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Despite the fact that John Chrysostom wrote more on the Eucharist than any other Greek Church Father, there has never been a full treatment of his doctrine in English. In this book, Kenneth Howell brings together a wide array of sources from which he develops a many-sided portrait of Chrysostom's eucharistic thought. While the Antiochene preacher assumed the real presence and the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist, he focused more on the moral and spiritual implications of communion. At the root of his theology lies the conviction that the Eucharist with its home in the liturgy is the extension of Christ's incarnate life through space and time. All that Christ accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection is present and available to the communing Christian who stands in union with the angelic hosts in the liturgy of the church. John's preaching at times reaches encomiastic proportions as he never tires of praising the benefits and power of the Eucharist and he deftly applies the sacrament to the struggle of virtue and vice as he explores both the invitation and the obstacles to communion. Among the moral implications of the Eucharist, John seems to distinguish well between sins arising from human weakness versus malicious dispositions freely chosen. He is especially keen to exhort his hearers to lay aside the remembrance of evil (mnesikakia) done to them in their past lives. Humility and forbearance are two essential virtues in arriving at forgiveness of past injuries. And lack of forgiveness is like greed in that both constitute a turn in on oneself. The Eucharist demands love of neighbor and active ministry to the less fortunate of the world. For John, God is interested in golden souls more than golden chalices.

When the vast majority of American Catholics today do not understand the Eucharist, much less believe what the Church and Christ himself maintain about it, Bethlehem: The House of Bread is a timely primer to understand the Catholic teaching on the Eucharist. It provides an overview of what Vatican II declared the'source and summit of the Christian life.'Step by step, Bethlehem ('House of Bread'in Hebrew) scans the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, revealing the scriptural roots of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, thus placating the Protestant views that it is merely symbolic! Bethlehem continues the exploration with writings of the early church, medieval theologians, and recent influential Catholic leaders. All of them concur with the Bible. The Eucharist has the power to transform one's life. This booklet is for anyone desiring to know more about this vital mystery of the faith in these troubling time.

Baptists are sacramental When it comes to baptism and the Lord's Supper, many Baptists reject the language of sacrament. As a people of the book, the logic goes, Baptists must not let tradition supersede the Bible. So Baptists tend to view baptism and Communion as ordinances and symbols, not sacraments. But the history of Baptists and sacramentalism is complicated. In Amidst Us Our Beloved Stands, Michael A. G. Haykin argues that many Baptists, such as Charles Spurgeon and other Particular Baptists, stood closer to Reformed sacramental thought than most Baptists today. More than mere memorials, baptism and Communion have spiritual implications that were celebrated by Baptists of the past in sermons and hymnody. Haykin calls for a renewal of sacramental life in churches today—Baptists can and should be sacramental.

In most modern discussions of the Eucharist, the Jewish temple and its services of worship do not play a large role. They are often mentioned in passing, but little work is done in grounding, organizing, or explicating the connections between these things and the Eucharistic celebration. In Table and Temple, David Stubbs sheds light on the reasons for this neglect and shows the important role the temple and its worship played in the imagination of Jesus and his disciples about what was to become a central Christian practice. He then explores the five central meanings of the temple and its main services of worship, demonstrating their relationship to the five central meanings of the Christian Eucharist. These central meanings of the temple itself, the daily, weekly, and monthly sacrifices, and the three pilgrim feasts are linked to the history of salvation. Stubbs distills them to (1) the real presence of God and God's Kingdom among God's people, (2) thanksgiving for creation and providence, (3) remembrance of past deliverance, (4) covenant renewal in the present, and (5) a hopeful celebration of the feast to come. They provide a solid ground upon which to organize contemporary Christian Eucharistic imagination and practice. Such a solid ground not only expands our theology and enriches contemporary practice—it can also bring greater ecumenical unity to this central Christian rite.

All doctrinal development and debate occurs against the background of Christian practice and worship. By attending to what Christians have done in the eucharist, Kimberly Belcher provides a new perspective on the history of eucharistic doctrine and Christian divisions today. Stepping back from the metaphysical approaches that divide the churches, she focuses on a phenomenological approach to the eucharist and a retrieval of forgotten elements in Ambrose's and Augustine's work. The core of the eucharist is the act of giving thanks to the Father – for the covenant and for the world. This unitive core allows for significant diversity on questions about presence, sacrifice, ecclesiology, and ministry. Belcher shows that the key is humility about what we know and what we do not, which gives us a willingness to receive differences in Christian teachings as gifts that will allow us to move forward in a new way.

