The Lord’s Supper

by William Barclay

Publisher:

SCM Press

, 1967

Overview

While Barclay’s theology of the Lord’s Supper has been found wanting by some academics, considerable personal correspondence and requests to use the liturgy contained in this book shows that once again, for the ordinary reader, the author has managed to bring new meaning to what he claims has woefully become “a ritual rather than a reality.”

“When we can neither grasp nor teach the truth,” Barclay says, “It is better to get hold of some part of the truth which we can understand and on which we can act. All I have tried to do is to examine the history of the sacrament, and then to set down a view of it which I know is incomplete and which I know means something vital to those to whom it has been through the years presented.”

Key Features

• Surveys the history of the Lord’s Supper throughout Christianity
• Reveals Barclay's concern that the Lord's Supper has become a ritual rather than a reality
• Includes a chapter on the order of communion service

Contents

• The Necessity to Understand
• The Problem of Date
• The Problem of Words
• Development or Complication
• The Lord's Supper in the Reformed Churches
• The Meaning of the Lord's Supper for Today
• Order for a Communion Service

Top Highlights

“After thirteen years in the parish ministry and twenty years’ university teaching I have come to the conclusion that, when we can neither grasp nor teach the whole truth, it is better to get hold of some part of the truth which we can understand, and on which we can act.” (Page 6)

“A mystery is something, usually in itself quite simple, which is completely obscure to the outsider, but completely meaningful to the initiate. To the uninstructed it is meaningless; to the instructed it is the vehicle of truth and grace. So the action of the Lord’s Supper, in which the communicant eats a little piece of bread and swallows a sip of wine often seems to the outsider—for instance, to a child—incomprehensible, or even silly or amusing, while to the believer it is one of the supreme experiences of the Christian life.” (Page 10)

“The sacrament only becomes effective when it has been preceded by the fullest and the most careful instruction” (Page 10)

“but for many they have become a ritual rather than a reality” (Page 7)

“In spite of some slight doubts, it is fair to take it that the Synoptic writers regard the Last Supper as a Passover meal.” (Page 20)

Praise for the Print Edition

Whatever more we may wish to say about this central act of Christian worship, Dr. Barclay has given us its heart, which is Jesus Christ himself, known, worshiped, loved, and obeyed. For this, every reader of his book will thank him.

—Norman Pittenger, late honorary senior member, King’s College, Cambridge

Product Details

• Title: The Lord’s Supper
• Author: William Barclay
• Publisher: SCM Press
• Print Publication Date: 1967
• Logos Release Date: 2015
• Pages: 130
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Lord’s Supper
• Resource ID: LLS:SCMLORDSSUPPER
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-08-29T20:19:38Z

About William Barclay

William Barclay (5 December 1907–24 January 1978) was an author, radio and television presenter, Church of Scotland minister, and Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism at the University of Glasgow.