Eating Christ’s Flesh: A Case for Memorialism
Ebook
What does it mean to "eat Christ's flesh" (John 6:53)? And what does this eating have to do with the bread and wine of the eucharistic meal which Jesus called his "body" and "blood" (1 Cor 11:23-25)? These are central questions in the theology of the Eucharist. Memorialism says that to eat Christ's flesh is to take joy in Christ's person and work. The bread and wine of the Eucharist make it possible to engage in this sort of eating sacramentally by serving as symbols that represent Christ's person and work. This book presents a systematic case for memorialism. It addresses the biblical loci classici (the bread of life discourse, the words of institution, and 1 Corinthians), important early church sources (the Didache, Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian), and the philosophical-phenomenological interpretation of the Eucharist in Huldrych Zwingli and Michel Henry. It also argues against the alternative pneumatic and real presence paradigms in conversation with their historic and contemporary advocates.
“For a very long time, memorialist understandings of the Lord’s Supper have been the poor—even disparaged—relations of eucharistic theology. In this compelling work, however, Steven Nemes sets forth an impressively rigorous memorialist position that is biblically grounded, theologically robust, and philosophically coherent. He thereby adds to a growing awareness of the integrity and significance of such accounts of the Lord’s Supper and does so with especial lucidity and welcome insight.”
—Paul T. Nimmo, chair of systematic theology, University of Aberdeen
“Eating Christ’s Flesh offers the full Steven Nemes experience: lucid argumentation, clear writing, and a frank reappraisal of ‘catholic’ Christianity that invites us to live our faith, not as an escape from the world, but as a way of living differently here and now.”
—Neal DeRoo, senior member and professor of philosophy, Institute for Christian Studies
“Though it can stand alone, Eating Christ’s Flesh logically extends Steven Nemes’s other provocative works. Analytically articulating the merits of a memorialist view, he offers a compelling case biblically, historically, and phenomenologically to resist dividing being and appearance in the Eucharist. Such resistance does not undermine its significance but enables us to see the beauty of the ordinary, experience the power of remembrance, and cultivate the practice of communal thankfulness.”
—Christa L. McKirland, lecturer in theology, Carey Baptist College
“Much recent work in sacramental theology praises the virtues of a catholic approach. In such views, the real corporeal presence of Christ is the point of departure for rightly understanding the Eucharist. Steven Nemes stands against such views. Drawing on the work of Huldrych Zwingli and Michel Henry, he sets out a careful and sophisticated memorialist account that divests the bread and wine of any ‘magical’ connotations. This is a work of real intellectual quality that its naysayers will need to address.”
—Oliver D. Crisp, principal, St. Mary’s College
“Memorialism has sometimes been depicted as a theologically thin account of what happens when Christians gather to eat and drink at the meal instituted by Christ. Steven Nemes provides a spirited response, claiming that memorialism is a view which is historically and scripturally sound and phenomenologically rich for its participants. Some may dispute Nemes’s claims, but few could claim that this is not an important and carefully argued contribution to the conversation.”
—Joshua Cockayne, director of mission and evangelism, Cranmer Hall
- Title: Eating Christ’s Flesh: A Case for Memorialism
- Author: Steven Nemes
- Publisher: Cascade Books
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781666777581, 9781666777567, 1666777560, 9781666777574, 1666777579, 1666777587
- Resource ID: LLS:9781666777581
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-10-24T03:01:37Z
Steven Nemes is an academic theologian and instructor of Latin, Greek, and Humane Letters at North Phoenix Preparatory Academy in Phoenix, Arizona. He is the author of Orthodoxy and Heresy (2022), Theology of the Manifest: Christianity without Metaphysics (2023), and Theological Authority in the Church: Reconsidering Traditionalism and Hierarchy (2023).