A Companion to the Eucharist in the Reformation

By the end of the fifteenth century, the Eucharist had come to encompass theology, liturgy, art, architecture, and music. In the sixteenth century, each of these dimensions was questioned, challenged, rethought, as western European Christians divided over their central act of worship. This volume offers an introduction to early modern thinking on the Eucharist-as theology, as Christology, as a moment of human and divine communion, as that which the faithful do, as taking place, and as visible and audible. The scholars gathered in this volume speak from a range of disciplines-liturgics, history, history of art, history of theology, philosophy, musicology, and literary theory. The volume thus also brings different methods and approaches, as well as confessional orientations to a consideration of the Eucharist in the Reformation. Contributors include: Gary Macy, Volker Leppin, Carrie Euler, Nicholas Thompson, Nicholas Wolterstorff, John D. Rempel, James F. Turrell, Robert J. Daly, Isabelle Brian, Thomas Schattauer, Raymond A. Mentzer, Michele Zelinsky Hanson, Jaime Lara, Andrew Spicer, Achim Timmermann, Birgit Ulrike Munch, Andreas Gormans, Alexander J. Fisher, Regina M. Schwartz, and Christopher Wild.

Review:

Wandel's volume is a valuable contribution to the corpus of knowledge concerning the development of the Eucharist in the Reformation. She brings together a collection of essays which enable scholarly access and accessible scholarship to a variety of topics pertinent to the study of the Eucharist in the Reformation. Adrian Burdon, Methodist Church in Britain. In: Reviews in Religion & Theology, Vol. 21, No. 3 (2014), pp. 419-422. This volume is well organized and offers a solid introduction to the theology and practice of the Eucharist in the early modern period. It will be of use to students and scholars of the sixteenth-century Reformation. John T. Slotemaker, Fairfield University. In: Religious Studies Review, Vol. 41, No. 2 (June 2015), p. 87. This volume provides an introduction to competing understandings of the Eucharist and the consequences for liturgical practice and the arts extending into the eighteenth century. It is self-consciously interdisciplinary, with contributions by theologians, historians, art historians, musicologists, and literary scholars. The volume invites comparison among the Christian traditions, with articles devoted not only to the Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed churches, but also to Anglicans and Anabaptists. ... the essays here ... stimulate readers to think beyond traditional approaches to the study of the Eucharist in the Reformation. Amy Nelson Burnett, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In: Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 67, No. 3 (Fall 2014), pp. 1032-1033. This splendid volume does not try to construct a single history but seeks to render something of the protean heterogeneity of early modern thinking - in texts written and sung, images, objects, architecture, music, and practices - on the Eucharist . It well succeeds! Donald K. McKim, Germantown, Tennessee. In: Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 46, No. 1 (2015), pp. 157-159. A panoramic, yet precise, view of how the doctrines and experiences of the Eucharist changed during the Reformation. [...] This volume presents the reader with the latest findings of scholarship on the standard personalities and traditions involved in the Reformation, but also extends the discussion to include several areas of research that have historically not received much attention. [...] Together with the essays on aesthetics, music, and architecture, the book ultimately gives us a more human perspective on the Eucharist in the Reformation, and should be a welcome addition to any university or seminary library. Gregory Soderberg, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. In: Journal of Reformed Theology, Vol. 9, No. 2 (2015), pp. 209-210. Den Anspruch auf Unverzichtbarkeit fur eine ernsthafte Beschaftigung mit der Theologie der Reformationszeit und ihren gesellschaftlichen Folgen sowie auf Nutzlichkeit im okumenischen Dialog darf das Buch ohne weiteres erheben. Bernward Schmidt, Institut fur Katholische Theologie, RWTH Aachen. In: H-Soz-Kult, 03.03.2016. Ce volume de la prestigieuse collection, qui compte aujourd'hui pres de soixante volumes, offre un bon instrument de travail pour se reperer dans la diversite des comprehensions de l'eucharistie au temps des Reformes. Michel Mallevre, ISTINA, LX (2015), p. 144.