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Challenges in Contemporary Theology
Torture and Eucharist: Theology, Politics, and the Body of Christ
In this engrossing analysis, Cavanaugh contends that the Eucharist is the Church's response to the use of torture as a social discipline.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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About the author
William T. Cavanaugh
30 books101 followersDr. William T. Cavanaugh, Ph.D. (Religion, Duke University; M.A., Theology and Religious Studies, Cambridge University) is Associate Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.
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December 25, 2020
A remarkable and exhaustively-researched study of the use and purpose of torture by the state and the possibility of combating it by a clearer understanding of the communion that can be effected by the eucharist.
The book is divided into three sections. The first details the use of torture generally and specifically during the dictatorship of Pinochet in Chile. By examining in detail the methods, evolution, and outcomes of torture Cavanaugh makes the compelling case that torture was used to erase all social relationships which stood in the way of the state's control over individuals, atomising them and annihilating any sense of solidarity against the regime.
The second section details the theological and philosophical evolution of ideas regarding the proper role of the church in the political sphere. The gist here is that the church in Chile eventually took the position that its sphere of influence was the soul only, ceding control of the body to the state. This crippled it in terms of being able to act to counter the strategy of the regime in the early days.
The last section explores in depth the eucharist and the idea that rather than symbolize the death of Christ, it acts liturgically to reconstitute the literal body of Christ in the membership, thus forming a community and communion that stands in contrast to the isolation imposed by torture. He further argues that it was this courageous and explicit use of the eucharist by an awakened church that led to a transformation of the consciousness of the public that helped them to stand up, suffer with the oppressed and poor victims of the regime, and make visible the body of Christ in the community. A remarkable and difficult study of the power of praxis over orthodoxy in a real-world setting of oppression.
The book is divided into three sections. The first details the use of torture generally and specifically during the dictatorship of Pinochet in Chile. By examining in detail the methods, evolution, and outcomes of torture Cavanaugh makes the compelling case that torture was used to erase all social relationships which stood in the way of the state's control over individuals, atomising them and annihilating any sense of solidarity against the regime.
The second section details the theological and philosophical evolution of ideas regarding the proper role of the church in the political sphere. The gist here is that the church in Chile eventually took the position that its sphere of influence was the soul only, ceding control of the body to the state. This crippled it in terms of being able to act to counter the strategy of the regime in the early days.
The last section explores in depth the eucharist and the idea that rather than symbolize the death of Christ, it acts liturgically to reconstitute the literal body of Christ in the membership, thus forming a community and communion that stands in contrast to the isolation imposed by torture. He further argues that it was this courageous and explicit use of the eucharist by an awakened church that led to a transformation of the consciousness of the public that helped them to stand up, suffer with the oppressed and poor victims of the regime, and make visible the body of Christ in the community. A remarkable and difficult study of the power of praxis over orthodoxy in a real-world setting of oppression.
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June 26, 2025Puhhh, was ein Buch.
Cavanaugh steigt mit einem historischen Abriss des Pinochet-Regimes und der systematischen Folter ein, die zur Stabilisierung des Regimes angewandt wurde. Er argumentiert, dass Folter keine Ausnahme-Praxis in einem besonders schlimmen Regime ist, sondern dass Folter einer bestimmten Logik folgt, die allen Nationalstaaten eigen ist: die Zergliederung der Bevölkerung in isolierte Individuen. "Soziale Körper", die nicht der Staat sind, sind nach Cavanaugh staatlich nicht gewollt.
Folter richtet sich nicht ausschließlich gegen den Gefolterten, sondern erfüllt in erster Linie die Funktion, Angst und Schrecken zu verbreiten, ohne allerdings direkt sichtbar zu werden. Es geht um eine Atmosphäre des Schreckens, die Schweigen und Isolation produziert. Insofern behandelt er Folter exemplarisch als eine Praxis, die sich direkt gegen die Einheit der Kirche wendet.
Das wirft ekklesiologische Fragen auf. Wenn der Staat aktiv gegen die Einheit der Kirche arbeitet, also ihren "sozialen Körper" zergliedert, dann untergräbt das das Potenzial zur politischen Handlung der Kirche. Wendet man sich nun gegen den Staat oder versucht man eine "andere Einheit" herzustellen?
