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Remembrance, Communion, and Hope: Rediscovering the Gospel at the Lord's Table
"Celebrating the Lord’s Supper,” says award-winning author and theologian J. Todd Billings, “can change lives.”
In this book Billings shows how a renewed theology and practice of the Lord’s Supper can lead Christians to rediscover the full richness and depth of the gospel. With an eye for helping congregations move beyond common reductions of the gospel, he develops a vibrant, biblical, and distinctly Reformed sacramental theology and explores how it might apply within a variety of church contexts, from Baptist to Presbyterian, nondenominational to Anglican.
At once strikingly new and deeply traditional, Remembrance, Communion, and Hope will surprise and challenge readers, inspiring them to a new understanding of—and appreciation for—the embodied, Christ-disclosing drama of the Lord’s Supper.
In this book Billings shows how a renewed theology and practice of the Lord’s Supper can lead Christians to rediscover the full richness and depth of the gospel. With an eye for helping congregations move beyond common reductions of the gospel, he develops a vibrant, biblical, and distinctly Reformed sacramental theology and explores how it might apply within a variety of church contexts, from Baptist to Presbyterian, nondenominational to Anglican.
At once strikingly new and deeply traditional, Remembrance, Communion, and Hope will surprise and challenge readers, inspiring them to a new understanding of—and appreciation for—the embodied, Christ-disclosing drama of the Lord’s Supper.
237 pages, Paperback
Published February 15, 2018
34 people are currently reading
117 people want to read
About the author
J. Todd Billings
13 books49 followersJ. Todd Billings is the Girod Research Professor of Reformed Theology at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, MI (Th.D. Harvard). His first book, Calvin, Participation, and the Gift, won a 2009 Templeton Award for Theological Promise. His third book, Union with Christ, won a 2012 Christianity Today Book Award. His 2015 book, Rejoicing in Lament, gives a theological reflection on providence and lament in light of his 2012 cancer diagnosis. His latest book, The End of the Christian Life, explores how the journey of authentic discipleship involves embracing our mortal limits. He is married to Rachel M. Billings, an Old Testament scholar (Ph.D., Harvard). They have a lively household with two young children and a very opinionated cat.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 15, 2019
When I did my undergraduate degree, I always wondered why people got so excited about the sacraments. Now I know why it did. This is the book I wish I had read eight years ago.
Billings is a humble and gracious theologian, and while he believes that the modern Reformed view of the supper is excessively cerebral and myopic, he also is attentive to any celebration of the Lord's Supper is good, and he is incredibly respectful of the Reformed tradition, and indeed tries to rehabilitate it. I was moved not only by how respectful he was of Calvin and the early Reformers, but also of how he wanted people to lean into the distinctives of their tradition as a means to ecumenicism. He gave an unusually powerful defense of open communion that's not wishy washy and arguably of paedocommunion that's not sectarian.
However, what separates this from all the other books is that the germ of the idea of this book is that the Lord's Supper is a rite by which Jesus communicates grace to us, and thus it is a place where the church practices trusting in God and resting in His promises. We should be living a life of dependence on God all the time, through prayer and through Scripture, but Billings goes beyond this. Look at this quote: "Why have I not given a step-by-step formula or a detailed blueprint of how a renewed theology and practice of the Supper can lead to a deeper embrace of the gospel? Since both parts of the wager can only be enacted by the triune God, we cannot fit God into the spaces of our own detailed 'church renewal' plan, assigning him discrete parts of our plan. ... I do not offer a 'blueprint' because that would not recognize and celebrate the Spirit's gifts and works in particular contexts. My hope for readers is that they would discern, from this proposal, what they need to embrace to move more deeply into a pilgrimage of renewing the celebration of the Lord's Supper and moving more deeply into embracing the good news." That's amazing. Would that more theologians and popular speakers got the message.
Aside from summarizing capably what Calvin and other theologians meant in their understanding of the Lord's Supper and describing how the Supper should be seen as something we primarily do and not as something we primarily think, he talks about how it should be a real remembrance, a means of communing with Jesus, and a means of looking to the future to God's kingdom. He doesn't just go off on intellectual hobby-horses. He talks about how the Lord's Supper should force us into fellowship with people whom we don't like, often because of theological, political, class, or cultural differences. He hits hard too on how the Lord's Supper should drive us to social action, without reducing it to something like that (e.g. as Cavanaugh et al. do). He has a beautiful section on how the Lord's Supper reminds us that our bodies are not our own, and gives an exhilarating description of how this contradicts the modern notion of self-expression and definition.
