Understanding Four Views on the Lord's Supper

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Understanding Four Views on the Lord's Supper

by John H. Armstrong, I. John Hesselink, David P. Scaer, Thomas A. Baima, Paul Engle (Editor), Russell D. Moore

3.47 of 5 stars 3.47 · rating details · 19 ratings · 2 reviews

Who should participate in the Lord's Supper? How frequently should we observe it? What does this meal mean? What happens when we eat the bread and drink from the cup? What do Christians disagree about and what do they hold in common? These and other questions are explored in this thought-provoking book.This new volume in the Counterpoints: Church Life series allows four co...more

Paperback, 224 pages

Published November 6th 2007 by Zondervan Publishing Company (first published November 1st 2007)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Four Views on the Book of Revelation by C. Marvin Pate

Predestination & Free Will by David Basinger

Four Views on the Apostle Paul by Michael F. Bird

Christian Multiple Views Books

38th out of 66 books — 5 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 51)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Apr 23, 2013 Steve Bauer rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: dogmatics

(I am writing this as a review of the Lutheran explanation of the Lutheran view of the Lord's Supper. As a Lutheran pastor there are several things the reader should be made aware of.)

1. Dr. Scaer notes that "Lutherans rarely use this term (Consubstantiation)." (p. 87) This sentence is an understatement. Confessional lutherans have always found the word, Consubstantiation offensive. In his "Creeds of Christendom" book, Schaff notes that Lutherans reject the term. (p. 229) Nevertheless, he unapol...more (I am writing this as a review of the Lutheran explanation of the Lutheran view of the Lord's Supper. As a Lutheran pastor there are several things the reader should be made aware of.)

1. Dr. Scaer notes that "Lutherans rarely use this term (Consubstantiation)." (p. 87) This sentence is an understatement. Confessional lutherans have always found the word, Consubstantiation offensive. In his "Creeds of Christendom" book, Schaff notes that Lutherans reject the term. (p. 229) Nevertheless, he unapologetically uses the term more than twenty times throughout his work to define the Lutheran view of the Lord’s Supper. Abraham Calov best explains the Lutheran view of that word, Consubstantiation: "We maintain that the body and blood of Christ are present in the Supper; not, indeed, through μετουσια, or by substantial transmutation, as the Papists hold; nor by συνουσια, or consubstantiation, which the Calvinists calumniously charge upon us; nor by local inclusion, namely, impanation, as flesh is in a meat-pie and invination, as they are accustomed to charge against us; nor in the way of a descent from heaven and from the Right Hand of God, to be followed again by an ascent to heaven and to the Right Hand of God.” (Schmidt, p. 563) So, if you want to misrepresent the Lutheran view of the Lord's Supper, then, go ahead and use the word, Consubstantiation. And if you want to unnecessarily offend Lutherans, then make use of that word. It's difficult to read Russell Moore's response to the Lutheran view. He writes: "By contrast, the Lutheran view of consubstantiation is exegetically, historically, philosophically, and semantically far more complex." (p. 102.) If he knew much at all about the Lutheran understanding of the Lord's Supper he wouldn't boldly and bluntly call it what it is not.

2. Scaer writes: "Today the majority of Lutheran congregations in the United States have a weekly celebration of the Lord’s Supper." (97) While usually throughout his section he makes generous use of footnotes, the reader notices that in this section there are no sources of proof. That's because he set forth as proof something that is unproven. Even within his own church body (LCMS) there is no proof that "most churches" celebrate the Lord's Supper on a weekly basis. While there has been a growing appreciation of more frequent communion within Lutheranism in the last 10 or 20 years, there is no proof that the majority of Lutheran churches practice weekly communion.