Cavanaugh zeigt, dass sich die Kirche in Chile während des Regimes stark auf die Innerlichkeit zurückgezogen hat. In Anschluss an die Position des Vatikans während der Diktaturen in Europa, hat man sich in Chile zu weiten Teilen damit begnügt, "das Gewissen der Nation" zu sein, ohne durch diziplinierte, gemeinschaftliche Praxis eine alternative Zugehörigkeit zu imaginieren. In Auseinandersetzung mit der Ekklesiologie von Pius XI. und Jacques Maritain stellt Cavanaugh heraus, dass die strenge Unterscheidung von Körper und Seele, Öffentlichkeit und privaten Raum, Gewissen und Handlung zur Impotenz der Kirche führt. Denn die Kirche ist es, die sich um Seele, Gewissen und privaten Raum kümmert. Dadurch wird sie in die Unsichtbarkeit gedrängt und verliert ihren "Körper".
Der Körper von Christus ist es nach Cavanaugh auch, welcher der Kirche wieder Sichtbarkeit gibt. In der Eucharistie empfängt die Kirche den Körper von Jesus, wird darin zu seinem Körper und empfängt Kraft, den eigenen Körper brechen zu lassen für den Nächsten. So wird am Altar die Gemeinschaft wiederhergestellt, welche durch die Folter zergliedert wurde. Und zugleich wird hier öffentlich, was vorher im Verborgenen war.
Unter Strich ein beeindruckendes Buch. Er arbeitet mühelos auf theologischen, soziologischen und historischem Gelände (wobei er mit diesen Unterscheidungen an sich wahrscheinlich total unglücklich wäre) und baut ein sinnvolles und stringentes Argument darauf auf.
Vielleicht ein Must-Read. Wer weiß das schon.
"[Zitat aus Mystici Corporis Christi:] We have had the great consolation of witnessing something that has made the image of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ stand out most clearly before the whole world. Though a long and deadly war has pitilessly broken the bond of brotherly union between nations, We have seen Out Children in Christ in whatever part of the world they happened to be, one in will and affection, lift up their hearts to the common Father, who, carrying in his own heart the cares and anxieties of all, is guiding the barque of the Catholic Church in the teeth of a raging tempest. [...] [I]t also proves that, as Our paternal love embraces all people, whatever their nationality and race, so Catholics the world over, though their countries may have drawn the sword against each other, look to the Vicar of Jesus Christ as to the loving Father of them all.
It is not difficult to sympathize with Pius's effort to bring some hope of communion to a world riven with strife. Nevertheless, one can imagine that the Pope's words would be slight comfort to the Christion on the battlefield who find that a fellow member of the mystical body of Christ is trying to blow his legs off."
Cavanaugh steigt mit einem historischen Abriss des Pinochet-Regimes und der systematischen Folter ein, die zur Stabilisierung des Regimes angewandt wurde. Er argumentiert, dass Folter keine Ausnahme-Praxis in einem besonders schlimmen Regime ist, sondern dass Folter einer bestimmten Logik folgt, die allen Nationalstaaten eigen ist: die Zergliederung der Bevölkerung in isolierte Individuen. "Soziale Körper", die nicht der Staat sind, sind nach Cavanaugh staatlich nicht gewollt.
Folter richtet sich nicht ausschließlich gegen den Gefolterten, sondern erfüllt in erster Linie die Funktion, Angst und Schrecken zu verbreiten, ohne allerdings direkt sichtbar zu werden. Es geht um eine Atmosphäre des Schreckens, die Schweigen und Isolation produziert. Insofern behandelt er Folter exemplarisch als eine Praxis, die sich direkt gegen die Einheit der Kirche wendet.
Das wirft ekklesiologische Fragen auf. Wenn der Staat aktiv gegen die Einheit der Kirche arbeitet, also ihren "sozialen Körper" zergliedert, dann untergräbt das das Potenzial zur politischen Handlung der Kirche. Wendet man sich nun gegen den Staat oder versucht man eine "andere Einheit" herzustellen?
