The Meal Jesus Gave Us: Understanding Holy Communion [Paperback]

N.T. Wright's book is a helpful introduction to the nuts and bolts of a biblical eucharistic theology, without assuming much background knowledge and written in a chatty, informal style (in the UK this slim volume has appeared as Holy Communion for Amateurs, Hodder & Stoughton, 1999).

Wright's book on Holy Communion is not a book to read if you want some kind of overall theology of the Lord's Supper argued in exegetical detail and interacting with various past theological traditions. Rather, it is a very easy-going presentation, with lots of imaginative narratives, anecdotes, and the like. It's not a heavy theological treatise.

That being said, Wright does deal with some basic issues like terminology: breaking bread, communion, eucharist, Lord's supper, mass. He explains them in a way that should make them less a stumbling block to some folks in traditions perhaps unfamiliar with the range of terms. He does also deal with medieval Roman Catholic views like transubstantiation or how the mass was popularly understood to be a new sacrifice of Jesus (though, as he recognizes, that was never the official teaching). Wright suggests how these notions are indeed mistaken, but that there are nonetheless real issues here to be grasped.

The Supper, he emphasizes, is an objective (this do) remembrance/memorial of Jesus' sacrifice on Golgotha, bringing the signficance of that one-time past event forward to meet us. He does mention the colloquy at Marburg, the dispute between Luther and Zwingli, the mediating views of folks like Oecolampadius and Calvin. On the whole he seems to approve of Calvin's view of the Real Presence, though suggesting that Calvin's notion of our "ascent" into heaven by the Spirit to Jesus might be too spatial. Rather he prefers thinking in terms of time.

And one thing that may trouble some readers is his talk about time. Wright speaks a great deal about the Supper as bringing the past and future to meet in the present, as Paul says "whenever (present) you do this you proclaim the Lord's death (past) until he comes (future)." But we shouldn't mistake Wright here, I think, as espousing any weird kind of metaphysical theory about time. He compares the eucharist in several instances to a birthday party and, of course, to the Passover meal.

At a birthday, the joy of someone's past birth is "brought forward" and celebrated in the present as well as anticipating the person's future life, "many happy returns!" Similarly, at Passover, Israel symbolically re-lived the Exodus, recalling God's past deliverance that made them who they are in the present, and looking foward and anticipating the final deliverance of God's people, beginning to live it out here and now in the Passover feast.

The Lord's Supper, Wright submits, is similar. Some details and qualifications here might have been helpful, but I think for most readers what he says will "click".

One feature of the book I particularly appreciated were two short chapters (Chapters 13 and 14) in which he sets out the basic elements of the historic liturgy using the structure of the Emmaus road incident as a model: troubled disciples are met by Jesus, they pour their hearts out to him (Kyrie, confession), he speaks to them with their hearts burning (Word and Credo), they arrive at their dwelling where Jesus plays host, bread is broken in order to make Jesus known (eucharist), and they return to Jerusalem with the good news (our being sent out at the end of liturgy).

If someone wanted to understand what the basic historic liturgy was all about, as it is celebrated in most confessional traditions (Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran, etc.) these 8 or so pages summarize it quite well.

And there are a couple of other interesting points at which Wright spells out his opinion on issues that have proven somewhat controversial in certain circles. First, he insists (contra some of the Aussie Anglicans) that the eucharist be presided over by an ordained minister. Secondly, he endorses paedo-communion.

All in all, I would recommend Wright's book. It certainly doesn't say everything (it is just a simple introduction), but what it says is basically sound, I think, and serves as a good foundation for building more in depth.

Though N. T. Wright is one of the brightest and best theologians and biblical scholars that our modern world is blessed to have, he has a way of communicating which is helpful for even the most un-learned layman. In this volume, Wright communicates the basic history of the Eucharist, and suggests the ways in which this meal still impacts Christians today.

This is an excellent tool for pastors and priests who wish to introduce this new and sacred meal to recent converts, confirmation classes, or people who wish to get a "refresher" course on Holy Communion.

Wright gives a very basic account of the meaning and purpose of the Lord's Supper. I bought it expecting him to elaborate on the material in some of his other books regarding the meaning of the Lord's Supper. However, this books is definitely intended for a non-scholarly audience. If you want a basic explanation of the original meaning of the Lord's Supper and aren't concerned about the why's and wherefore's, this could be a good book for you. He also gives suggestions about how the Lord's Supper should be celebrated today, based on his understanding of its original meaning.

If you want a more sophisticated discussion of the Lord's Supper, try Jesus and the Victory of God by Wright, where it is one of many topics.