•The Complete Library of Christian Worship • Edited by Robert E. Webber
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Theologies Of The Lord's Supper

Contributor / Topic: Sacred Actions of Worship
Source: The Complete Library of Christian Worship, Robert E. Webber, General Editor

From the early church's firm belief in the Real Presence of the risen Christ in the Eucharist have developed a variety of Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant explanations of how this mystery takes place (or, as Radical Reformation Protestants asserted, if any change at all occurs). Eastern Orthodox churches generally avoid complex theological and philosophical explanations. In the West, modern Roman Catholic theologians have searched for biblical language to explain this mystery, notably, the Pauline language about being inserted into Christ. They continue to uphold the doctrine of transubstantiation, which teaches the sacramental and substantial (real)-but not carnal or physical-presence of Christ. Reformed (Calvinist) theology recognizes Christ's real and spiritual presence, but resists the idea that the sacrament is efficacious in and of itself. Anglicans assert Real Presence in a variety of ways, ranging from a position very close to the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubsta…

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In This Section

Chapters & Articles in Theologies Of The Lord's Supper (11)

Entry 1
An Early Church Theology Of The Lord’s Supper

Christian writers of the first two centuries affirmed, without attempting a theological explanation for the fact, t…

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Entry 2
An Eastern Orthodox Theology Of The Lord’s Supper

Although Eastern Orthodox theology insists as firmly as Roman Catholics in the West that the bread and wine become …

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Entry 3
A Roman Catholic Theology Of The Lord’s Supper

The application of modern methods of biblical scholarship by Roman Catholic scholars since 1943 has been credited w…

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Entry 4
A Lutheran Theology Of The Lord’s Supper

A distinctive Lutheran theology of the Lord's Supper arises out of Luther's evangelical understanding of sacrament …

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Entry 5
A Reformed Theology Of The Lord’s Supper

For the Reformed tradition, the bread and wine are signs that point to Christ's spiritual presence, but have no pow…

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Entry 6
An Anglican Theology Of The Lord’s Supper

Anglicans believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. They reject any doctrine of a crudely material p…

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Entry 7
An Anabaptist Theology Of The Lord’s Supper

The sixteenth-century Anabaptists followed Ulrich Zwingli, the Reformer of the city of Zurich, where the first wing…

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Entry 8
A Wesleyan Theology Of The Lord’s Supper

To John Wesley, the Lord's Supper was a powerful sacrament. He believed that even repentant unbelievers could take …

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Entry 9
A Restoration View Of The Lord’s Supper

Churches that make up the Restoration movement share a desire to be called Christians only, with no further label a…

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Entry 10
An Evangelical Theology Of The Lord’s Supper

Some evangelical Protestants have reappropriated central elements of the pre-Reformation church's understanding of …

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Entry 11
A Charismatic Theology Of The Lord’s Supper

Charismatic churches affirm the importance of the Lord's Supper, although it is not always a central feature of the…

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