Cavanaugh zeigt, dass sich die Kirche in Chile während des Regimes stark auf die Innerlichkeit zurückgezogen hat. In Anschluss an die Position des Vatikans während der Diktaturen in Europa, hat man sich in Chile zu weiten Teilen damit begnügt, "das Gewissen der Nation" zu sein, ohne durch diziplinierte, gemeinschaftliche Praxis eine alternative Zugehörigkeit zu imaginieren. In Auseinandersetzung mit der Ekklesiologie von Pius XI. und Jacques Maritain stellt Cavanaugh heraus, dass die strenge Unterscheidung von Körper und Seele, Öffentlichkeit und privaten Raum, Gewissen und Handlung zur Impotenz der Kirche führt. Denn die Kirche ist es, die sich um Seele, Gewissen und privaten Raum kümmert. Dadurch wird sie in die Unsichtbarkeit gedrängt und verliert ihren "Körper".
Der Körper von Christus ist es nach Cavanaugh auch, welcher der Kirche wieder Sichtbarkeit gibt. In der Eucharistie empfängt die Kirche den Körper von Jesus, wird darin zu seinem Körper und empfängt Kraft, den eigenen Körper brechen zu lassen für den Nächsten. So wird am Altar die Gemeinschaft wiederhergestellt, welche durch die Folter zergliedert wurde. Und zugleich wird hier öffentlich, was vorher im Verborgenen war.
Unter Strich ein beeindruckendes Buch. Er arbeitet mühelos auf theologischen, soziologischen und historischem Gelände (wobei er mit diesen Unterscheidungen an sich wahrscheinlich total unglücklich wäre) und baut ein sinnvolles und stringentes Argument darauf auf.
Vielleicht ein Must-Read. Wer weiß das schon.
"[Zitat aus Mystici Corporis Christi:] We have had the great consolation of witnessing something that has made the image of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ stand out most clearly before the whole world. Though a long and deadly war has pitilessly broken the bond of brotherly union between nations, We have seen Out Children in Christ in whatever part of the world they happened to be, one in will and affection, lift up their hearts to the common Father, who, carrying in his own heart the cares and anxieties of all, is guiding the barque of the Catholic Church in the teeth of a raging tempest. [...] [I]t also proves that, as Our paternal love embraces all people, whatever their nationality and race, so Catholics the world over, though their countries may have drawn the sword against each other, look to the Vicar of Jesus Christ as to the loving Father of them all.
It is not difficult to sympathize with Pius's effort to bring some hope of communion to a world riven with strife. Nevertheless, one can imagine that the Pope's words would be slight comfort to the Christion on the battlefield who find that a fellow member of the mystical body of Christ is trying to blow his legs off."
May 26, 2025
Torture and Eucharist is a viscerally engaging work centered around bringing ecclesiology out of the dusty bookshelves of theologians and into the lives of Christians who are at the hands of the powers of the world. This book ties eucharistic living to concrete practice, a practice that forms the Body of Christ and makes its presence in reality stronger than that of any nation-state.
October 21, 2014
Cavanaugh’s task is to develop a Eucharistic ecclesiology that leads the church to be "deeply involved in the sufferings of this world" as a "sharp discontinuity with the politics of the world" (13/14). To accomplish this, Cavanaugh names and critiques the normative ecclesiology of the Catholic church at large, social Catholicism, and in particular, its effects in Chile during the Pinochet regime. Social Catholicism was perpetuated largely by Catholic theologian Maritain and according to Cavanaugh was an "attempt to confine the church's activities to a putative 'social' sphere while vacating the 'political' sphere" (2). This particular ecclesiology ultimately "debilitated the church's ability to resist" the oppression of the Pinochet regime (2).
Cavanaugh begins by laying out the structure of his work and defining the realities of liturgy, eucharist, torture, social bodies and social imagination. He defines liturgy as an action by which a community becomes something together which they were unable to become as a group of individuals (12). Cavanaugh calls this community “social body” or the coordination of members into a single body with a unified shared performance (17). He goes on to elucidate torture and Eucharist through this lens of liturgy which constructs and sustains social bodies through dismembering or "re-membering". Using this lens, the Eucharist becomes the liturgy by which the members of the church are actualized into Christ's body and torture becomes a perversion that organizes bodies into a collective of suspicious individuals (12).
