The Lord's Supper: Remembering and Proclaiming Christ Until He Comes

New American Commentary Studies in Bible & Theology #10

by Thomas R. Schreiner (Editor), Matthew R. Crawford (Editor)

"As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take and eat it; this is My body.’" -Matthew 26:26 (HCSB) A follow-up to Believer’s Baptism in the New American Commentary Studies in Bible & Theology series, The Lord’s Supper explores the current Baptist view of the communion sacrament. Contributors include Andreas Köstenberger ("The Lord’s Supper as a Passover Meal"), Jonathan Pennington ("The Last Supper in the Gospels"), Jim Hamilton ("The Lord’s Supper in Paul"), and Michael Haykin ("Communion in the Early Church"). Adding a helpful perspective, chapters are also provided on the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Calvinist, and Zwinglian views of communion.

Genres: Theology, Ecclesiology, Church, Christian, Christianity, Nonfiction, Biblical Studies

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Thomas R. Schreiner (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including New Testament Theology; Magnifying God in Christ; Apostle of God's Glory in Christ; and Romans in the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament.

Reviews

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

As other reviewers have noted, this book is by baptists, for baptists. I write this as a baptist, though not an uncritical one. There is a clear Southern Baptist Theological Seminary dominance to this book, as most of the writers either graduated from there, teach there, or both. There are some exceptions, but not many. This being the case, the book is clearly within the Reformed tradition, though, as Van Neste, I believe, noted in his essay, they lean more toward Zwingli's view of the Lord's Supper than Calvin's. This is my biggest criticism of the book, as I lean the other way. So my criticism of the book proceeds from the baptist position, and what I believe to be its deficiencies.

Kostenberger starts the book well, by arguing very effectively, that the Last Supper was indeed a Passover meal. He demonstrates this primarily by interacting with the Gospel of John. Pennington continues with an exposition of the Gospels' teachings on the Lord's Supper, and then Hamilton on Paul's letters on the same topic.

Haykin, Hogg, Allison, Crawford, Ware, Wright, and Wills then examine church history to better understand the church's position toward the Lord's Supper. They examine the patristics, the medieval church, the Roman Catholic Church, Luther, Zwingli, Calvin and his followers, and the baptist heritage.

Vickers examines the biblical theology of the Lord's Supper, and Thornbury and Van Neste conclude by discussing the theology and practice of the Lord's Supper. In my estimation, these are the best and most important essays in the book.

The book is strong in most areas—exposition, history, and practice. All of the writers seem to have a burden for renewing the importance of the Lord's Supper in the life of the church, and surprisingly, they all believe the church would do well to have it more regularly.

But this again, is my main concern with the baptist view, is that they all seem to have a high view of communion, but the doctrine they hold to seems to lack the significance that Calvin's doctrine upholds. The baptist churches that I've been a part of have a very unhealthy view of the Lord's Supper. They have a high view of it, in a way, where they make much of it, but they only practice it semi-regularly--once a month or less. And when they do practice it, there is a somberness and sort of fear of it, that makes it the kind of occasion that one does not want to repeat very often.

For one thing, it is accompanied by moments of introspection that can serve no good purpose. Hogg agrees in his essay, which is good, but I'm not sure the doctrine espoused in the book can have any other result. Hogg writes:

"The Lord’s Supper is not a time to indulge in introspection as though a thorough cleaning of the heart is up to each individual. To be sure, all must examine themselves, but that self-examination takes place in the context of the Savior, on the one hand, who gave Himself for us and will return again bodily, and, on the other hand, the body of Christ which is the church. In other words, the self-examination as instructed by Paul must be carried out in relation to the dispensation of grace made available in Christ as well as in relation to the dispensation of grace made known in the church. It is precisely because the Lord’s Supper is suffused with grace that it is a proclamation of the Lord’s death until He comes (1 Cor 11:26). We are not saved because we partake of the elements, but in partaking of the elements the church gives witness to its foundation, its unity, its hope, and its conviction; all of which is exclusively grounded in the grace of the new covenant inaugurated by Christ on the cross."

But the problem, I think, is deeper than the baptist doctrine on the Lord's Supper, but is found in their liturgy. Presbyterians, for example, and others, place the confession of sin at the start of the worship service, and the pastor gives the assurance of pardon--so by the time communion is served at the end of the worship service, there is a feeling of joy in the congregation--for they know their sins are forgiven. Their burdens have been removed, and they can approach the table confidently, without fear.

