Table vs. Altar: A Creative Tension (original) (raw)
Free related PDFsRelated papers
Bogoslovni vestnik, 2020
Both the Catholic Church and Evangelical Churches celebrate the Eucharist; however, they differ extensively in theology and practice. What both traditions have in common is the fact that the Eucharist is removed from the context of a meal. The purpose of this article is to explore how these two traditions comprehend the connection between the table and the cross, the meal and the sacrifice, in the light of the fact that today our celebration of the Eucharist comes after the event of Jesus’ cross. In other words, we want to detect the Jewish roots of the Eucharist and in a comparative analysis see how Christian and Jewish traditions have interpreted this relationship between the meal and the sacrifice, between the table and the altar. In the second section, we explore the relationship between the altar and the table in the Catholic Church, and in the third section, we do the same thing for Evangelical Churches. In the fourth section, we compare the Eucharistic theology and ecclesial ...
Free PDF
Free PDF
Free PDF
2012
This article aims to revise predominant theological understandings of the Lord’s Supper that are present in today’s Christian churches which stress that somehow Jesus is present in the elements of the bread and wine. The author argues that in the Lord’s Supper Jesus is present among the believers, but he offers a critique of Zwingli’s view that shapes the celebration of the Lord’s Supper in free churches. Accordingly, the author argues that the Lord’s Supper must be understood as a full meal around the table which is focused on mutual fellowship between believers and Jesus, and not as a sacrifice in connection with an altar. Furthermore, the Lord’s Supper should be a full meal and not just a “snack”, a joyful act of a gathered community and not an individualistic penitential act, and it should be a regular part of the Sunday service with an importance equal to preaching. The first part of the article offers an overview of the four major theological views of the Lord’s Supper, the se...
Free PDF
Free PDF
Free PDF
Free PDF
Free PDF
Free PDF
Dinner, Dialogue, and Dismantling Divison: A Subversion of Power at the Eucharistic Table
The table of the Eucharist has long been chastised as a divisive space. The institutionalization of the Christian church throughout history led to the creation of hierarchies, rules, and theologies that argue over the mystical qualities and logistical practicalities of the meal. However it appears that the meal was originally intended to serve as a radical, boundary-breaking meal to welcome the oppressed and socially marginalized. The rising trend of dinner churches claims to tap into the early intentions of the Eucharist, building a community of belonging over the course of the meal. Ethnographic study of Simple Church, a United Methodist dinner church, reveals that through thoughtful use of space, ritual, and language, the positive potential of commensality can subvert dynamics of power and create a new habitus for Christian worship.
Free PDF
