Table of Contents Preface Introduction 1. Starting points for a study of the Eucharist 2. The focus of eucharistic thinking: thanking the Father 3. Locating our ritual: food, community, and prayer 4. Locating the Eucharist 5. Meals and Christian Memories 6. Distinctive memories: the acts of blessing and their recollection 7. The Common Meal and the Common Good Abbreviations Bibliography Index
A constructive theology of the Eucharist, overcoming current divisions by bringing insights of historical research into the systematic-theological discourse.
Thomas O'Loughlin is professor of historical theology in the University of Nottingham, UK. His research has focused on the theology of the early medieval period, and on the works of insular writers in particular.
[E]xcellent, well-written and eminently readable ... I recommend
this book highly.
*Theology*
Though the presence of Christ has been central to Eucharistic
theology, Thomas O'Loughlin (The Eucharist) argues that in
Tridentine Catholicism ‘the dominant thinking about the event of
physical engagement with the Eucharist was imagined in terms of a
sacred commodity. The priest ‘confected' the Eucharist, it was
reserved for adoration and the wick, it was received when someone
chose to receive Holy Community, and one could ‘get communion'
‘outside of Mass’’(36).
*First Things*
In this thought-provoking book, O’Loughlin challenges us to
re-calibrate our inherited presuppositions about the Eucharist so
that we prioritise it first and foremost as a meal among Jesus’
friends at which thanks is given to the Father. This, he suggests,
will correct the theological and ritual impasse in which the
churches find themselves and will be closer to the intentions
expressed in the earliest evidence for Christian Eucharistic
practice. As usual, O’Loughlin argues his case with a freshness and
mastery of the sources which will encourage thoughtful reflection
by scholars and church people alike.
*Juliette J. Day, University of Helsinki, Finland*
O’Loughlin’s ability to juxtapose elements harvested from his
wide-ranging knowledge and to reflect profoundly on their
implications for the understanding and practice of the Eucharist
today means that virtually every page of this work is deeply
thought-provoking, even in those places where a reader might
disagree with him.
*Paul Bradshaw, University of Notre Dame, USA*
O’Loughlin’s provocative reflections on the meaning of Christ’s
presence, the notion of consecration vis-à-vis the whole
eucharistic prayer and the role of the priest are important
questions that need to be rethought today. I stand in awe of the
depth and breadth of his reading and research…anyone who wishes to
be challenged to rethink time-worn theological statements on this
most important aspect of Christian life should not miss one.
*Worship*
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