Metaphors of Eucharistic Presence

One of the most challenging questions for Christian ecumenical theology is how the relationship between the eucharistic bread and wine and Jesus Christ’s body and blood can be appropriately described. This book takes a new approach to controverted questions of eucharistic presence by drawing on cognitive linguistics. Arguing that human cognition is grounded in sensorimotor experience and that phenomena such as metaphor and conceptual blending are basic building blocks of thought, the book proposes that inherited models of eucharistic presence are not necessarily mutually exclusive but can serve as complementary members of a shared ecumenical repertoire. The central element of this repertoire is the motif of identity, grounded in the Synoptic and Pauline institution narratives. The book argues that the statement “The eucharistic bread and wine are the body and blood of Christ” can be understood both as figurative and as true in the proper sense, thus resolving a church-dividing dichotomy. The identity motif is complemented by four major non-scriptural motifs: representation, change, containment, and conduit. Each motif with its entailments is explored in depth, and suggestions for ecumenical reconciliation in both doctrine and practices are offered. The book also provides an introduction to cognitive linguistics and offers suggestions for further reading in that field.

Change

This is the first of three chapters exploring motifs based on spatial imagery. It argues that much Christian language about eucharistic presence is based on the primary metaphor CHANGE IS MOTION (and, to lesser extents, CHANGING IS BEING MADE and CHANGING IS BEING BORN). Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions rely heavily on change imagery, while Lutheran and Reformed traditions have been cautious about its use partly because of an insistence that the eucharistic elements remain bread and wine. The chapter argues that the change motif should form part of a multiply metaphorical ecumenical theology of eucharistic presence and that there are resources in Lutheran and Reformed traditions that can facilitate its acceptance. It also argues that high-sacramental traditions in turn should be willing to affirm that the consecrated elements are bread and wine—though not ordinary bread and wine.

Apostolicity – The question of Continuity and Authority

This article was presented as a research paper for the Ecumenical Theology Course at the Ecumenical Institute Bossey in Switzerland. Apostolicity and the relation to the apostles and the early Christians is a big discussed topic in several ecumenical dialogues. First the article analysis the method and context of five different ecumenical dialogue documents. It goes from multilateral Faith and Order documents like “Baptism, Eucharist, Ministry” and “The Church Towards a Common Vision” over the “Porvoo Common Statement” to two Lutheran/Roman-Catholic documents. Then it identifies some characteristic dimensions of apostolicity and brings the results from the dialogues together. A reading of apostolicity as narrative of continuity and authority in relation to god and Jesus Christ occurs through the chapters. Especially in the question of ministry apostolicity plays an important and differentiated role. The article focusses in the end on the episcopal ministry and develops the differentiation of horizontal and vertical apostolic continuity. Apostolicity is described as a gift of god and becomes obviously through gods action in the ordination act. Finally, the article summarises all results, ideas and new approaches.

The Bohemian Brethren and the Protestant Reformation

The smallest, but in some ways the most influential, church to emerge from the Hussite Reformation was the Unity of the Brethren founded by Gregory the Patriarch in 1457. The Unity was a voluntary church that separated entirely from the established churches, and chose its own priests, published the first Protestant hymnal and catechism, and operated several schools. Soon after Martin Luther broke with Rome, the Brethren established cordial relations with Wittenberg and introduced their irenic and ecumenical theology to the Protestant Reformation. Over time, they gravitated more toward the Reformed tradition, and influenced Martin Bucer’s views on confirmation, church discipline, and the Eucharist. In many ways, the pacifist Brethren offered a middle way between the Magisterial Reformation and the Radical Reformation. Study of the Brethren complicates and enhances our understanding of the Protestant Reformation and the rise of religious toleration in Europe.

Lev Zander and Problems of Ecumenism

Lev Alexandrovich Zander was a continuer of the Russian religious and philosophical renaissance thought of the beginning of the 20th century. The main part of his intellectual activity was performed in the extraordinary conditions of emigration. He was one of the creators of the Russian diaspora in Paris, at the same time holding crucial functions in the St Sergius Orthodox Theology Institute in Paris. However, over the years he became less and less recognisable. His ecumenical, practical, and theoretical activities are also worth analysing. He co-created the Ecumenical Movement in the first years of its existence. His interpretation of ecumenism, highly controversial for his immediate environment, outpaced his times and still remains up-to-date. In his theoretical texts, Zander formulated the fundamental conditions for interfaith collaboration and the postulates of ecumenism: the principle of confessionalism and the need of restraining from proselytism. The principle of confessionalism consists in unconditional and uncompromising affirmation of the beliefs held by each particular church. Lev Zander describer the ideal of ecumenism as “unity in love”, which surpasses its historic standards; the notion of “ecumenism” was more mystical and eschatological than historical. “Unity without union” which is the formula of ecumenical paradox, the expression of the contradictory nature of ecumenism, is placed in the centre of his ecumenical reflection. The publication of Zander’s most important work Vision and action in 1952 sparked a heated discussion in the Paris orthodox community, contributing to the development of the orthodox ecumenical theology.