Van Neste gets it right when he writes, "We do wrong when our participation in Communion is a self-flagellating focus on tragedy. We do not gather merely to tell God we’re sorry He had to go through this. We are reminded of our sin and how far God in His love went to reach us, but the focus is on celebrating and giving thanks for God’s amazing grace. The taking of the elements is the tangible proclamation of the forgiveness of sins. It is one of God’s prescribed means of reminding His people that He has forgiven their sins. This is good news which should bring great joy to all God’s people."

Yet, it is no wonder that he later has to write, "Too often, having stripped the Supper of any positive meaning, we are left only with the threat of divine judgment if we do it incorrectly. It is no wonder in such cases that many do not want to have Communion more frequently. They believe it won’t actually do anything for them if they take it correctly, and, what’s worse, they might suffer if they do it incorrectly. Judgment is real, but so is the truth of grace for the repentant."

But baptist theology has intentionally distanced itself from the other related doctrines that put the Lord's Supper in the right context. Baptists naturally fear communion because they approach the table without having confessed their sins. The Lord's Supper is instinctively associated with confession of sin, and the unworthiness that comes through the way they approach the table.

Not only that, but the elements themselves are so austere--an unleavened cracker with Welch's grape juice is hardly the type of fare that marks the type of celebration that the Lord's Supper ought to be. It ought to be the festive highlight of the weak--for it is heavenly food shared with the Conquering Lord of the Universe.

So there is much to be admired in this volume, its weaknesses are really about what isn't included, and what is not spoken of that detracts from the book. I truly admire the desires of all the writers to lift up the Lord's Supper and restore the table to what it can, and ought to be, but I doubt this book is going to do that. I don't think the doctrine can't bear that load.

[Matt Pitts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly good. Fantastic even. Edited collections are often mixed bags, but I found this one compulsively readable and surprisingly broad in scope. Several chapters were exceptionally good including those by Pennington, Crawford, Van Neste, and Wills.

[Zachary Horn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. I have rarely read a volume with numerous contributors where every essay (or nearly every essay) was a strong contribution to the whole, but that was certainly the case here. Each chapter was a valuable addition to this book, and the topic coverage was very well done--there was appropriate overlap without redundancy and an incredible breadth of subject matter was addressed. This was also surprisingly readable and engaging, with an excellent blend of scholarly depth, but unerringly practical/pastoral. The uniquely baptistic approach was also an intriguing approach. I'll refer to this often.

[Todd Miles · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Lord's Supper" is the companion volume to Broadman & Holman's "Believer's Baptism." As with all edited volumes, the strengths and weaknesses are uneven, depending upon who wrote which piece. Overall, the essays looking at the different traditions were very good, interesting, and helpful (Patristics, Roman Catholicism, Luther, Zwingli, Baptist, and the Reformed Tradition), while the pieces that looked at the biblical teaching in the gospels and in 1 Corinthians were well done. In my opinion, the book had two missing ingredients: First, a biblical-theological treatment of the Lord's Supper, an essay that tied together some of the chapters on Passover, gospels, and epistles; Second, an essay that hit the corporate aspects of the Lord's Supper. This is a particularly grievous omission, because the biblical teaching on Communion emphasizes this (we do call it Communion, after all), and the individual blessings of the Lord's Supper are derived from the corporate aspects (not vice-versa). Most of the articles summarizing teachings from different traditions and church history rightly spoke to the individual blessings, but this was necessary because the historical debates over the Lord's Supper were framed by the sacramental (and faulty, in my opinion) theology of the Roman Catholic tradition. A biblical-theological study, beginning at least at Passover, would have captured the corporate and covenantal beauty of the Lord's Supper.

[John Dube · Rating 4 out of 5]

As described, a biblical, historical, theological, and pastoral survey on the Lord’s Supper. Although written by Baptist for Baptists, I found the authors generous and humble. The strength of the work is found in its historical summaries of the different perspectives on the Supper. The Catholic, Lutheran, Zwinglian (memorial), and Reformed perspectives are helpfully analyzed and explained. I really enjoyed the last chapter, which covers the practices of the Supper in the church. The author argues for weekly observance and open communion.

[Connor Longaphie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really really liked the first 5 or 6 chapters which covered the historical positions on the Lords Supper which were about 20 pages each, one on the patristic view, the catholic, the lutheran, the zwinglian, and the reformed view as well. however, i had no love for the rest of the book which comprised perhaps a half of the material if not more.

[Samuel Bierig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was really quite good at times. It is a helpful and at times very long primer on Baptistic Lord's Supper

[Ray Wilkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the authors state, this is a book by baptists and for Baptists without apology. Thomas Schreiner, who also edited, "Believers Baptism," and Matthew Crawford have edited as well as contributed to an excellent volume in the NAC Studies in Bible and Theology. The book includes a good biblical discussion concerning the connection between Passover and the Lord's Supper, albeit a bit too short, and then discusses the LS from the witness of the gospels and Pauline literature. Following the biblical investigation are several chapters on the history of the practice and the theological understanding of the LS from the Patristic through the Reformation era. The last four chapters focus on the practice of the LS as it is found in the Baptist Church along with a call to renew our focus on this important church ordinance.

This book will not satisfy all, it is brief in some of its discussions, and does not discuss the Anabaptist and Separatist practices at all. Too much attention is given to the Reformed Tradition and this may reflect the fact that many of the authors are Reformed Baptists. The contributions by Thornbury and Van Neste are well taken, especially the call to see the LS as more than just a "mere" symbol, but a symbol with deep theological meaning that cannot be separated from the gospel message itself. A symbol that ought to bring the local church together into a mutual celebration of love.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Lord's Supper: Remembering and Proclaiming Christ Until He Comes edited by Thomas Schreiner and Matthew Crawford is a far-reaching collection of essays on Communion from a biblical, historical, theological, and practical perspective. The contributors include a number of established Baptist scholars, such as Andreas J. Köstenberger, Jonathan T. Pennington, James M. Hamilton Jr., Gregg R. Allison, Bruce A. Ware, and more.

The Lord's Supper opens with a brief introduction to orient the reader towards the volume. The initial three chapters are devoted to the biblical framework for the practice of Communion. The opening chapter by Köstenberger establishes the Lord's Supper as a Passover Meal and provides readers a positive presentation with noteworthy interaction to critical voices. Pennington surveys the theme of the Lord's Supper in the Fourfold Gospels, including the Passover festival and the New Exodus and the inauguration of the New Covenant. Lastly, the Hamilton investigates the Pauline epistles emphasizing the corporate nature of the Lord's Supper, including the pastoral and theological implications of such practice in the life of the Church.

The following chapters are primarily historical in nature and survey the Patristic Era through the Reformation and beyond, including the views of the Catholic Church, Luther, Zwingli, and the various issues that surround open and closed communion in Baptist history. It would have been helpful to have a more widespread treatment of the Lord's Supper from the Baptist perspective, but the contributors offer implicitly Baptist support throughout. The final chapters offer readers practical considerations regarding the role and administration of Communion in the life of the Church. These chapters provide a useful touchdown for the target audience as they seek to apply the content of the book to the practice of the church.

The extent of the essays in The Lord's Supper is impressive and noteworthy. The reader is guided through the history of the Church and its Eucharistic expressions with thoroughness and clarity. Where I foresee some readers will be left wanting is in the area of biblical exposition. More specifically, interaction with the biblical text and the theme of the Lord's Supper in the New Testament. I thought that Köstenberger, Pennington, and Hamilton did an excellent job, but more could have been explored in the Gospels and beyond. The historical essays were well done but lacked a distinctly Baptist presentation of Communion. Nevertheless, The Lord's Supper: Remembering and Proclaiming Christ Until He Comes edited by Thomas Schreiner and Matthew Crawford remains one of the most comprehensive treatments on the market. It comes recommended with no reservations.

[Sean Brenon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thorough treatment of the topic, unapologetically written by Baptists, for Baptists, though still willing to hold hands with those in the Reformed Tradition who hold to a real presence. The concern is that ‘Real Presence’ is somewhat systematic instead of Biblical, which, even in my reading of Calvin, is fair.

Calvin, for example, does little to support the idea that Christ is ‘really present’ in the sacrament of Communion from a Biblical perspective. It is largely a systematic formula that he uses to support that position— and I suspect that he invented it largely out of a desire to create a bridge between Luther and Zwingli. By which I mean that Calvin was a really nice guy and Zwingli was willing to meet there. It’s really Luther who wouldn’t— and I respect that a lot more than Calvin’s view, even if I am more in line with Calvin than Luther.

Again, the problem comes down to ‘what does the Bible say?’ And on that front, Luther tries to be Biblical whereas Calvin mostly doesn’t— an odd turnaround since Calvin is generally more the theologian and Luther is more the philosopher and pastor. I don’t mean that as an insult in either camp— they had different skills and employed themselves in their own disciplines. Luther infamously never systematized because that wasn’t really his concern, even if he understood its necessity. In my estimation, that’s what allowed Melanchthon to water him down a bit.

In any event, that’s not really the point of this book, which earnestly tries to give a sola scriptura view of the Lord’s Supper. Even if you don’t agree with the conclusions of the authors here, I think you will at least appreciate their surprisingly high sacramentology (or whatever the Baptist version of that would be called) and high view of the Scripture.

If I had one nit to pick, it would be that the institution of the Church is de-emphasized. A couple of the authors try to build up the church in light of ‘communion,’ and the last chapter briefly focuses on the importance of having ordained ministers giving the elements (a welcome antidote to the liberals who overemphasize ‘individual priesthood’). But the word ‘Church’ as relating to the organization is largely replaced with terms like ‘body’ and ‘community.’

I don’t think the intention here is to dismiss the importance of the visible Church so much as to accentuate the words of Paul. Still, it is noticeable in my opinion, and it certainly does nothing to alleviate the concerns of our ‘high-church’ brethren.

Nonetheless, this book makes me proud to be a Baptist and gives me some hope for the future of Baptist theology.

[Lindsay John Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many thanks to Jim Baird and B&H Publishers for sending me a review-copy of this book.

Throughout this book, the Lord’s Supper is approached from a variety of angles: biblically, historically, theologically and practically. Three chapters are devoted to an examination of the Biblical accounts in the Gospels and Paul. Early Church history is then broadly surveyed, including sections devoted to non-Baptist understandings of communion. Final chapters examine the Biblical theology of remembrance, ethical implications of the Supper and finally, practical advice relating to how it should be practiced.

Biblical Chapters:

The first chapter addresses the question whether the Last Supper with Jesus and His disciples was the Passover or a different meal. Kostenberger rightly discerns issues that at stake in this discussion include the theological significance of the meal and the inerrancy and historic reliability of Scripture itself. His chapter provides a helpful and fair treatment of the arguments against the meal being the Passover, responding to each and by providing a harmonizing of the Gospel accounts, concluding that it was in fact a Passover meal.

Next, Jonathan Pennington tackles the Gospel accounts themselves; firstly, addressing questions of harmonisation (similar to that of Kostenberger’s essay) and then summarizing the Gospel’s teaching on the Supper. Five ‘nodes’ of meaning are identified in the accounts: a parable of Jesus’ impending sacrificial death, fulfilment of the Passover and exodus, the inauguration of the new covenant, the formation of Jesus’ community, and an appetizer for the Messianic eschatological banquet (44). Particularly interesting was his recognition that the Last Supper functioned as a multi-sensory parable, “something not just to be reflected upon and proclaimed, but also to be experienced with our senses” (45). My one issue is that the summary of the individual Gospel’s unique contributions followed what seemed to be the climax of the essay. This section felt tagged on and in my opinion, didn’t have much else to contribute by this point. However, Pennington had possibly the most difficult assignment in this book, and he skilfully brought everything together.

James Hamilton sees Paul explaining in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 that the, “Lord’s Supper is a proclamation of the gospel made by those who embrace the gospel” (68). To establish this, Hamilton surveys 1 Corinthians as a whole, drawing out the point that Paul addresses each of the Corinthians’ problems with the Gospel. This supports his claim that the improper behaviour of the Corinthians in taking the supper was caused by their lack of Gospel-centeredness; causing Paul to show them the implications of the Gospel for the supper, and re-establish its rightful central place in the believing community.

Historical Chapters:

The largest portion of the book is addressed to the history of interpretation and practice of the Lord’s Supper. Haykin first summarizes the early patristic writings on the Supper, showing the centrality of the Supper in the early church. Hogg has an entire chapter on the differing views of two monks in the tenth century: Radbertus and Ratramnus. The views of the Catholic Church, Luther, Zwingli and the Reformed views are then discussed in their own respective chapters. Gregory Wills then gives a summary of interpretation and practice in Baptist churches, particularly detailing the transition from closed communion to open, and how that change reflected the mindset of liberal views infiltrating the church.

As I am far from an expert in these areas, I won’t offer much critique. Allison’s chapter on the Catholic Church was particularly thorough and appeared to fairly represent their view. Ware’s chapter on Zwingli was also particularly strong and interesting. Both Allison and Ware succeeded in helpfully correcting common oversimplifications of Catholic and Zwinglian doctrine. Others unfortunately appeared to follow some of these misunderstandings of Zwingli in their own chapters. Wright’s chapter on the Reformed view seemed to be a little too broad and wasn’t able to interact as deeply with its subject. Will’s chapter on the history of Baptist views was very interesting but seemed to link open communion too strongly with liberal theology.

Theological and Practical Chapters:

Moving on to the theological section, Brian Vickers’ chapter on the Biblical theme of remembrance is worth the price of the book. He explores the implications of the supper being taken in remembrance of Christ, and his essay reveals many important insights. Particularly good was his focus on remembrance as actively partaking in God’s past faithfulness in the present, with hope for the future.

Unfortunately, Thornbury’s essay wasn’t particularly strong. I couldn’t find a ‘purpose’ statement anywhere in his essay, and after reading to the last sentence I was mostly none the wiser as to what he was trying to say. I don’t think I’m the only one because all reviews I’ve read on this book avoided mentioning this chapter.

Probably the most controversial chapter will be Van Neste’s. He is given the task of addressing practical application of the Lord’s Supper in the local church. The nature of this chapter guarantees that one will not agree with all the conclusions. Van Neste’s wisdom throughout this chapter is to be commended, but in some areas he overstates his case. For example, in regards to communion’s exclusive role in the local church, I believe he goes too far by stating that shut-ins should not be allowed to partake. Van Neste’s view that communion is only to be partaken amongst the local body sits in tension with texts like Acts 20:7 where Paul partook with believers at Troas during his travels.

The fact that all authors are Baptists shouldn’t stop anyone from reading this book because a) the authors are not in complete agreement on every point, b) they are very thorough and fair in their research, and c) they represent and interact with the views of other traditions.

This book is a wonderful resource for anyone wanting to have a better understanding of the Lord’s Supper Biblically, historically, theologically and practically.

[Vincent Lemieux · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I read in the NEw studies In Biblical Theology series, and overall this one is good (not as good as the one on baptism in my opinion). But I most say that not every chapters are equally good.

My favorite chapter is the one on Luther. It is quite amazing because it is really positive. Instead of criticizing every concepts of Luther’s theology of the Lord’s Supper, it give a really positive overview of the importance of Luther’s involvement in breaking with Rome, opening the door for establishing a more biblical view on this sacrament. His commitment to the gospel and Sola Scriptura really gave winds in the wings of reformed theology .

I didn’t like the chapter on Calvin’s view of the Supper because is it more critical than positive.

Overall is it a good read on the subject.

[Michael Boling · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Do this in remembrance of me.” Those words spoken by Jesus to his disciples prior to him being betrayed, crucified, and later rising from the grave serve as a command to participate in something that provides the believer a point of reference. But just what is the Lord’s Supper all about, what is it rooted in, what should we be remembering when we partake of it, what does it signify, and what have been the various approaches in the church regarding the Lord’s Supper? Via a series of informative and excellent essays, the contributors to The Lord’s Supper: Remembering and Proclaiming Christ Until He Comes discuss all those important elements.