In his discussion of the Lord's Supper as eschatalogical, he goes after dispensationalists, but also goes after N.T. Wright and Scott McKnight and others for downplaying heaven, emphasizing that sometimes it seems like Wright in particular, in his zeal to emphasize the resurrection, imports some of the work and struggle from this life in the life to come. It's a remarkably helpful and balanced critique and I am glad someone said it in a different context. He also has a killer critique of Boersma and Radical Orthodoxy and their narrative of losing Eucharist theology as part of the fall of modernity. It's a genius attack, essentially showing that it's all an history-as-ideas viewpoint, and one that's not that well researched either. He shows that the Reformed actually had very emotional communion fairs in which people really did celebrate the Lord's Supper with all their lives. I want Billings and others like him to be doing my history, because while they don't valorize the past or what happened, they recognize imperfectly good people in it.
I cannot emphasize how good this book is. I don't think that the Lord's Supper is the be-all, end-all of Christian living, but as I hope is clear, seeing the Lord's Supper as place where we better learn to trust and depend on God makes it incredibly relevant. Again, this isn't a fad book. This is the kind of book that recognizes the tension in our lives between the imperfection and evils that we have to live with and the hope that we look towards. The Lord's Supper both calls us to greater things, but is powerful primarily because we are not the ones who make it work; Jesus does. Jesus is the one who is primarily working in the Supper to give Himself. That is what we lost in revivalism and 19th-century rationalism. So please, go buy this book.
Billings is a humble and gracious theologian, and while he believes that the modern Reformed view of the supper is excessively cerebral and myopic, he also is attentive to any celebration of the Lord's Supper is good, and he is incredibly respectful of the Reformed tradition, and indeed tries to rehabilitate it. I was moved not only by how respectful he was of Calvin and the early Reformers, but also of how he wanted people to lean into the distinctives of their tradition as a means to ecumenicism. He gave an unusually powerful defense of open communion that's not wishy washy and arguably of paedocommunion that's not sectarian.
However, what separates this from all the other books is that the germ of the idea of this book is that the Lord's Supper is a rite by which Jesus communicates grace to us, and thus it is a place where the church practices trusting in God and resting in His promises. We should be living a life of dependence on God all the time, through prayer and through Scripture, but Billings goes beyond this. Look at this quote: "Why have I not given a step-by-step formula or a detailed blueprint of how a renewed theology and practice of the Supper can lead to a deeper embrace of the gospel? Since both parts of the wager can only be enacted by the triune God, we cannot fit God into the spaces of our own detailed 'church renewal' plan, assigning him discrete parts of our plan. ... I do not offer a 'blueprint' because that would not recognize and celebrate the Spirit's gifts and works in particular contexts. My hope for readers is that they would discern, from this proposal, what they need to embrace to move more deeply into a pilgrimage of renewing the celebration of the Lord's Supper and moving more deeply into embracing the good news." That's amazing. Would that more theologians and popular speakers got the message.
Aside from summarizing capably what Calvin and other theologians meant in their understanding of the Lord's Supper and describing how the Supper should be seen as something we primarily do and not as something we primarily think, he talks about how it should be a real remembrance, a means of communing with Jesus, and a means of looking to the future to God's kingdom. He doesn't just go off on intellectual hobby-horses. He talks about how the Lord's Supper should force us into fellowship with people whom we don't like, often because of theological, political, class, or cultural differences. He hits hard too on how the Lord's Supper should drive us to social action, without reducing it to something like that (e.g. as Cavanaugh et al. do). He has a beautiful section on how the Lord's Supper reminds us that our bodies are not our own, and gives an exhilarating description of how this contradicts the modern notion of self-expression and definition.
In his discussion of the Lord's Supper as eschatalogical, he goes after dispensationalists, but also goes after N.T. Wright and Scott McKnight and others for downplaying heaven, emphasizing that sometimes it seems like Wright in particular, in his zeal to emphasize the resurrection, imports some of the work and struggle from this life in the life to come. It's a remarkably helpful and balanced critique and I am glad someone said it in a different context. He also has a killer critique of Boersma and Radical Orthodoxy and their narrative of losing Eucharist theology as part of the fall of modernity. It's a genius attack, essentially showing that it's all an history-as-ideas viewpoint, and one that's not that well researched either. He shows that the Reformed actually had very emotional communion fairs in which people really did celebrate the Lord's Supper with all their lives. I want Billings and others like him to be doing my history, because while they don't valorize the past or what happened, they recognize imperfectly good people in it.
