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The Eucharist in the Reformation
This study traces the evolution of the words, "this is my body," "this do," and "remembrance of me" that divided Christendom in the sixteenth century. Lee Wandel focuses on the consequences of the different interpretations of these simple words in the delineation of the Lutheran, Reformed, and Catholic traditions. Finally, Wandel argues that the incarnation is at the center of the story of the Reformation and suggests how divergent religious identities were formed.
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First published December 19, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 12, 2025
When many think of the Reformation, the focus is on the corruption of the Medieval Catholic Church, Martin Luther and his 95 theses, or John Calvin and his Institutes of the Christian Religion. Fewer consider the ways that the Reformation divided Protestants on the meaning of the Eucharist. In this book, Lee Palmer Wandel provides an excellent summary of the four major views of the Eucharist at that time: transubstantiation (Catholic church), consubstantiation (Martin Luther), memorial (Menno Simons), and spiritual presence (John Calvin).
The author excels in providing a history of the understanding of Eucharist up until the 1500's. This includes an understanding of the necessity of the medieval Christian taking the Eucharist once per year, the place it had in the Medieval mass, and the vestments, dishes, and cups used for its administration. The Medieval history is frequently passed by in discussions about the Eucharist during the Reformation. Lee Palmer Wandel provides this helpful context and then she mentions at the end of the book the ways in which Catholicism reacted to the Protestant interpretations of the Eucharist.
This is an excellent introduction to a complex field of study. The author writes in a scholarly and easily accessible way. Highly recommended!
The author excels in providing a history of the understanding of Eucharist up until the 1500's. This includes an understanding of the necessity of the medieval Christian taking the Eucharist once per year, the place it had in the Medieval mass, and the vestments, dishes, and cups used for its administration. The Medieval history is frequently passed by in discussions about the Eucharist during the Reformation. Lee Palmer Wandel provides this helpful context and then she mentions at the end of the book the ways in which Catholicism reacted to the Protestant interpretations of the Eucharist.
This is an excellent introduction to a complex field of study. The author writes in a scholarly and easily accessible way. Highly recommended!
July 3, 2014
Many Christians, of all strips, take a small wafer of bread, and/or a sip of wine to re-enact the events of the Last Supper. Ask any of these partakers what they think is happening when the take 'Communion'; Up until about 1517, there seemed to be a unified answer, but after that date, the unified thinking fell apart. Welcome to the Reformation.
I know many Catholics who think 'Holy Communion' or the Eucharist is a replication of the biblical story in the upper room. It is a symbolic re-telling the the first Eucharist where Jesus himself gave the apostle his body and blood and told them to 'do this in memory of me'. It is a sign of community around the Lord. The table is a banquet table; the food deeply symbolic of the unity of Christ with his people. Unfortunately, this is NOT the Roman Catholic view of what is going on! It is closer to the Reformed tradition's theology of the Eucharist.
This work details the breach in Eucharist theology amongst the 3 major branches of Western Christianity immediately after the Reformation. Those branches being Lutheran, Reformed and Roman Catholic.
I must run and make sure my Catholic friends understand that the bread and wine are the actual body and blood of Christ in substance, called down as sacrifice for sins, by the ordained priest (only). This is the Catholic position!
Heretical or not, this book draws these lines clearly,,,and you can determine for yourself just where you actually fit in.
I know many Catholics who think 'Holy Communion' or the Eucharist is a replication of the biblical story in the upper room. It is a symbolic re-telling the the first Eucharist where Jesus himself gave the apostle his body and blood and told them to 'do this in memory of me'. It is a sign of community around the Lord. The table is a banquet table; the food deeply symbolic of the unity of Christ with his people. Unfortunately, this is NOT the Roman Catholic view of what is going on! It is closer to the Reformed tradition's theology of the Eucharist.
This work details the breach in Eucharist theology amongst the 3 major branches of Western Christianity immediately after the Reformation. Those branches being Lutheran, Reformed and Roman Catholic.
I must run and make sure my Catholic friends understand that the bread and wine are the actual body and blood of Christ in substance, called down as sacrifice for sins, by the ordained priest (only). This is the Catholic position!
Heretical or not, this book draws these lines clearly,,,and you can determine for yourself just where you actually fit in.
May 4, 2011
This was a harder book to get into. Had to read it for my dissertation proposal. Wandel is a respected Reformation historian, and quotes extensively from primary sources. Lots of original research here, which is necessary to understand the Reformation. I appreciated her close reading of Calvin's Institutes, and her argument that frequent celebration of the Eucharist is mandated by Calvin's theology. Like any good history, Wandel let the authors of the sixteenth-century speak for themselves, without too much commentary. Won't appeal to polemicists, but essential reading for those who really want to understand the Reformation.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews