Eucharist And Ecclesiology

In the late twentieth century and since, ecumenical discussions on the nature and unity of the church have often centered on the Eucharist. This book is focused on that intersection of church and Eucharist in current Christian relationships. In the first part of the book, representatives of the Orthodox tradition (Paul Meyendorff), the Roman Catholic tradition (Denis Farkasfalvy), and the Protestant tradition (Gary Badcock) discuss the relationship of Eucharist and church. These essays are followed by an overview and response to these theme essays by Everett Ferguson, who has published often on the topics. The second part of the book contains essays on particular issues important for understanding the Eucharist and Christian faith. These essays also come from the three theological traditions of the featured essays but focus on more specific issues behind the larger discussion. The essays address the New Testament texts on Eucharist and important later Christian writers. This book will be of value to scholars studying the Eucharist in the New Testament and the early Christian church, as well as to clergy who need to instruct congregations on the ecumenical discussions of the Eucharist.

For all who wish to develop a eucharistic understanding of the Church and its application to issues of current debate.

In this book the author, relying on the research he carried out in Igboland, Nigeria, leads us to see the action of God's grace already active in the Igbo religious culture called Omenala Ndigbo before the coming of Christian missionaries and how these cultural values have prepared the people to receive the Gospel. But, as he points out, these cultural values on which the Christian message ought to have been built from the beginning were grossly misunderstood and neglected. The Igbo people are now mainly Christians. But because the Gospel has not yet become their culture, some of them have double allegiance to the doctrines of the Church and to the practices of Omenala Ndigbo. The author opines that to build the Catholic Church in Igboland on a solid foundation, the Eucharist must take the central place - since the Eucharist makes the Church and is the source and summit of the life of the Church. Thus the work, which uses the analytical and hermeneutical method known as inculturation, is on Eucharistic Ecclesiology from an Igbo perspective and will be useful for the Church, both at the local and universal levels for self-understanding and renewal, ecumenism, dialogue and mission.

"What kind of Church arises from the Lord's table?" "Doctrine, customs, culture, and history divide the Churches. Christians do not share a common table. Can a divided and injured Church celebrate the Eucharist, the sacrament of Christian communion?" "These are a few of the questions addressed in this study of the ecclesiology of communion. The "borderless" Church of the infinite love of Christ exists today. The divided Churches need only receive the communion of God as their innermost nature - at the borderless table of God's kingdom."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

A collection of writings on the Eucharist by one of the most important theological thinkers of our time.

Renowned scholar J.-M. R. Tillard defines what the flesh of the Church is for the New Testament and the period of the undivided Church. He enables readers to understand not the structure of God's Church but the living reality of grace for which this structure exists. He explains that the "flesh of the church" is communion of life for humanity reconciled with the Father and with itself "in Christ".

Philip Kariatlis is a lecturer of theology at St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College, Sydney, Australia. In 2010 he received his doctorate in Ecclesiology from the Sydney College of Divinity. His research interests lie in Church doctrine, specifically its existential and salvific significance. He translated the doctoral dissertation of Archbishop Stylianos (Harkianakis) entitled The Infallibility of the Church in Orthodox Theology (2008). He is a member of the Faith and Unity Commission of the National Council of Churches in Australia.

Except for some excellent studies on the notion of koinonia, few works have been devoted to a revival of the entire vision of the Church around communion, a vision of ecclesiology which is rooted in the solidarity that finds its locus in Jesus Christ. Church of Churches, the fruit of several years of research, teaching, and ecumenical involvement, is intended to overcome this lack. It is not an exhaustive study but rather a point of departure for discussing how the vision of the ecclesiology of communion - the most difficult question of the ecumenical debate - can break down the barrier of misunderstanding, suspicions, and claims in which the diverse ecclesial traditions are locked.