I cannot emphasize how good this book is. I don't think that the Lord's Supper is the be-all, end-all of Christian living, but as I hope is clear, seeing the Lord's Supper as place where we better learn to trust and depend on God makes it incredibly relevant. Again, this isn't a fad book. This is the kind of book that recognizes the tension in our lives between the imperfection and evils that we have to live with and the hope that we look towards. The Lord's Supper both calls us to greater things, but is powerful primarily because we are not the ones who make it work; Jesus does. Jesus is the one who is primarily working in the Supper to give Himself. That is what we lost in revivalism and 19th-century rationalism. So please, go buy this book.
January 17, 2019
Will have a larger review published in the Journal of Theological Studies. However, in brief, this is a worthwhile read. Most impressive to me is Billings example of an ecumenical theological method. Billings insistence that we dive deeper into our theological traditions in order to find unity instead of wider is wise and commendable. His threefold vision of the Lord's Supper is a helpful corrective to both over-privatized and over-socialized movements we see in extremes of ecclesial practices.
Finally, Billings had a chapter of this book in hand when he was told he had incurable cancer. This is important to note as his final section on the "Hope" of communion is worth the price of the book alone. He writes beautifully of the eschatological supper on the horizon for the saints and the way that the Lord's supper nourishes us until we arrive at that great day.
Finally, Billings had a chapter of this book in hand when he was told he had incurable cancer. This is important to note as his final section on the "Hope" of communion is worth the price of the book alone. He writes beautifully of the eschatological supper on the horizon for the saints and the way that the Lord's supper nourishes us until we arrive at that great day.
April 12, 2018
There’s only so much you can say about J. Todd Billings, Gordon H. Girod Research Professor of Reformed Theology at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America, and accomplished author. You either like him, or you like him. It’s just that plain and simple. And recently Billings gave us one more reason to like him with his newest 237 page softback, “Remembrance, Communion, and Hope: Rediscovering the Gospel at the Lord's Table”. This fine treatise on the Lord’s Supper is written to attract the attention and affections of professors, pastors and parishioners. And it is composed to present readers and leaders with a wager: “that a renewed theology and practice of the Lord’s Supper can be an instrument for congregations to develop a deeper, more multifaceted sense of the gospel itself…the Supper is God’s own instrument for conforming believers to the image of Christ” (1). Though it is a learned composition, it is not a parched pedagogy.
Very much like strolling along a garden path surrounded by subtle scents, shades, hues, textures and designs, Billings guides us down a well-marked lane and encourages us to stop and take in the assorted aromas and auras of Holy Communion. He unashamedly does so from a Reformed and Calvinistic perspective, while give deference to other traditions. The book is divided into three plots. The first, very much in the vein of James K.A. Smith, brings us to examine our functional theologies that have been shaped by our cultural liturgies. Billings then shows how in the Lord’s Supper Christians are offered a tangible, touchable and tastable counter-formation, where believers “enact their role in the Trinitarian drama of the gospel, as ones who are nourished by Christ through the power of the Spirit as adopted children of the Father” (45).
In the second plot of “Remembrance, Communion, and Hope” the author cultivates what is the Reformed thinking on the Sacraments, and how it can enhance (without co-opting) the sacramental perceptions of other Protestant and independent traditions. Here Billings maps out a nine point sketch of the Lord’s Supper that is shepherded by a breadth of Reformed Confessions. He also critiques Radical Orthodoxy’s and Hans Boersma’s flattened readings of the Reformation and narrow explanations of why the Eucharist has become de-sacralized among Protestants; and then offers a happier alternative.
Finally, “Remembrance, Communion, and Hope” leads us to the third plot exploding with a brilliant array of colors and fragrances. Here, Billings graciously unpacks Zwinglianism, and favorably describes John Williamson Nevin’s defense of Calvin’s position. He further discusses open communion, closed communion, and a middle way of “fencing the table”. Yet, most of the pages in these final three chapters swell with striking portrayals and presentations of what God is doing in the Holy Supper. It is a pageant of the Gospel; savory and salacious through and through; running from the here-and-now longingly into the there-and-then! As I finished the last chapter my heart was singing with joy, raising the anthem, “Come, Lord Jesus!”