In section one, Cavanaugh goes to great length to illustrate the Chilean military regime’s use of torture to dismember any social body who would pose a threat to its sovereignty (22). In section two, he describes how the church essentially forfeited social spaces to the state as a result of accepting Maritain's social Catholicism (122/123). Cavanaugh dedicates the second half of section two to the church’s acceptance of the bifurcation of the spiritual and political spheres in Chile which eventually leads to the abandonment of citizen bodies to the state and the church's inability to resist the same (151).
In the third and final section of Cavanaugh's work, he suggests an alternative politic for the church through the acting out of the Eucharist. He begins his work by recalling the autonomy of the church and its legal separation from the state during the thirteenth century and a brief timeline of the church’s gradual exodus from secular politics to the current political moment follows (219). Cavanaugh creates an ecclesiology and new politic around the liturgy of Eucharist which demands that we as the church participate in both the suffering of Christ and others. For Cavanaugh, the Eucharist is not just about symbol but the place where Christ embodies the church and moves us to praxis.
Western society is one in which “dis-membering” has been accomplished not through torture by the state but rather as a value promoted by culture. This book forced me to ask, “Has the privileged church of the West willingly adopted values that have essentially rendered us ineffective to resist any sort of future or current state sponsored oppression?” My answer is yes - we have become so obsessed with our individual rights and freedoms that we are blind to the plight of the marginalized who currently suffer under systems that are setup to further benefit the privileged. I highly recommend Cavanaugh’s work as an important voice in one’s formation of ecclesiology.
Cavanaugh begins by laying out the structure of his work and defining the realities of liturgy, eucharist, torture, social bodies and social imagination. He defines liturgy as an action by which a community becomes something together which they were unable to become as a group of individuals (12). Cavanaugh calls this community “social body” or the coordination of members into a single body with a unified shared performance (17). He goes on to elucidate torture and Eucharist through this lens of liturgy which constructs and sustains social bodies through dismembering or "re-membering". Using this lens, the Eucharist becomes the liturgy by which the members of the church are actualized into Christ's body and torture becomes a perversion that organizes bodies into a collective of suspicious individuals (12).
In section one, Cavanaugh goes to great length to illustrate the Chilean military regime’s use of torture to dismember any social body who would pose a threat to its sovereignty (22). In section two, he describes how the church essentially forfeited social spaces to the state as a result of accepting Maritain's social Catholicism (122/123). Cavanaugh dedicates the second half of section two to the church’s acceptance of the bifurcation of the spiritual and political spheres in Chile which eventually leads to the abandonment of citizen bodies to the state and the church's inability to resist the same (151).
In the third and final section of Cavanaugh's work, he suggests an alternative politic for the church through the acting out of the Eucharist. He begins his work by recalling the autonomy of the church and its legal separation from the state during the thirteenth century and a brief timeline of the church’s gradual exodus from secular politics to the current political moment follows (219). Cavanaugh creates an ecclesiology and new politic around the liturgy of Eucharist which demands that we as the church participate in both the suffering of Christ and others. For Cavanaugh, the Eucharist is not just about symbol but the place where Christ embodies the church and moves us to praxis.
Western society is one in which “dis-membering” has been accomplished not through torture by the state but rather as a value promoted by culture. This book forced me to ask, “Has the privileged church of the West willingly adopted values that have essentially rendered us ineffective to resist any sort of future or current state sponsored oppression?” My answer is yes - we have become so obsessed with our individual rights and freedoms that we are blind to the plight of the marginalized who currently suffer under systems that are setup to further benefit the privileged. I highly recommend Cavanaugh’s work as an important voice in one’s formation of ecclesiology.
May 26, 2021
An important work of ecclesiology
January 1, 2021
I don’t believe that my (or any) review of this book will do justice to victims of the Pinochet regime. If any redemption is possible from the great suffering of the Chilean people, then William Cavanaugh’s efforts will not have been in vain.