Many arguably are not fully aware of where the communion ritual they participate in each Sunday came from. Some seem to believe it was something created by the Apostle Paul or that over time just became part of church tradition. They understand it relates to Christ’s death on the cross; however, the true roots of what communion is founded upon have been all too often overlooked or misunderstood. Andreas Kostenberger, noted New Testament scholar, rightly establishes that the event during which Jesus stated to his disciples and by extension all future generations of believers “Do this in remembrance of me” was that of Passover. It is unfortunate that some scholars have objected to the fact that Jesus was partaking of the Passover meal with his disciples when he said these words and the very thing he connected what they were to do in remembrance was specifically the celebration of Passover. So while many in the church view the Feasts of the Lord in general as some set of events no longer applicable to us today, Schreiner rightly rejects that idea by properly addressing what the Lord’s Supper is established upon, that of a remembrance of Jesus as the perfect Passover Lamb that was slain for our sins. A book on the Lord’s Supper necessarily should begin with this discussion and I was pleased to see this book aptly address this fundamental aspect.

Of additional note are the essays that address the difference between the Protestant and Catholic views of the Lord’s Supper, or the Eucharist as it is called by Catholics. I found the discussion by Gregg Allison in his essay on the subject to be quite fascinating as he unpacked how the Catholic Church and their theology approaches the Lord’s Supper. Some of the material I was familiar with such as their belief in transubstantiation, the concept that the bread and wine/juice actually transform into the body and blood of Christ during the partaking of this sacrament. Allison does an excellent job of explaining where this belief system derived from and how it was presented in church history, further elaborating how the positions by men such as Tertullian and Augustine helped shape church doctrine in this area. Martin Luther’s disagreement with transubstantiation is also addressed by Allison as well as the similar position espoused by Zwingli which was supported later by John Calvin. All in all, this essay was a fascinating look into not just the Catholic Church’s position on this sacrament, but also how Protestant leaders rejected that position and their biblical reasoning.

Another essay I found particularly helpful was Brian Vickers’ discussion of what believers are to be doing when they partake of the Lord’s Supper. Given Jesus told us we are to be remembering something when we do this, it is imperative to understand what it is specifically we are commemorating. As noted by Vickers, the Lord’s Supper is a celebration of the past and the future in the present. This is an important concept for us to grasp as it ties together what God has done, is doing, and will yet do in the future concerning salvation history. Throughout Scripture, God established holy convocations for the express purpose of His people remembering what He had done for them. Passover was one of those moedim or appointed times, one that pointed to the deliverance by God of Israel from bondage in Egypt. Not only did it serve as a historical marker to times past, it also, at least for them, served as a means to look forward to the coming of the Messiah. Vickers saliently addresses both those important theological issues in his essay. Furthermore, he reminds the reader of the true purpose behind this meal, the renewal of God’s covenant with His people through Christ’s blood for the purpose of fixing our relationship with our Creator that was marred by sin.

The Lord’s Supper understood against the backdrop of the Passover and taken with the understanding of remembering God’s activity with His people in the past, in the present, and in the future is the Lord’s Supper properly done in remembrance of Jesus. Those desiring to understand what the Lord’s Supper is really all about, how it has been viewed throughout Church history, how it is presented in the Gospel accounts and throughout Scripture for that matter, as well as why this is such an important part of what we do as believers in a corporate sense, should read this excellent collection of essays. I highly recommend this book for all believers as we have all been commanded as God’s people to partake of the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ until that glorious day when he returns for his bride.

I received this book for free from B&H Academic for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

[C.J. Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good. I would recommend it.

As an edited work, some chapters are obviously better than others. There is a lot of overlap and repetitiveness between the chapters, showing lack of thematic consistency. Even in the subtitle, eschatological implications are at play, but this is only so in maybe two/thirds of the book's chapters.

This work is overly historical - if that's what you're wanting, go for this one! I was expecting something more explicitly theological.

I'm most thankful for the more practical chapters toward the end of the book, especially the last three by Vickers, Thornbury, and Van Neste.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a compilation with each chapter written by a different author. The book varies a little from chapter to chapter, but the editors did a good job pulling it all together. The book looks at the communion supper from exegetical, theological, historical, and practical viewpoints. I didn't agree with all the conclusions by the various authors, and even they didn't all agree everywhere. The book also did a good job as far as identifying the major contentions and attempting answers from the author's point of view. Some of the history sections seemed to drag on a little, but the summaries and conclusions at the end were helpful.

[Marc Minter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great summary of and plea for a more biblical understanding and practice of the Lord’s Supper

Every church leader and member will benefit from reading through this marvelous resource. The contributors do not all agree on everything, and I do not agree with some of the conclusions either, but the survey of biblical texts, historical views, theological realities, and pastoral applications is fantastic.