Out of the many aspects I appreciated in the book, that which most charmed me is how Billings clearly brings out the Gospel enfleshed in Communion. And because of this, the Lord’s Supper offers what our fractured and frayed world is in desperate need of. How Christ, freely offered to us in the Gospel, and by means of the Sacrament, challenges our ethnic snobbery and lust for comfortable homogeneity. For example, Billings notes that, "many of us desire a church that matches our “tribe” of political leanings, cultural background, life stage, etc. But the Host (Christ) for the feast of love does not just invite hipsters or squares, conservatives or liberals, whites or blacks; the Host invites people we would rather not see there. For we are not masters or owners of this table; it is “the Lord’s table” (1 Cor.10:21)…It would be tempting to "feed upon Christ" but to spurn the actual flesh and blood of Christians who surround us. But the Host invites not only us into God's household fellowship, but also others in our congregations, in our denominations, and in the worldwide body of Christ...[the church] enters into the messy and open-ended task of loving those she did not choose as adopted brothers and sisters in the Lord...To be in communion with the beautiful, alluring Christ is impossible without communion with his broken and sinful – yet cleansed and redeemed – bride, the church. In the words of Calvin, 'We cannot love Christ without loving him in the brethren.'" (139-40). That preaches, and it preaches right!
“Remembrance, Communion, and Hope” will help to hone and develop a greater appreciation and enjoyment of the Lord’s Supper for most any reader. Church members will gain a richer understanding of the Lord’s Supper as they pour over this volume. And if you’re a minister, it will give you a better sense of why the Sacrament is important, and how to present it to your congregation. I have already been recommending it to my fellow pastors, and I happily commend it to you!
My plentiful thanks to Wm. B. Eerdmans, and J. Todd Billings, for sending at my request the copy of the book used for this review. The assessments herein are mine; I have freely given them with no coaxing or coercion from author or publisher.
Very much like strolling along a garden path surrounded by subtle scents, shades, hues, textures and designs, Billings guides us down a well-marked lane and encourages us to stop and take in the assorted aromas and auras of Holy Communion. He unashamedly does so from a Reformed and Calvinistic perspective, while give deference to other traditions. The book is divided into three plots. The first, very much in the vein of James K.A. Smith, brings us to examine our functional theologies that have been shaped by our cultural liturgies. Billings then shows how in the Lord’s Supper Christians are offered a tangible, touchable and tastable counter-formation, where believers “enact their role in the Trinitarian drama of the gospel, as ones who are nourished by Christ through the power of the Spirit as adopted children of the Father” (45).
In the second plot of “Remembrance, Communion, and Hope” the author cultivates what is the Reformed thinking on the Sacraments, and how it can enhance (without co-opting) the sacramental perceptions of other Protestant and independent traditions. Here Billings maps out a nine point sketch of the Lord’s Supper that is shepherded by a breadth of Reformed Confessions. He also critiques Radical Orthodoxy’s and Hans Boersma’s flattened readings of the Reformation and narrow explanations of why the Eucharist has become de-sacralized among Protestants; and then offers a happier alternative.
Finally, “Remembrance, Communion, and Hope” leads us to the third plot exploding with a brilliant array of colors and fragrances. Here, Billings graciously unpacks Zwinglianism, and favorably describes John Williamson Nevin’s defense of Calvin’s position. He further discusses open communion, closed communion, and a middle way of “fencing the table”. Yet, most of the pages in these final three chapters swell with striking portrayals and presentations of what God is doing in the Holy Supper. It is a pageant of the Gospel; savory and salacious through and through; running from the here-and-now longingly into the there-and-then! As I finished the last chapter my heart was singing with joy, raising the anthem, “Come, Lord Jesus!”
