Come, Let Us Eat Together: Sacraments and Christian Unity

Wheaton Theology Conference

by George Kalantzis (Editor), Marc Cortez (Editor), Amy Peeler (Contributor)

As Christians, we are called to seek the unity of the one body of Christ.

But when it comes to the sacraments, the church has often been--and remains--divided. What are we to do? Can we still gather together at the same table?

Based on the lectures from the 2017 Wheaton Theology Conference, this volume brings together the reflections of Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox theologians, who jointly consider what it means to proclaim the unity of the body of Christ in light of the sacraments.

Without avoiding or downplaying the genuine theological and sacramental differences that exist between Christian traditions, what emerges is a thoughtful consideration of what it means to live with the difficult, elusive command to be one as the Father and the Son are one.

Genres: Theology

250 pages, Paperback

Published April 17, 2018

About the author

George Kalantzis (PhD, Northwestern University) is professor of theology and director of The Wheaton Center for Early Christian Studies at Wheaton College. He is the author of Caesar and the Lamb: Early Christian Attitudes on War and Military Service and Theodore of Mopsuestia: Commentary on the Gospel of John, and he is the coeditor of Evangelicals and the Early Church: Recovery, Reform, Renewal; Life in the Spirit: Spiritual Formation in Theological Perspective; Christian Political Witness; and The Sovereignty of God Debate.

Reviews

[Ian Caveny · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enlightening essay collection adapted from Wheaton College's annual Theology Conference, Come, Let Us Eat Together is a feast of both ecumenism and ecclesiology, and the gaps between the two. Sprinkled throughout this collection are works from theologians across the Christian world, Catholic and Orthodox, Baptist and Reformed, Lutheran and Anglican, which, in its own right, shows that something of the ecumenical movement has succeeded. An ecumenical optimist like me would take even the existence of this book as a sign for open tables.

And, yet, of course, the problems run deeper. If there is one major takeaway from this volume, it is a renewed sense in my own understanding of how nuanced the problems of open / closed communion, and the like, can be. It is telling that the more "low church" writers offer more optimistic visions of sharing the table; while the "high church" writers defend their decisions to close it. From a distance, the idealist in me (in reality, the Baptistic-Pentecostal in me) wants to wave my fingers and end all such tensions as "unnecessary theological confusion"; after reading this book, I have a greater appreciation for the Orthodox and Catholic decisions to close the table. And that is a weighty thing indeed.

Some highlights to this volume include Cherith Fee Nordling's incredible essay on the ascension of Christ; Matthew Levering's subtle reflections on the road to Emmaus; Paul L. Gavrilyuk's hopeful assessment on sacramental participation as eschatological; and Marc Cortez's (one of the editors of the compilation) historical engagement with Baptistic sacramentalism (which I found personally deeply helpful as a sacramentalist Baptist pastor!). The ecumenical program that could be distilled from this volume should give us hope for a future where the whole Body of Christ might be gathered as one, as Jesus and His Father are one, and that factor alone makes this book worth celebrating and enjoying.

[Robert D. Cornwall · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of essays from a Wheaton theological conference. There are essays from participants ranging from Orthodox to Roman Catholic to Baptist. Most have evangelical leanings. The final essay written by Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen offers a useful proposal for finding a pathway to mutual recognition of sacraments, even if full communion is not available.

[Michael Philliber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every year Wheaton College holds the Wheaton Theology Conference, in which a specific subject is delved into by a host of scholars and writers. Then the papers from the conference are tidied up, published and presented for a larger audience. "Come, Let Us Eat Together: Sacraments and Christian Unity" are the papers presented at the Twenty-Fifth Wheaton Theology Conference (2017), bound together in a 250 page softback. This volume is edited by George Kalantzis, a professor of theology and director of The Wheaton Center for Early Christian Studies at Wheaton College, and Marc Cortez, also a professor of theology at Wheaton College. The manuscript is mildly technical but can be profitable for laypersons and professionals alike.

"Come, Let Us Eat Together" has authors from across the Christian spectrum: Catholic, Orthodox, Anabaptist, Anglican, Lutheran, and more. The focus of the book is to "seek to discuss the topic of Christian unity specifically as it relates to the sacraments" (5). The dialogue is civil, informative, thought-provoking, and fertile. A few of the authors seem to run out of steam midway through their essays, or try to stretch their particular topics into areas that barely fit the subject. But most remain on task, honorably and intelligibly addressing their material.

I personally found two chapters to be the most helpful. Thomas Weinandy's essay, "In Persona Christi," makes clear how the Catholic Church views the Priest, in lieu of his ordination, the place of the sacraments, and the uniqueness of the Eucharist. Of the other sacraments, "a priest manifests Christ's priestly presence within the Church and within the world". Whereas in the Eucharist "Christ is not only present simply through his power, but he is also present in the fullness of who he actually is as the risen Savior and Lord, that is, both in the offering of himself as the one saving sacrifice and in his truly being present under the sacramental signs of bread and wine" (55). This all brings Weinandy to conclude that he does not see any way, presently, for Catholics and Protestants to eat together at the same table/altar (64). Then there was Paul Gavrilyuk's chapter "The Eschatological Dimension of Sacramental Unity". Gavrilyuk dives into his Orthodox stream explaining the distaste many in his tradition have for ecumenism. He further explains the tension among the Orthodox, between dogmatic minimalism and dogmatic maximalism, when they insist on the necessity of holding to the true faith as essential to intercommunion. But it was Gavrilyuk's work on the eschatological dimension of the sacraments with regard to unity that was most heartening. As the author observes, to "the extent to which baptism and Eucharist connect the believers with Christ and render them participants in the kingdom of God, partial intercommunion is already a reality...In baptism and the Eucharist we are already partially eschatologically united despite being historically divided" (177). Beyond these two writers, the editors, Kalantzis and Cortez, should be commended for their notable insights.

"Come, Let Us Eat Together" is a decent collection of essays, especially for those who yearn for the day when the Father will answer his Son's prayer in John 17, that all of his people will be one so that all the world will know that the Father sent the Son. Throughout there are useful insights and observations to be personally gleaned, as well as plenty of fodder for group discussions. It's a book I can recommend.

Much thanks to IVP Academic for the free copy of the book used for this review. The comments and observations made herein are all my own. They given freely and without any diktats from the publisher, SCOTUS, or Homeland Security.