses]

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[sanormal]

The esteemed Dr. Toon oversimplifies the nature of the Eucharistic Liturgies.

There are 3 basic Liturgical families in pre-Reformation Christianity. The Reformation represents a fundamental schism in the continuity of worship as the name suggests and should be treated separately.

The Roman orbit includes Roman, Ambrosian, Mozarabic and Anglican Rites (with subgroups in each).

The Antiochian orbit includes 3 families of Rites. The Cappadocian family includes the Armenian and Byzantine Rites. The Byzantine Liturgy is used by the Eastern Orthodox Churches and includes the Liturgies of St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil and St. James (the Liturgy of St. James is a Byzantine representation of earlier Antiochian heritage). The West Syrian family includes the Maronite, Malankaran and Syrian Rites. East Syrian includes the Chaldean and Malabar Rites.

The Alexandrian orbit includes the Coptic and Ethiopian.

Over the course of time and by either European or Ottoman governments, Eastern liturgies have been heavily influenced by Roman and/or Byzantine patterns. The variety of liturgical traditions is due to the variety of cultural, theological and historical nature of Christian worship.