Reality of presence in virtually mediated sacramentality: Has sacramental theology sustained us?

The global pandemic has impacted the liturgical life of the church by forcing worshiping communities to turn to online liturgies in lieu of gathering together as the body of Christ in one place and time. But the ongoing theological reflection has been particularly concerned with sacramental liturgy online. How can incarnate matter-filled ecclesial sacraments be celebrated without being “in-person”? This article suggests that the ritual and sacramental effects of the pandemic brought an already-existing lack of catechesis on sacramental theology to the surface by exploring two connected conversations: on the one hand, eucharistic theology and the meaning of “real presence” in a time of Internet religion, and on the other hand, the effects of the insidious inculturation of consumerism and commodification highlighted in the “liturgy on demand” world of online ritual and ritual online.

Christ Is Not the Passover Lamb: Samuel Clarke’s Marcionite Memorialism

In his refutation of Marcion, Tertullian argued that Marcion failed to appreciate that Christ, as figured, is present in the Old Testament. Marcion may have similarly denied the presence of Christ, as figured, in the Eucharist. This outcome is expressed in the eucharistic theology of the great eighteenth-century Anglican theologian, Samuel Clarke. Clarke is a harbinger of modern Marcionism because his Old Testament denigration is the product of his specifically Marcionite impulse to excise Christ from the Old Testament. And as he consistently applies this impulse to his eucharistic theology, his memorialism becomes another venue for him to transmit Marcionism to modernity.

Incorporating Queer, Housing Insecure Perspectives into Eucharistic Theology

This paper uses queer systematic theology and theological anthropology to argue that the Christian Eucharistic tradition is one of radical table fellowship rooted in desire for intimacy with the margins. Including queer people, the issues facing the community, and queer theory at the Eucharistic table therefore requires that we take homelessness seriously and consider alternative approaches to economic justice.

Towards a Kenotic Identity Politics: Migration, Transformation and the Eucharist

This paper will focus on one element of the pushback against the massive influx of immigrants taken in for humanitarian purposes, namely, an identity-based chauvinism which uses identity as the point of resistance to the perceived dilution of that identity, brought about by the transformation of culture induced by the incorporation of a foreign other. The solution to this perceived dilution is a simultaneous defence of that culture and a demand for a conformity to it. While those in the critical tradition have encouraged a counter-position of revolutionary transformation by the other through ethics, dialogue, or the multitude, such a transformation is arguably impeded by what is ultimately a repetition of the metaphysics of conformity. Drawing on the personalism of Emmanuel Mounier and the Eucharistic theology of Creston Davis and Aaron Riches, this paper submits an alternative identity politics position that completes the revolutionary impulse. Identity here is not the flashpoint of a self-serving conflict, but the launch-point of politics of self-emptying, whose hallmarks include, on the one hand, a never-ending reception of transformation by the other, and on the other hand, an anchoring in the Body of Christ that is at once ever-changing and never-changing.

‘This Mystical Blessing’: The Patristic Roots of John Calvin’s Eucharistic Theology

Though committed to the final authority of Scripture in all matters, John Calvin’s Institutes and biblical commentaries show him to be a remarkable student of patristics. His doctrine of the Lord’s Supper was no exception, as Calvin calls upon the likes of Augustine, Chrysostom, Tertullian and others to support his position. This article, therefore, contends that Calvin’s engagement with the Fathers – though imperfect – demonstrates that his view, in essence, may be clearly traced to the patristic period. It also suggests that his reverence for tradition, which he considered consistent with his commitment to sola scriptura, makes Calvin a prime example for contemporary evangelicals as they reflect on their own doctrine of the Supper. Not only would paying close attention to the Fathers enrich their own understanding, but given that such figures are esteemed by the wider church, it may well contribute to a more robust ecumenical conversation around the sacraments.

John Wyclif and the Eucharistic Words of Institution: Context and Aftermath

In matters of eucharistic theology, John Wyclif (d. 1384) is best known for his rejection of the scholastic doctrine of transubstantiation. There were many reasons why Wyclif came to regard this doctrine as fundamentally untenable, such as the impossibility of substantial annihilation and the illogicality of accidents existing apart from subjects, but chief among them was his deep dissatisfaction with the prevailing interpretation of Christ's words, “Hoc est corpus meum,” the words of institution required to confect the sacrament in the Mass. Wyclif insisted that getting this proposition right was essential for a correct understanding of Christ's presence in the Eucharist. This article presents Wyclif's position on this matter within the context of later medieval scholastic discussions in an effort to lend clarity to his larger understanding of eucharistic presence. The article will then trace the reception of Wyclif's ideas to Bohemia at the turn of the fifteenth century, with special attention given to the Prague master Jakoubek of Stříbro. One finds that Wyclif, and then later Jakoubek, developed new and effective means of conceptualizing the conversion of the eucharistic elements, thereby expanding the ways in which one can affirm Christ's presence in the consecrated host and the salvific effects of that presence for faithful communicants.

Mass Intentions: Twentieth-Century Theology and Pastoral Reform [Part Two]

The question of Mass intentions received a good deal of theological scrutiny in the course of the twentieth century, especially in the work of Maurice de la Taille, Karl Rahner, and Edward Kilmartin. Each of these theologians criticized the widely accepted Scotist three-fold division of the fruits of the Mass. Combined with the post-Vatican II reform of the Catholic liturgy and further contemporary reflection in Eucharistic theology, these advances provide the basis for a proposal to re-think the practice of Mass intentions as well as monetary offerings (stipends) associated with them. [ Editor’s note: This is the second of two parts. This first was published in the December 2020 issue.]

A Body That Matters: Liturgy, Mediation, Performativity

Taking the liturgy of The Episcopal Church as an extended case study, this article develops a poststructuralist eucharistic theology that bears upon the theorization of religious identity, Christian liturgy, and material religion. My point of departure is the question of whether a dinner-church Communion—that is, one in which an Episcopal priest consecrates items other than bread and wine—would qualify as an Anglican eucharistic celebration if that service was conducted using the 1979 Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. To this query I respond in the affirmative. In conversation with Birgit Meyer on religious media and Judith Butler on language and matter, I argue that it is in being interpreted as the body and blood of Christ that the eucharistic elements come to be materialized as such, with the Book of Common Prayer governing that interpretation for Anglicans and giving it force.