RITEN EN MYTEN

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Summary

This short article is a presentation and a review of Wegman's Riten en mythen. Liturgie in de geschiedenis van het Christendom, (Kampen 1991), a thoroughly revised edition of his Geschiedenis van de christelijke eredienst (Hilversum 1983²), a very useful handbook that had been translated in German and in English.

In many respects the new book has been improved by comparison with the old one. The structure has become more clear and balanced and the style more fluent. Although already in Geschiedenis van de christelijke eredienst Wegman showed a remarkable sensitivity to the relation between the liturgy and its religious, cultural and social context, in Riten en mythen this characteristic is still more pronounced. Nonetheless, the new handbook contains a number of errors (that mostly regard minor details). Furthermore some passages give rise to more fundamental questions and discussion.