Out of the many aspects I appreciated in the book, that which most charmed me is how Billings clearly brings out the Gospel enfleshed in Communion. And because of this, the Lord’s Supper offers what our fractured and frayed world is in desperate need of. How Christ, freely offered to us in the Gospel, and by means of the Sacrament, challenges our ethnic snobbery and lust for comfortable homogeneity. For example, Billings notes that, "many of us desire a church that matches our “tribe” of political leanings, cultural background, life stage, etc. But the Host (Christ) for the feast of love does not just invite hipsters or squares, conservatives or liberals, whites or blacks; the Host invites people we would rather not see there. For we are not masters or owners of this table; it is “the Lord’s table” (1 Cor.10:21)…It would be tempting to "feed upon Christ" but to spurn the actual flesh and blood of Christians who surround us. But the Host invites not only us into God's household fellowship, but also others in our congregations, in our denominations, and in the worldwide body of Christ...[the church] enters into the messy and open-ended task of loving those she did not choose as adopted brothers and sisters in the Lord...To be in communion with the beautiful, alluring Christ is impossible without communion with his broken and sinful – yet cleansed and redeemed – bride, the church. In the words of Calvin, 'We cannot love Christ without loving him in the brethren.'" (139-40). That preaches, and it preaches right!
“Remembrance, Communion, and Hope” will help to hone and develop a greater appreciation and enjoyment of the Lord’s Supper for most any reader. Church members will gain a richer understanding of the Lord’s Supper as they pour over this volume. And if you’re a minister, it will give you a better sense of why the Sacrament is important, and how to present it to your congregation. I have already been recommending it to my fellow pastors, and I happily commend it to you!
My plentiful thanks to Wm. B. Eerdmans, and J. Todd Billings, for sending at my request the copy of the book used for this review. The assessments herein are mine; I have freely given them with no coaxing or coercion from author or publisher.
November 3, 2018
I really appreciated this book. Much of the language Billings uses in this book is likely to make my fellow Baptists nervous, but they would do well to pause and give the argument a fair shake. The connections Billings (Calvin?) draws between union with Christ and the Lord’s Supper, and between the ascension, the Holy Spirit, and the Lord’s Supper, for example, and strong and lovely. Also, Baptists in general need to do business with Paul’s theological assumptions for his argument in 1 Corinthians 5-11, something Billings does a great job at pointing out. I found some incongruities in the book, like Billings’ insistence that the Lord’s Supper must be tied to faith and baptism, but not to membership, and that baptism need not be tied to faith. Once again, the Baptist conception of baptism, communion, and membership as the necessary visible expressions of faith—and their tight interconnection—seems to me like the clear answer.
The best version of the ordinances, I think, would be one that is Calvinistic in its full scope of past, present, and future components of covenant community, and one that is robustly Baptist in its tying the ordinances with membership and faith. In general, Billings’ book is a huge gift. The impulse to view the Lord’s Supper as a gift of worship and fellowship that expands our taste for Jesus and fellowship with one another, in the realm of “remembrance, communion, and hope” is much needed.
The best version of the ordinances, I think, would be one that is Calvinistic in its full scope of past, present, and future components of covenant community, and one that is robustly Baptist in its tying the ordinances with membership and faith. In general, Billings’ book is a huge gift. The impulse to view the Lord’s Supper as a gift of worship and fellowship that expands our taste for Jesus and fellowship with one another, in the realm of “remembrance, communion, and hope” is much needed.
April 15, 2018
When Todd Billings teaches we all should take notes. He has a way of seamlessly weaving the well-reasoned logic of what we know to be true with the unimaginable mystery of a Savior who would sacrifice Himself for our sake. He calls it a love story and he’s right.
Leave it to Billings to make reformed theology whimsical and romantic. He reminds us that that an intellectual approach to God can never really explain how much God loves us. As Reformers we say that we love God, but we also confess that His love is so much better than ours. To that end, if we’re honest about it, every time we approach the table we are confessing that, as the bride of Christ, even as we long for the embrace of our lover, we in no way deserve to be loved like this.
Finally, despite our shortcomings, Dr. Billings also reminds us that we Reformers are close to the bone in this one thing. We confess that the Lord’s supper is the mystery of remembrance, communion, and hope. And in saying it maybe on some level we understand that what Christ has done for us should not only color our everyday lives, but also give us a deep longing for what’s to come.
Leave it to Billings to make reformed theology whimsical and romantic. He reminds us that that an intellectual approach to God can never really explain how much God loves us. As Reformers we say that we love God, but we also confess that His love is so much better than ours. To that end, if we’re honest about it, every time we approach the table we are confessing that, as the bride of Christ, even as we long for the embrace of our lover, we in no way deserve to be loved like this.