The author explores Pinochet’s strategy of state terrorism against his own people. His goal is to help the reader understand how the Church, specifically the Catholic Church, could pave the way for such horrific abuse of its people and then rise to challenge it.
This is a well researched book drawing on personal accounts of events, the works of Jacques Maritain who tried to advocate for a “Social Catholicism”, and to a lesser degree on “A Theology of Liberation” by Gustavo Gutiérrez.
The author juxtaposes the pinnacle of a nation-states’ abuse of power, torture, against the pinnacle rite of the Church, the Eucharist. These are anti-polar politics, not party politics as we understand the term. Cavanaugh skillfully explores the interpenetration of the Church and State, of eschatalogical time and linear time. He casts the struggle for the soul of Chile as a battle of imaginations, of powers, of ontologies, and liturgies.
The book has resonated with me personally as a lapsed Catholic living in the US. The Catholic Church in Latin America is much more deeply embedded in the psyche of the people and national formation than it is here in the US. But there are similar battles for the soul of the Catholic Church in America.
This book is revelatory on many levels. Sociologists, political scientists, theologians, lay Catholics, human rights activists, students of European, Latin American, and US history will all find something of value in this work.
This is not a book for casual reading. It’s a tough read, emotionally, academically, and spiritually. This book is dense as Cavanaugh lays out his case for the points he is making. I had to read this book slowly and take notes. I will be processing it for a long time.
Since no summary will do this book justice, the author shall have the last word:
“It has been all too easy to regard the Eucharist as a mere representation of a past historical event in order to secure the graces won in that past event. Secular history - the uniform, and literally endless, progress of time which makes the events of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ ever more remote from us - has come to predominate over eschatology, with grave consequences for the church. As the church made itself at home in the world's time, the urgent sense of pilgrimage through a temporary world toward an eternal end was muted. The Eucharist became a sacrifice performed for the benefit of the church which re-presented before God the historical process of redemption which had already been achieved in the past. The Eucharist as the inbreaking of the future Kingdom of God into time was suppressed.”
The author explores Pinochet’s strategy of state terrorism against his own people. His goal is to help the reader understand how the Church, specifically the Catholic Church, could pave the way for such horrific abuse of its people and then rise to challenge it.
This is a well researched book drawing on personal accounts of events, the works of Jacques Maritain who tried to advocate for a “Social Catholicism”, and to a lesser degree on “A Theology of Liberation” by Gustavo Gutiérrez.
The author juxtaposes the pinnacle of a nation-states’ abuse of power, torture, against the pinnacle rite of the Church, the Eucharist. These are anti-polar politics, not party politics as we understand the term. Cavanaugh skillfully explores the interpenetration of the Church and State, of eschatalogical time and linear time. He casts the struggle for the soul of Chile as a battle of imaginations, of powers, of ontologies, and liturgies.
The book has resonated with me personally as a lapsed Catholic living in the US. The Catholic Church in Latin America is much more deeply embedded in the psyche of the people and national formation than it is here in the US. But there are similar battles for the soul of the Catholic Church in America.
This book is revelatory on many levels. Sociologists, political scientists, theologians, lay Catholics, human rights activists, students of European, Latin American, and US history will all find something of value in this work.
This is not a book for casual reading. It’s a tough read, emotionally, academically, and spiritually. This book is dense as Cavanaugh lays out his case for the points he is making. I had to read this book slowly and take notes. I will be processing it for a long time.
Since no summary will do this book justice, the author shall have the last word:
“It has been all too easy to regard the Eucharist as a mere representation of a past historical event in order to secure the graces won in that past event. Secular history - the uniform, and literally endless, progress of time which makes the events of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ ever more remote from us - has come to predominate over eschatology, with grave consequences for the church. As the church made itself at home in the world's time, the urgent sense of pilgrimage through a temporary world toward an eternal end was muted. The Eucharist became a sacrifice performed for the benefit of the church which re-presented before God the historical process of redemption which had already been achieved in the past. The Eucharist as the inbreaking of the future Kingdom of God into time was suppressed.”
