Origins and Contemporary Understandings
by
Thomas O’Loughlin
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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First published 2015
© Thomas O’Loughlin, 2015
Thomas O’Loughlin has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work.
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: HB: 978-0-567-15605-1
PB: 978-0-567-38459-1
ePDF: 978-0-567-03732-9
ePub: 978-0-567-21313-6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
To the memory of one of my teachers,
Br A. A. Gilroy
whose theological insights sowed the
seeds that have grown into this book.
1 Starting points for a study of the Eucharist
2 The focus of eucharistic thinking: Thanking the Father
Christocentrism and the Eucharist
A sacrament, the sacrament, sacramentality
The origins of christocentrism
The Eucharist as a private affair
Part 2: Is there an alternative?
Part 3: Reviewing where we now stand
3 Locating our ritual: Food, community and prayer
Must we start with homo cenarius?
Prayer as acknowledgement and praise
Cooking as the human ‘specific difference’
Forgetting and remembering other meals
Level 1: Biological matter to foodstuff
Level 3: From food to shared meals
Level 4: Shared meals and religion
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About The Eucharist: Origins and Contemporary UnderstandingsTheological reflection upon the Eucharist is dominated by two paradigms: one approach interprets the Eucharist almost exclusively in theological terms, shaped by Scholasticism and the Reformation. Most discussions about the nature of the Eucharist, eucharistic presence, or the role of the priest follow these categories, even if they come in modern disguise. The other approach reads the Eucharist as an event which can be explored empirically. O’Loughlin develops a new understanding of the Eucharist. This can be done by looking afresh at the historical evidence and bringing it in dialogue with modern theology. In the past decades, historical research and new discoveries have changed our view of the origins and the development of the Eucharist. By bringing history into a fruitful dialogue with sacramental and liturgical theology, he shows not only ways how theology and practice can be brought closer together again, but also how current ecumenical divisions can be overcome. His book makes an important contribution to eucharistic theology, both for individual church traditions as well as for ecumenical dialogues. |
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