In Debating the Sacraments, Amy Nelson Burnett brings together the foundational disputes regarding the baptism and the Lord's Supper that laid the groundwork for the development of two Protestant traditions-Lutheran and Reformed-as well as of dissenting Anabaptist movements. Burnett places these disputes in the context of early print culture, tracing their development in a range of publications and their impact on the wider public. Burnett examines not only the writings of the major reformers, but also the reception of their ideas in the pamphlets of lesser known figures, as well as the role of translators, editors, and printers in exacerbating the conflict among both literate and illiterate audiences. Following the chronological unfolding of the debates, Burnett observes how specific arguments were formed in the crucible of written critique and pierces several myths that have governed our understanding of the sacramental controversies. She traces the influence of Erasmus on Luther's followers outside of Wittenberg and highlights the critical question of authority, particularly in interpreting the Bible. Erasmus and Luther disagreed not only about the relationship between the material world and spiritual reality but also on biblical hermeneutics and scriptural exegesis. Their disagreements underlay the public debates over baptism and the Lord's Supper that broke out in 1525 and divided the evangelical movement. Erasmus's position would be reflected not only in the views of Ulrich Zwingli and others who shared his orientation toward the sacraments but also in the developing theologies of the Anabaptist movement of the 1520s. The neglected period of 1525-1529 emerges as a crucial phase of the early Reformation, when evangelical theologies were still developing, and which paved the way for the codification of theological differences in church ordinances, catechisms, and confessions of subsequent decades.

Was bedeutet die Gemeinschaft von Brot und Wein, die wir in der Kirche Sakramentsgemeinschaft nennen? Dieser Begriff ist fur vielen zu einem Problem geworden. Obwohl Kirche und Glaube in unserer Gesellschaft zu einem Randphanomen geworden sind, erhalten sie dennoch eine gewisse Anerkennung. Glaube und Spiritualitat werden weithin anerkannt als wertvolle Hilfsmittel fur die psychische Gesundheit. Die Kirche spielt immer noch eine wichtige Rolle, wenn die Humanitat der Gesellschaft in Frage kommt - das Kirchenasyl ist wiederum sehr aktuell. Aber das Sakrament? Es gehort zum kirchlichen Traditionsgut, aber sonst? In der Antike ging man ganz umgekehrt vor. Gerade weil man das Sakrament teilte, wird man zur Kirche. Der gemeinschaftliche Genuss von Brot und Wein bildete den Grund fur die kirchliche Existenz. Die gemeinschaft mit Christo bestimmte die Spiritualitat. In dem vorliegenden Band wird diese altkirchliche Sakramentsgemeinschaft weiterhin untersucht. Wie funktionierte sie in der Praxis, lokal und weltweit? Wie sahen die Feiern aus? Wer nahm teil, wer nicht? Welche Entwicklungen gab es? So erscheint eine der altesten Riten unserer Gesellschaft in einem neuen und hoffentlich auch inspirierendem Licht.

Von Milch, Honig und Käse über Brot und Wein bis zu Cola und Kokosnuss: Anselm Schubert erzählt die Geschichte des Abendmahls von den frühen Christen bis heute erstmals mit Blick auf die verwendeten Nahrungsmittel. Seine glänzend geschriebene Darstellung lässt uns das Christentum und seine heiligste Handlung mit anderen Augen sehen. „Nehmet, esset: Das ist mein Leib …, das ist mein Blut.“ Mit diesen Worten setzt Jesus in der Bibel das Abendmahl ein. Doch heute wissen wir, dass sich die christliche Eucharistie aus dem antiken Symposion entwickelte. So blieb lange umstritten, was in der Kirche als Leib Gottes gegessen und getrunken werden durfte: Käse, Fisch und Gemüse? Milch, Saft und Honig? Oder doch nur Brot, und wenn ja, gesäuert oder ungesäuert? Roter oder weißer Wein, Priesterkelch oder Laienkelch? Die Unsicherheiten haben sich in der Moderne noch vermehrt: Ist der Einzelkelch nicht hygienischer? Geht es auch alkoholfrei und glutenfrei? Und was machen Christen in postkolonialen Zeiten in Ländern ohne Weizen und Wein? Sind hier auch Cola, Kokosnuss und Bananensaft zulässig? Anselm Schubert erschließt das Abendmahl von der Food History aus und macht so zentrale theologische Debatten von der Antike bis Slow Food ganz neu verständlich. Das Ergebnis ist eine höchst überraschende kleine Kulturgeschichte des Christentums für eine große Leserschaft.