December 21, 2019
This was such a strange book. I cannot confirm whether everything he affirmed of Pinochet's regime is exactly this way, but beyond these examples, I can see why his argumentation is solid. Cavanaugh will spend pages and pages laying points out and then getting to the details, which is honestly compeling and very much needed. This is also my first book on ecclesiology, and it helped solve a few intuitons about what it meant to say that the Church is the Body of Christ.
It also features ecumentical dialogue and is my first reading of Radical Orthodoxy, which leaves me with more curiosity. Imagine using the sources of Scripture and Tradition but also in dialogue with postmodern authors and heterodox theologies enough to discern pernicious ideas they have inherited from modernity.
It also features ecumentical dialogue and is my first reading of Radical Orthodoxy, which leaves me with more curiosity. Imagine using the sources of Scripture and Tradition but also in dialogue with postmodern authors and heterodox theologies enough to discern pernicious ideas they have inherited from modernity.
October 25, 2023
A masterclass on respectful, reasoned dismantling of poor political theology. Even for a non-Catholic like myself, there is so much helpful material here and food for thought on the Eucharist, or the Lord's Supper as it is called in my context. This book definitely helped shape and expand my understanding of the practice and I think I will be returning to it as I work to make the ritual more meaningful in my life.
December 19, 2023
This is a remarkable book -- well-written and carefully researched. As a Roman Catholic theologian, Cavanaugh uses a case study of Chile under the dictatorship of Pinochet to consider how the church responds to torture. That's a heavy task, and Cavanaugh handles it well. The work offers helpful reflection on what constitutes the body of Christ, how that body interacts with political bodies, the dangers of separating spiritual from temporal, and the far-reaching effects of isolation.
April 26, 2013
Does the Church have anything left to say to the world? Is there a 'Christian' response to torture as it is practiced by the state? How can we understand the work of the church in the world?
While these are not the obvious questions that William Cavanaugh answers in Torture and Eucharist, they are central questions that drive his work.
Cavanaugh main area of concentration is the the torture chambers that occurred under General Pinochet's reign in Chile. The Chilean government rounded up thousands of people and 'disappeared' them and engaged in ruthless torture. In this vein, Cavanaugh argues that torture became a 'sacrament' for the State much as the Eucharist is the sacrament for the Church. While torture creates victims, the Eucharist creates Martyrs. In the end, he argues that the Eucharist is the means of resistance for the Church in the face of danger.
The first part of the book examines life under Pinochet's dictatorship. The second part deals with an examination of Catholic political and social theory up to that both contributed to the development of dictatorship, and also called to resist it. In the third part, Cavanaugh tries to develop an ecclesiastical response to torture.
The Church, for Cavanaugh, represents a great hope in the face of torture. The Church's response of Eucharist creates an identity that solidifies the church but also creates a unified response to the state.
Very helpful is Cavanaugh's overview of the Catholic political and social theory of Maritain. Maritain's philosophy both help set the groundwork for Pinochet, but also led the way to a Christian response to it.
Cavanaugh's writing is technical at times. This is not a book that one just jumps into. Rather, you need to warm up to it and finding a short overview of both recent Chilean history and Catholic political movements might be helpful if these concepts aren't familiar to you (they weren't to me).
I recommend this book to those interested in political theology, or those interested in practical theology.
Grade: B
While these are not the obvious questions that William Cavanaugh answers in Torture and Eucharist, they are central questions that drive his work.
Cavanaugh main area of concentration is the the torture chambers that occurred under General Pinochet's reign in Chile. The Chilean government rounded up thousands of people and 'disappeared' them and engaged in ruthless torture. In this vein, Cavanaugh argues that torture became a 'sacrament' for the State much as the Eucharist is the sacrament for the Church. While torture creates victims, the Eucharist creates Martyrs. In the end, he argues that the Eucharist is the means of resistance for the Church in the face of danger.
The first part of the book examines life under Pinochet's dictatorship. The second part deals with an examination of Catholic political and social theory up to that both contributed to the development of dictatorship, and also called to resist it. In the third part, Cavanaugh tries to develop an ecclesiastical response to torture.
The Church, for Cavanaugh, represents a great hope in the face of torture. The Church's response of Eucharist creates an identity that solidifies the church but also creates a unified response to the state.