3. On p. 100 Scaer notes that Luther found the basis for the Lord's Supper in the passages which clearly speak about the Lord's Supper. Scaer, however, doesn't exactly follow in Luther's footsteps. Consider this section: "Just as in baptism water symbolizes creation, birth, and destruction, bread is reminiscent of what humans must produce in the sweat of their brow to survive in a world of sin (Gen. 3:19). It is a reminder of our fallen condition and the necessity of eating Christ’s body for salvation." (p. 93) While imaginative and interesting, these conclusions are not conclusions we find clearly expressed in God's word about the Lord's Supper. So also, Scaer goes out on a limb with connecting John 6 to the Lord's Supper. In Luther's, "Babylonian Captivity of the church," he wrote: "John 6 is to be entirely excluded from this discussion, since it does not refer in a single syllable to the sacrament. For not only was the sacrament not yet instituted, but the whole context plainly shows that Christ is speaking of faith in the Word made flesh, as I have said above." (LW 36:19)

Conclusion: I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. The unnecessary inclusion of the word, Consubstantiation knocks it down a star. And Scaer's habit of occasionally going beyond what scripture can bear (and as a result, Lutheranism understands) knocks it down another star.

Pastor Steve Bauer
http://stevebauer.us

(less)

like 1 like · see review

Nov 18, 2012 Marc rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love these counterpoint series books because they not only present the different theological points of view on the subject at hand, they also interact with each other. Every contributing author has the opportunity to respond to the other view points. I guess it's kind of like a debate in book form.

Another appealing thing about these books is that they are civil discussions with the ultimate goal of finding common ground among Christians from different denominational backgrounds. The goal is un...more

like · see review

Apr 17, 2013 Ivan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: theology

Apr 18, 2013 Shenandoah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-church

Apr 06, 2013 Kevin Lara marked it as to-read

Mar 27, 2013 Renee added it

Mar 23, 2013 David Morgan marked it as to-read

Shelves: own

Mar 20, 2013 Hans Martin marked it as to-read

Shelves: comparative-theology

Feb 22, 2013 Josh Maurer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Feb 11, 2013 Andy Chance added it

Jan 31, 2013 Chidi OKORO marked it as to-read

Jan 23, 2013 Blake Fewell marked it as to-read

Shelves: theology-philosophy

Jan 05, 2013 Jonathan Bowman rated it 3 of 5 stars

Jan 03, 2013 Jean-Sébastien rated it 5 of 5 stars

Nov 30, 2012 James Mayuga marked it as to-read

Nov 17, 2012 Danny Klopovic added it

Oct 31, 2012 HCFA marked it as to-read

Shelves: available, communion

Nov 21, 2012 Jeanie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Oct 19, 2012 Joe Brown added it

Oct 03, 2012 Lucas Bradburn rated it 2 of 5 stars

Oct 02, 2012 Brandon Jones added it

Sep 01, 2012 Katie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Aug 19, 2012 Colin Lewis marked it as to-read

Jul 22, 2012 Jack added it

Jul 20, 2012 Kevin is currently reading it

Jul 08, 2012 Kevin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Jul 08, 2012 Randy marked it as to-read

Jun 28, 2012 Kyle rated it 3 of 5 stars

May 22, 2012 Joseph rated it 3 of 5 stars

Apr 21, 2012 Chris marked it as to-read

Shelves: logos, doctrine

« previous 1 2 next »

Christian

2 users

See top shelves...

Books by John H. Armstrong

Understanding Four Views on Baptism (Counterpoints: Church Life)

Your Church Is Too Small: Why Unity in Christ's Mission Is Vital to the Future of the Church

Reforming Pastoral Ministry: Challenges for Ministry in Postmodern Times

This We Believe: The Good News of Jesus Christ for the World

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Understanding Fou...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: Understanding Four Views on the Lord's Supper
avg rating	preview: Understanding Four Views on the Lord's Supper Goodreads rating: 3.47 (19 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2297747.Understanding_Four_Views_on_the_Lord_s_Supper?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347770045l/2297747.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2297747.Understanding_Four_Views_on_the_Lord_s_Supper?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Understanding Four Views on the Lord's Supper by John H. Armstrong[/url]

Understanding Four Views on the Lord's Supper

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (2)

Genres

Books by John H. Armstrong

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Understanding Fou...

Understanding Four Views on the Lord's Supper

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

combineOther Editions (2)

Genres

Books by John H. Armstrong

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Understanding Fou...

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (2)