Over the last two or three decades liturgical and related studies have been enriched by using insights from other disciplines, most notably sociology, anthropology and ritual studies. These methods supplement other recent developments in historiography and contextualisation, and have yielded deeper understandings than was often the case with the older philological, theological and comparative methods. These essays are offered under the umbrella of ritual studies. Yet, although this discipline provides a useful lens for looking at liturgical rites – which are rituals – and sometimes is used fruitfully, some essayists can be tempted to give a lengthy account of the history of ritual theory instead of attending to their chosen subject; others ignore ritual theory altogether; and others still force their subject into grids and categories of ritual theory that are not always applicable to Christian liturgy and its rituals. There are also some subjects that do much better without any utilisation of ritual studies. These are all reflected in this collection.

For those who are not au fait with the discipline, the first introductory essay, by Nienke Vos, gives a very useful introduction to ‘New perspectives on early Christian rituals’, though much of this is far from new. Gerard Rouwhorst provides a very helpful discussion, outlining the shift away from a purely theological and ecclesiastical assessment, and in a further paper illustrates this shift in relation to the origin and development of the early Christian Passover celebration, the ritualisation of time and space in Christian Jerusalem and the transformation of the significance of 6 January as a feast in East and West. Particularly illuminating is Rianne Voogd's discussion of the kiss of peace. Jan N. Bremmer's contribution is one of those essays that could have been written in half the allotted space without having lost anything of any significance. Bremmer bemoans the fact that in discussing the eucharist and agape in the second century, most scholars pay scant attention to the older Apocryphal Acts and the pagan novel. In fact, many scholars have paid attention to the Apocryphal Acts, but the problem is that although some of these yield short accounts of a sacred meal, they are so short as to add very little of substance to the history. It is telling that Bremmer spends more time discussing the date and province of the Acts than he does in discussing what they say about the eucharist or agape. The pagan novel too adds little. The topic is akin to so many of the recent studies that explore the Greco-Roman symposium and its influence on the Passover and the eucharist, but ignore what is different in Second Temple Passover and New Testament eucharist accounts. Hans van Loon discusses the terminology of mystery cults in Cyril of Alexandria, and this seems to have had no need of any insights from ritual studies. In an essay on Augustine and commemoration meals, Paula Rose usefully explores how Augustine disapproved of the excesses of the commemoration of family members, noting how Augustine also made clear to some non-ecclesiastical opponents that in commemorating the martyrs, Christians were not sacrificing to the martyrs as gods. This is a fascinating treatment of a ritual practice (rather than a specific liturgy) though it is unclear to this reviewer that any use has been made of specific ritual theories. The same holds true for Jutta Dresken-Weiland's treatment of the ideas of the afterlife in Christian grave inscriptions. An essay by Karel Innemée examines the development of ecclesiastical dress from the clothes of a Roman magistrate. The chasuble and phelonion both deriving from the casula makes much sense, but some further consideration needs to be given to the Syrian Orthodox/Church of the East/Maronite phayno, which resembles the clothes of an Old Testament priest in some of the mosaics of Ravenna rather than the casula which is also depicted. An essay on the emergence of the Gallican Rogations bravely uses the new approach to ritual championed by Risto Uro using a ‘cognitive science’ approach, though the essay would have benefited greatly from awareness of Nathan Ristuccia's 2018 study of rogations. Nienke Vos offers a rather pedestrian discussion of spiritual direction in monasticism, and Jacques van der Vliet explores writings magic in Christian Egypt, arguing that it was a means of profoundly anchoring Christianity in Egyptian society. A most fascinating paper by Mariëtte Verhoeven on Hagia Sophia traces its transformation from Justinian i through to its current reappropriation as a mosque. A final ‘latch key’ paper by Nienke Vos attempts to thread all the essays together – and the fact that such was thought necessary is a sign that many of these are studies of ritual that do not utilise any specific methodology, and some are not really about rituals. In sum, there are some interesting and useful essays in this collection, but it is difficult to identify many where the ‘new perspectives’ are particularly new.