Very helpful is Cavanaugh's overview of the Catholic political and social theory of Maritain. Maritain's philosophy both help set the groundwork for Pinochet, but also led the way to a Christian response to it.
Cavanaugh's writing is technical at times. This is not a book that one just jumps into. Rather, you need to warm up to it and finding a short overview of both recent Chilean history and Catholic political movements might be helpful if these concepts aren't familiar to you (they weren't to me).
I recommend this book to those interested in political theology, or those interested in practical theology.
Grade: B
December 8, 2009
Just finished reading through for the second time. Some things that were amazing revelations to me last time were old hat this time; some things that I missed entirely last time seemed very significant this time...all in all, a thoroughly rewarding re-read of a masterpiece.
Honestly, I tried hard to be pickier this time, but I still had trouble finding anything significant to gripe about. This book is rock-solid, and holds up remarkably well to interrogations and objections. Everyone must read it, pure and simple.
This time through, I was pleased to notice that chapters 5 and 6 dismantle the Barthian objections to "communion ecclesiologies," as voiced by Dr. McCormack at the Edinburgh Dogmatics Conference: rooting the being of the Church in her sharing in Christ in the Eucharist does not undermine the notion of a pilgrim-church; rather, it strengthens it.
Also, I noticed that, earlier this year, I had strayed a bit from the true path into a hawkish church-as-polis ideology, based upon a strict reading of Against Christianity, that Leithart himself is now disclaiming. Cavanaugh says, "The church, therefore, is not polis, but neither is it merely oikos. It has a place, but that place has its center of gravity in the church's eternal home toward which it remains on pilgrimage. It is a gathering, but is not therefore marked by a 'fascist' binding--a homogeneous exclusion of otherness--precisely because the church must constantly receive itself as a gift of God who is Other in the Eucharist. The church is a body, but not just _a_ social body, one of a genus of other social bodies which can be described and plotted sociologically. The church is the true body of Christ, a sui generis gathering which deconstructs the necessity of divisions between public and private, body and soul."
Honestly, I tried hard to be pickier this time, but I still had trouble finding anything significant to gripe about. This book is rock-solid, and holds up remarkably well to interrogations and objections. Everyone must read it, pure and simple.
This time through, I was pleased to notice that chapters 5 and 6 dismantle the Barthian objections to "communion ecclesiologies," as voiced by Dr. McCormack at the Edinburgh Dogmatics Conference: rooting the being of the Church in her sharing in Christ in the Eucharist does not undermine the notion of a pilgrim-church; rather, it strengthens it.
Also, I noticed that, earlier this year, I had strayed a bit from the true path into a hawkish church-as-polis ideology, based upon a strict reading of Against Christianity, that Leithart himself is now disclaiming. Cavanaugh says, "The church, therefore, is not polis, but neither is it merely oikos. It has a place, but that place has its center of gravity in the church's eternal home toward which it remains on pilgrimage. It is a gathering, but is not therefore marked by a 'fascist' binding--a homogeneous exclusion of otherness--precisely because the church must constantly receive itself as a gift of God who is Other in the Eucharist. The church is a body, but not just _a_ social body, one of a genus of other social bodies which can be described and plotted sociologically. The church is the true body of Christ, a sui generis gathering which deconstructs the necessity of divisions between public and private, body and soul."
Read
December 23, 2012Parts of this book are so dense, but it is certainly worth trudging through. Cavanaugh uses the details of Pinochet's oppressive regime to paint the big picture of torture and its ultimate antidote -- the Eucharist.
Some big ideas: the function of torture is to break down social bodies. By breaking down individual bodies, torturers use pain to isolate individuals and destroy communication. This, in turn, destroys communities. Cavanaugh gives examples of how the confessions of torture victims are used to create a state that wields power over individuals.
The Eucharist, on the other hand, physically and spiritually builds communities. It is the ultimate communion that brings individuals together in one body.
How paradoxical -- that the answer to torture is the Eucharist -- the very tortured body of Christ! But the answer lies in the fact that his body, after torture and death, has resurrected and lives eternally. The Heavenly nature of the Eucharist gives hope.