Read what’s here, consider the validity of the claims, and then develop and solidify your own convictions… but whatever you do, think more deeply about the Lord’s Supper. This book will certainly help you do that.

[Rebecca van den Ham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really appreciated this collection of essays on the Lord's Supper. I learned a lot, and most of the language was not over my head. I always wondered how we got from the New Testament descriptions to the way we do things now, and this book answered a lot of my questions. One thing that really struck me because of current events was that individual little cups became a thing during the Spanish Flu pandemic! Makes me wonder what lasting marks the current pandemic will leave on our church services.

[Joshua Reichard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though very Baptistic and basically composed of SBTS professors I thought this book was well resourced and diverse. Not diverse in that it has many different views but diverse in how they view the Lord’s Supper and how they practice. I agree with most other reviews that the last three chapters are the best and most helpful!

I came to this book hoping to understand the Lord’s Supper better and challenge my perspective on who can participate in it. I have been seriously challenged and I am thankful for it. Onward to more reading to push against my view!

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good survey of the Lord's Supper from a few Baptist perspectives. I did not agree with every position taken in the book, but neither did all of the contributors agree with each bother on every point. The book surveys well the exegetical, historical, theological, and practical issues concerning the Lord's Supper, and most importantly comments Baptists to renew their interest and emphasis on this neglected doctrine and practice.

[Aaron Carpenter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The chapter on Reformed teaching, as well as the chapter on Baptist history, felt unnecessarily biased (and long, but what of it?). But otherwise, this is a very, very good survey, theological exposition, and practical manual on this oft-misunderstood ordinance of Christ. Not everyone will come to the same conclusions (and the authors sometimes disagree with one another!), but everything here is worth interacting with. Very helpful - recommend!

[Adam Kareus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clear walk through of the theology and practice of the Lord's Supper in the church. This work contains several historical chapters, tracing the thought from several key reformers and evaluating them from the Baptist perspective. With many authors, several who do not agree on some of the various issues such as close or open communion, it can be seen that this topic is complex but also important enough to wrestle with as the Lord's Supper is a key aspect of the church's worship.

[Matt Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

After having read for perspectives on the Lord supper I expected some similarity here. This book however is only a quarter of that one. From beginning to and written by Baptist for bbaptists. It hearts on the memorial aspect of communion and what is all included with that.

[Braxton Gilbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book walking through the history of the Lord's Supper. That being said, it is an introduction so don't expect a theological treatise on each position. The authors of each article do a balanced job presenting and offering criticisms to each stance.

[Garry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great Scriptural, theological, historical and practical examination of the Lord's Table from the Baptist perspective. It was an incredibly helpful overview pulling everything togther (even though it took me two years going through it).

[Bennett Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Selected readings

[Gibin Joseph · Rating 1 out of 5]

hopeless site

[Logan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I enjoyed the content of this book and it's contributors but fear it may have been a bit too dense, even for my tastes. I'm not sure I had the right expectations when going into this book so it felt a bit jarring going from practical implications of the Lord's Supper to deep, grammatical parsing and study. Admittedly, I did not finish the book (primarily because of the density of the content) but will instead use this as a resource in ministry.

[Douglas Singer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This excellent collection of essays about the Lord's Supper stands as one of my favorite theological works read to date. It promoted a Baptist view slightly different than my own, but gave fair treatment to a wide array of theological views from Catholic to Presbyterian to Lutheran. One of the most interesting thoughts was the assertion that the Roman Catholic view of the Eucharist, and not the Protestant one, is guilty of violating the doctrine of the Incarnation.

[Ryan Linkous · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a good collection of essays defending a baptist understanding of the Lord's Supper. Some of them can get monotonous at times, but they all defend their points well. They survey the Catholic, Lutheran, Zwinglian, and Calvinist views of the Lord's Supper, tearing down straw men that are traditionally set up by evangelicals by presenting the views in light of their respective broader theologies and then critique them, while salvaging what is valuable from each.

[Dwain Minor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be helpful in thinking through the meaning of the Lord's Supper. The writers do a very good job of looking at different historical developments and the theology of the Lord's Supper, as well as the implications for today's local church.