Sacrifice and Community

This book explores the character of the Eucharist as communion in and through sacrifice. It will stimulate discussion because of its controversial critique of the dominant paradigm for Eucharistic theology, its reclamation of St Thomas Aquinas’s theology of the Eucharist, and its response to Pope John Paul II’s Ecclesia de Eucharistia.

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• Argues that the Eucharist cannot be separated from sacrifice, and rediscovers the biblical connections between sacrifice and communion.
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• Timed to coincide with the Year of the Eucharist, proclaimed by Pope John Paul II.
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• Reclaims the riches of St Thomas Aquinas’s theology of the Eucharist, which had recently been reduced to a metaphysical defence of transubstantiation.

Acknowledgments.

Introduction: Beyond Eucharistic Idealism.

1. The Desire of Israel.

2. The Eucharist and Expiatory Sacrifice.

3. The Eucharist and the Communion of Charity.

4. Transubstantiation.

5. The Liturgy of the Eucharist.

6. Conclusion: Cruciform Communion.

Name Index.

Subject Index.

Matthew Levering is Associate Professor of Theology at Ave Maria University. His recent publications include Scripture and Metaphysics: Aquinas and the Renewal of Trinitarian Theology (Blackwell, 2004) and Christ’s Fulfillment of Torah and Temple: Salvation According to Thomas Aquinas (2002). He is co-editor of the journal Nova et Vetera. This book explores the character of the Eucharist as communion in and through sacrifice. Drawing on Jewish reflection upon the Aqedah (the near-sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham in Genesis), as well as on other critical analyses of sacrifice in Scripture, the book shows that communion is not possible without the reconciliation attained by sacrificial self-giving love. Following the insights of St Thomas Aquinas, the author argues that all aspects of Eucharistic theology, including metaphysical doctrines such as transubstantiation, depend upon recognizing that communion cannot be separated from its sacrificial context.

The book will stimulate discussion because of its controversial critique of the dominant paradigm for Eucharistic theology, its reclamation of St Thomas Aquinas’s theology of the Eucharist, and its response to Pope John Paul II’s Ecclesia de Eucharistia.