Finally, despite our shortcomings, Dr. Billings also reminds us that we Reformers are close to the bone in this one thing. We confess that the Lord’s supper is the mystery of remembrance, communion, and hope. And in saying it maybe on some level we understand that what Christ has done for us should not only color our everyday lives, but also give us a deep longing for what’s to come.
August 12, 2018
Recommended for pastors and theologically-oriented lay folks who want to explore foundations for a Protestant sacramental theology and practice of the Lord's Supper. I appreciated "remembrance, communion and hope" as the past, present and future dimensions of the Eucharist, and the discussion of the importance of Ascension and Pentecost in understanding the Eucharist and the present Christian life. While he deals with Hans Boersma and Radical Orthodoxy's critique of the Reformation, I would have liked more about how 19th century Reformed Protestants lost the sacramental theology inherent in their tradition.
April 10, 2018
Dr. Billings has a way of bringing in a diverse set of theological partners into this conversation in a way that causes you to think and reflect deeply, while still being approachable. Dr. Billing's makes a compelling case for how the Lord's Supper can be this pinnacle gospel moment of worship, and gives some practical and theological perspectives on what that could look like for a church. I appreciate his charity to a variety of both denominations, and styles of churches, and his work can incredibly insightful in a wide variety of settings.
April 30, 2018
This book is a must read for pastors, elders and leaders of the church. Dr. Todd Billings’ wager that our Christian practice of the Lord’s Supper and our belief and enactment of the gospel are directly related is SO important for the Church and personally moving. In addition to an incredibly interesting historical analysis of an affective partaking of communion, I especially enjoy the “snapshots” found at the end of the last couple of chapters which give practical visions to the theoretical and theological. It’s absolutely beautiful.
August 26, 2018
A fine Reformed refresher on the Lord’s Supper.
As one could guess, Billings argues that the Lord’s Table should serve as a source of Spirit-filled remembrance of God’s past salvation in Christ, present communion with the risen Christ, and hope for God’s promised future redemption. As such, communion is a God-given sign-act of the gospel, received by God’s people in faith.
4 rather than 5 stars because the book cover is simply atrocious 😶
As one could guess, Billings argues that the Lord’s Table should serve as a source of Spirit-filled remembrance of God’s past salvation in Christ, present communion with the risen Christ, and hope for God’s promised future redemption. As such, communion is a God-given sign-act of the gospel, received by God’s people in faith.
4 rather than 5 stars because the book cover is simply atrocious 😶
June 17, 2018
Compelling, invigorating. The section "A glorious adoption" was the climax for me.
April 10, 2019
Outstanding! Theologically rich, historically informed, and elegantly written. Equal parts theology & devotion.
February 7, 2023
We read this as a program staff at work. Not going to lie, this was extremely challenging for me to read.
Read
February 28, 2025Helpful
May 31, 2025
In a world of 10 stars and not 5 its 9/10. It pretty much stands as my go to book on the theology of the Supper and how baptists should view it.
July 25, 2025
I won’t take communion the same way again
July 30, 2025
Part 1: 3.5
Part 2: 3
Part 3: 4
Book Cover: 0.1
What I wanted from this book was commentary on the relevant Scripture which only showed up in Part 3. Part 1 was very interesting and I especially enjoyed the ideas about renewing functional theology which I agree is very important. Part 2 was slightly over my head and was hard to get through. I was actively not enjoying the book after this. But Part 3 was very good and I'll be returning to it in the future. Especially chapter 6. The stories of hypothetical services were fun. Would recommend but only if someone is seriously interested in the Lord's Supper and has some good knowledge of theology. I was lacking on the latter.
Part 2: 3
Part 3: 4
Book Cover: 0.1
What I wanted from this book was commentary on the relevant Scripture which only showed up in Part 3. Part 1 was very interesting and I especially enjoyed the ideas about renewing functional theology which I agree is very important. Part 2 was slightly over my head and was hard to get through. I was actively not enjoying the book after this. But Part 3 was very good and I'll be returning to it in the future. Especially chapter 6. The stories of hypothetical services were fun. Would recommend but only if someone is seriously interested in the Lord's Supper and has some good knowledge of theology. I was lacking on the latter.