The Heavenly nature of the Eucharist also gives the Church a totally unique place in the world and among temporal states. Cavanaugh gives a lengthy discussion to the relationship between Church and state -- what that relationship has been historically and speculations as to what it should be.
So many of these ideas were new to me, but they stacked naturally onto the experience and knowledge I already had about the Eucharist. I learned so much about Pinochet's regime in Chile, and I appreciated the extensive research (and helpful footnotes). I hope to return to this book again after some further reading on these topics.
Some big ideas: the function of torture is to break down social bodies. By breaking down individual bodies, torturers use pain to isolate individuals and destroy communication. This, in turn, destroys communities. Cavanaugh gives examples of how the confessions of torture victims are used to create a state that wields power over individuals.
The Eucharist, on the other hand, physically and spiritually builds communities. It is the ultimate communion that brings individuals together in one body.
How paradoxical -- that the answer to torture is the Eucharist -- the very tortured body of Christ! But the answer lies in the fact that his body, after torture and death, has resurrected and lives eternally. The Heavenly nature of the Eucharist gives hope.
The Heavenly nature of the Eucharist also gives the Church a totally unique place in the world and among temporal states. Cavanaugh gives a lengthy discussion to the relationship between Church and state -- what that relationship has been historically and speculations as to what it should be.
So many of these ideas were new to me, but they stacked naturally onto the experience and knowledge I already had about the Eucharist. I learned so much about Pinochet's regime in Chile, and I appreciated the extensive research (and helpful footnotes). I hope to return to this book again after some further reading on these topics.
May 2, 2009
I feel like a superficial failure because I could not read this book. I found the topic relevant, interesting and compelling but it was so disturbing to me that I ended up with nightmares. The same thing happened when I was reading another book on capital punishment. The series is Challenges in Contemporary Theology - I guess it was too much challenge. What I did read was very thought provoking - how torture can signal the destruction of the social fabric of a nation. How responding to knowledge of torture is critical for the life of social institutions - I would include more than the church here. I am reminded of a friend who survived the Holocaust and became a librarian here in the US (I worked for him at one point). He insisted that the medical library association take stands on social issues or cease to be relevant. He knew from experience that the social fabric of a nation must engage with the political.
July 16, 2015
This is a dissertation turned book. Cavanaugh spends more time reporting on the situation of torture in Chile than he does on theology (although one could argue that he does so partly to make the stories of the tortured, who have become invisible and silenced, visible), and I would have liked to hear more about the latter. He offers an interesting take on how excommunication might be used for social justice purposes--to take seriously the idea of making the body of Christ visible.
November 30, 2015
Torture and the Euch is the gift that keeps on giving. I read it and now it haunts my thoughts as I ponder the meaning of it all. The content absolutely applies in today's world. The framework set forth here has given shape and language toward the Christian response to the principalities in the world and in the church that would seek to dismantle the body of Christ. A beautiful work and one I very much look forward to reading again as soon as time permits.
October 8, 2008
Fantastic. His contrast of torture as anti-liturgy of the state with the liturgy of Eucharist for the church serves his argument well. His understanding of how the church became complicit in Pinochet's government is disturbing. It drags a bit during his discussion of ecclesiology but i think he paints a beautiful picture of the church without downplaying it's problems.
April 5, 2008
tough slogging through it, but it's a very insightful theological analysis of torture and how the state wields it -- and how the church ought to respond to it as an alternative polis.
June 7, 2007
a book of life change.
September 8, 2007
Great book; compelling, provocative.
October 1, 2011
Brilliant. Anyone with even a passing interest in politics, human rights or theology should read this book.
April 26, 2013
Fantastic book...very insightful. Very important in light of recent discussions of torture in the US.
December 29, 2013
Enthralling read. There were definitely some connections made here that I found to be completely original, which is hard to do in a theology text.
February 26, 2015
Fascinating! Makes reading history that much more enlightening.
April 6, 2015
Underlined the crap out of it. Cannot stop thinking about what the argument would look like if I substituted "Love Feast" for "eucharist."
April 17, 2015
A very heavy read
March 9, 2015
Pretty dense, made me feel like I was back at Duke, but it was well worth it.
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