Melanchthon and Calvin were late medieval people, stemming from a world of order and unity, and at the same time they fully lived in the early modern world, in which everything was changing. In this new world they committedly, enthusiastically, and restlessly sought to introduce some order, in theory as well as practice. The sixteenth-century church was governed by multiple coercive constructions and systems. Did the two Reformers really succeed in disconnecting themselves from them, and to what extent did they connect to, for example, the existing forms of eucharistic piety?The established church had come under serious criticism, and people were massively turning their backs on the less than attractive ecclesiastical practices—something connecting that era to ours. In these highly turbulent and suspenseful 1520s, when it was not yet clear whether the ten-year-old evangelical movement in Germany was still viable, Melanchthon tried to introduce at least some order into the chaos by means of a confession accompanied by a church order. As it turned out, the new doctrine on'Christian freedom'and'justification by faith alone'was easily interpreted in a one-sided manner. Through a careful analysis of the sources, Herman A. Speelman examines Melanchthon's church visitations in 1527 and Calvin's five attempts to shape the modernisation of ecclesiastical life. In addition to the gospel, also penance and the preaching of the law received a place in the Protestant liturgy and spirituality.Melanchthon's and Calvin's contributions were not only to have an enormous impact on the theological evolutions in the evangelical movement in Europe, but they also proved to be of eminent importance for the way in which the new doctrine was given meaning in practice. Their instructions continue to be highly influential in large parts of Europe today.

Die dritte aktualisierte Auflage des Standardwerkes'Mein Leib für euch gegeben. Geschichte und Theologie der Eucharistie'des Freiburger Theologen Helmut Hoping berücksichtigt nicht nur neuere Forschungsliteratur zu zentralen Themen des Buches, es berücksichtigt auch Entwicklungen im Pontifikat von Papst Franziskus und enthält. Es wurde auch zwei neue Exkurse eingefügt, zum einen zum Votum des Ökumenischen Arbeitskreises katholischer und evangelischer Theologen'Gemeinsam am Tisch des Herrn', zum anderen zur Frage der Eucharistie in leiblicher, sakramentaler und digitaler Präsenz. Die Übersetzung biblischer Texte wurde an die neue katholische Einheitsübersetzung (2016) angeglichen.

The controversial question and answer 80 of the Heidelberg Catechism, which condemns the “popish Mass,” seems to some a harsh statement in this document otherwise admired for its warm pastoral style and genial tone. Viewing this question and answer as unnecessarily polemical and injurious to the Catechism's usefulness as a contemporary statement of the Christian faith, some Reformed denominations have removed it from the text. Cornel Venema provides historical background and biblical teaching to defend the Catechism's inclusion of question and answer 80, arguing that it must be retained today, as it “reflects a fundamental evangelical passion to uphold the sufficiency of Christ's one sacrifice on the cross and to condemn idolatry in whatever form.” Table of Contents: 1. The Historical Occasion, Authorship, and Purposes of the Heidelberg Catechism 2. The Inclusion of Q&A 80 3. Assessing the Original Validity of Q&A 80 4. Assessing the Continued Value of Q&A 80: A Present Case 5. Conclusion: The Benefits of Retaining Q&A 80

Jesus'best-known mandate--after perhaps the mandate to love God and neighbor--was given at the Last Supper just before his death:'Do this in memory of me.'Indeed, a case can be made that to'do this'is the source and summit of the way Christians carry out Jesus'love-mandate. Of course, Christians have debated what it means to'do this,'and these debates have all too often led to divisions within and between them--debates over leavened and unleavened bread, reception of the cup, real presence and sacrifice,'open'or'closed'communion, this Supper and the hunger of the world. These divisions seem to fly in the face of Jesus'mandate, causing some to wonder whether this is'really'the Lord's Supper we celebrate (compare 1 Corinthians 11). Everything turns on just what it means to'do this.'The purpose of the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology's 2012 conference was to address at least some of the many aspects of this question--to address them together, as Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox pastors and theologians, and all participants in the Supper.