August 31, 2018
Finishing Billings' book has an effect unlike any other I've experienced: it makes you hunger for the bread of Christ, thirst for the communion cup, and long to be in communion with other Christians as a sign of our union with Christ. For those coming to this book within a Reformed context, this is a clear, winsome expression of the reformed understanding of the sacrament. Chapter three alone ("Reformed Doctrine and the Promise of the Supper") is worth the price of admission for its exposition of Calvin and the reformed confessions, and I'll be returning to it often. Yet - and this is especially for those approaching the book from different traditions - the book is remarkably catholic in its engagement with varied voices within the church.
Since, as Billings argues, the Lord's Supper is a site for divine action which nourishes our union with Christ and his body of believers by the instrument of faith, why not celebrate it more often? This is the book's bet - that celebrating the Lord's Supper more frequently, thoughtfully, and convivially can be God's instrument for reviving the church through the Spirit. My hope is that congregations take Billings' wager - and taste and see that the Lord is good more often.
Since, as Billings argues, the Lord's Supper is a site for divine action which nourishes our union with Christ and his body of believers by the instrument of faith, why not celebrate it more often? This is the book's bet - that celebrating the Lord's Supper more frequently, thoughtfully, and convivially can be God's instrument for reviving the church through the Spirit. My hope is that congregations take Billings' wager - and taste and see that the Lord is good more often.
March 21, 2018
An excellent volume which helps to learn, remember, rethink how we understand the Holy Supper and what actually happens in that moment.
Coming from both an academic context, but one which also forms students who will become pastors of local churches, this book is a welcome addition to my bookshelf and it ought to be for every pastor. Billings invites us into an expansive reality of the sacrament that spans time and space, and one in which the church exists in the past, present, and future simultaneously. It was a book that reads somewhat quickly, not because it is light-reading or intellectually thin, but because it is one that I didn't want to stop reading.
Coming from the same tradition as Billings, my lived experience is a very different understanding of the sacrament, something which was more an intellectual exercise than anything else. But in this volume, Billings opens up the tradition as with a house, and invites us into rooms where we may not have been before. Regardless of tradition, this book will be a valuable resource as you reflect on the nature of the Lord's Supper and how to invite your church into it.
Coming from both an academic context, but one which also forms students who will become pastors of local churches, this book is a welcome addition to my bookshelf and it ought to be for every pastor. Billings invites us into an expansive reality of the sacrament that spans time and space, and one in which the church exists in the past, present, and future simultaneously. It was a book that reads somewhat quickly, not because it is light-reading or intellectually thin, but because it is one that I didn't want to stop reading.
Coming from the same tradition as Billings, my lived experience is a very different understanding of the sacrament, something which was more an intellectual exercise than anything else. But in this volume, Billings opens up the tradition as with a house, and invites us into rooms where we may not have been before. Regardless of tradition, this book will be a valuable resource as you reflect on the nature of the Lord's Supper and how to invite your church into it.
August 19, 2018
I really loved this book. Few authors can have both the pastoral warmth and academic seriousness that are both on display here.
The main claim of the book is that a renewed theology and practice of the Lord’s Supper will lead to a deeper sense of the gospel.
Billings begins by building off of Jamie Smith’s functional liturgies and how worship affects our affections. Along the way he discusses the old puritan practice of holy fairs in conjunction with communion.
The second part of the book he describes and defends a reformed/Calvinistic spiritual presence view of the Lord’s supper. He first lays out the doctrine in eight thesis. He then tackles critiques of this doctrine from the Radical Orthodox folks and Hans Boresma’s “sacramental tapestry.” This section was excellent.
The third part digs into the ideas of remembrance, communion and hope in relation to the Supper. Billings expands upon what is typically understood by these concepts, showing a deeper, multifaceted, and more biblical way of approaching the supper
The main claim of the book is that a renewed theology and practice of the Lord’s Supper will lead to a deeper sense of the gospel.
Billings begins by building off of Jamie Smith’s functional liturgies and how worship affects our affections. Along the way he discusses the old puritan practice of holy fairs in conjunction with communion.
The second part of the book he describes and defends a reformed/Calvinistic spiritual presence view of the Lord’s supper. He first lays out the doctrine in eight thesis. He then tackles critiques of this doctrine from the Radical Orthodox folks and Hans Boresma’s “sacramental tapestry.” This section was excellent.
The third part digs into the ideas of remembrance, communion and hope in relation to the Supper. Billings expands upon what is typically understood by these concepts, showing a deeper, multifaceted, and more biblical way of approaching the supper
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