Coena Mystica contains the never-before-reprinted text of John Williamson Nevin's response to Charles Hodge's devastating critiques of his 1846 magnum opus, The Mystical Presence. Initially appearing in twelve issues of the little-known Weekly Messenger of the German Reformed Church and almost entirely neglected by historians since, Nevin's response included the full text of Hodge's article, with his rejoinders interspersed every few pages. These articles, in addition to providing a lively and illuminating debate on the roots of Reformed eucharistic theology, take the disputants into such fields as the nature of the church, the development of doctrine, the person and work of Christ, and the merits of German idealism. The quality of the historical argument and theological acumen here displayed makes this exchange one of the landmark theological controversies of the nineteenth century, a gift to historians of the period, students of Reformed theology, and anyone seeking to better understand the contentious legacy of the Protestant Reformation. The present critical edition carefully preserves the original text, while providing extensive introductions, annotations, and bibliography to orient the modern reader and facilitate further scholarship. The Mercersburg Theology Study Series is an attempt to make available for the first time, in attractive, readable, and scholarly modern editions, the key writings of the nineteenth-century movement known as the Mercersburg Theology. An ambitious multi-year project, this aims to make an important contribution to the scholarly community and to the broader reading public, who can at last be properly introduced to this unique blend of American and European, Reformed and Catholic theology.

The Mystical Presence (1846), John Williamson Nevin's magnum opus, was an attempt to combat the sectarianism and subjectivism of nineteenth-century American religion by recovering the robust sacramental and incarnational theology of the Protestant Reformation, enriched with the categories of German idealism. In it, he makes the historical case for the spiritual real presence as the authentic Reformed doctrine of the Eucharist, and explains the theological and philosophical context that render the doctrine intelligible. The 1850 article'The Doctrine of the Reformed Church on the Lord's Supper'represents his response to his arch critic, Charles Hodge of Princeton Seminary, providing what is still considered a definitive historical treatment of Reformed eucharistic theology. Both texts demonstrate Nevin's immense erudition and theological creativity, contributing to our understanding not only of Reformed theology, but also of the unique milieu of nineteenth-century American religion. The present critical edition carefully preserves the original text, while providing extensive introductions, annotations, and bibliography to orient the modern reader and facilitate further scholarship. The Mercersburg Theology Study Series is an attempt to make available for the first time--in attractive, readable, and scholarly modern editions--the key writings of the nineteenth-century movement known as the Mercersburg Theology. An ambitious multi-year project, this aims to make an important contribution to the academic community and to the broader reading public, who may at last be properly introduced to this unique blend of American and European, Reformed and Catholic theology.

What is the Eucharist? This direct question would seem to yield an equally direct answer. However, as soon as we begin to answer it, we encounter an array of responses layered with various complexities. The answer is shaped by who answers, for example a roman catholic, an Anglican, or a Baptist. Perhaps, even the name'Eucharist'would be contested. Answers to this question would reflect not only confessional differences but also the spectrum of theological and liturgical perspectives across Christianity. In this book, Ralph McMichael analyses these complexities/ perplexities raised by asking this questions.

Este libro pretende descubrir, a la luz de la Escritura y del Crucificado resucitado, el misterio de comunión que Dios regala a la humanidad en la Eucaristía, misterio recibido de los Apóstoles y de la Iglesia a lo largo de los siglos. La Eucaristía no sólo edifica la Iglesia de Dios como comunión, sino que la expresa como comunión en su celebración eucarística. Por ello, a lo largo de los siglos de la Iglesia, la Cena del Señor ha mantenido su constante actualidad. Para profundizar en este misterio, el autor analiza en primer lugar los datos bíblicos, y luego el testimonio de la historia. I a partir de ahí, nos ofrece su reflexión sistemática, especialmente de la mano de J.M.R. Tillard, y finaliza presentando el sentido teológico de los distintos elementos de la celebración.