Concerning Humanity
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 59, No. 1 – Fall 2016
Managing Editor: W. Madison Grace II
Edited by Lee Palmer Wandel. Brill’s Companions to the Christian Tradition, volume 46. Boston: Brill, 2014. 518 Pages, Hardcover, $239.00.
While sola fide and sola scriptura have historically been identified as the chief articles of debate which enveloped sixteenth-century Christendom, Lee Palmer Wandel and her team of contributors affirm that distinct eucharistic theologies and liturgies were significant contributing factors that further divided Catholicism and Protestantism. With a goal towards exploring “early modern thinking in texts written and sung, images, objects, architecture, music, and practices on the Eucharist,” Wandel devotes ample space to each of the aforementioned themes (11).
Although Gary Macy’s introduction on the Medieval Mass is helpful, it has two significant shortcomings. First, Macy’s label of Berengar’s eucharistic theology as “straightforward,” in the sense that he staunchly denied any “real” presence of Christ, is misleading (23). Christopher Wild’s later survey of Lessing’s Laocoön, which attests Berengar’s affirmation of a “pregnant sign,” meaning that the eucharistic contains not merely the sign, but also the thing signified, directly contradicts Macy (494– 95). Second, Berengar’s personal reference to the eucharistic elements as the “true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ” confirms that his eucharistic theology was anything but straightforward (494).
Part one, a summary of Eucharist theologies, is useful for its inclusion of every major Reformation theology, but unsuitable for the reader who desires to track any possible development of eucharistic theology over the course of the Reformation. For example, while the Reformed Church is thoroughly represented through the writings of Calvin, Zwingli, and Bullinger, Luther is the sole Lutheran representative. Frankly, it is inexcusable for Wandel to ignore both the later Lutheran development and the later reconciliatory attempts between the various Reformed parties. While the eucharistic divide between Luther and Zwingli has traditionally been oversimplified into a mere disagreement concerning Christ’s presence, the contributors effectively demonstrate that their altercation rested more on Christology (52). John D. Rempel’s emphasis on the centrality of Pneumatology for Anabaptist theology is helpful in analyzing their seeming preference for Johannine theology over Pauline theology (123). The significance of part one lies not in the publication of eucharistic theology, but instead in the affirmation that Christendom’s rift rested far deeper than Christ’s presence, for it centered on foundational differences in Christology, Soteriology, and Ecclesiology.
The nature of Wandel’s work, twenty contributors discussing overlapping subject matter, makes discrepancies likely. Similar to Macy and Wild’s earlier contradiction, Rempel and Michele Hanson clash concerning the influence of the Eucharist in early Anabaptist communities. While Rempel asserts, “the Eucharist remained for them the primal sign of Christ and the Church,” Hanson claims, “Anabaptists in the 1520s did not make the celebration of the Eucharist central in their religious life” (119, 266). While Wandel acts appropriately in allowing disagreements, the extreme positions taken by each contributor ultimately prove irreconcilable.
Part two, a helpful companion to theology, focuses on the diversity of liturgical practices in the Reformation. Isabelle Brian’s contribution on Catholic liturgy is insightful as it engages the reader in the Medieval Eucharist, answering both how and why the Mass possessed such a crippling hold on society. As the Feast of Corpus Christi and the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament developed, Christ’s presence in the Mass became “an identifying mark of Catholicism,” enveloping Catholics throughout life (203). Since the eucharistic celebration focused more on language for Lutherans and the Reformed, the imagery that encapsulated the Medieval Mass largely subsided (208). However, the difficulty in aligning one’s theology with one’s liturgy forced a struggle within Evangelicalism, leading a cautious Luther to maintain the elevation of the Host (222) and Thomas Cranmer to drastically alter the Book of Common Prayer between its 1549 and 1552 editions (276–77).
Part three briefly examines the effect of sudden theological and liturgical alterations on regional churches. For the most part, Evangelicals sought to undo the Medieval Mass systematically, specifically the high altar and rood screens (325–26). As Andrew Spicer rightly notes, the Evangelical church became less about “gradations of holiness” and more about a biblical, sacramental administration (331). While the Reformed took a hardened stance towards removing all semblance of the Mass, Lutheranism preserved the altar and the use of vestments, which “occasionally confused visitors to these churches” (342). Spicer’s contribution is paramount for his imagery of woodcuts and communion tables, allowing the reader to engage in the Eucharist visually.
Parts four and five focus on the artistic elements of the Eucharist. Unfortunately, the breadth of Wandel’s volume forces the reader to question the inclusion of certain chapters, and quite frankly, these chapters prove least crucial. Although presented from an artistic perspective, the underlying affirmations are essentially the same as previously provided. However, Wandel’s chapter “The Reformation and the Visual Arts” in R. Po-Chia Hsia’s The Cambridge History of Christianity: Reform and Expansion 1500–1660, manifests Wandel’s interest in the subject, and thus, their inclusion. Nevertheless, these chapters effectively manifest the frequent tendency for the Eucharist to shift between worship, ritual, and superstition.
In part six, Christopher Wild’s chapter is a fitting conclusion to a volume dedicated to analyzing the theological and liturgical eucharistic elements and their possible influences. Utilizing Lessing’s Laocoön, specifically the eucharistic relationship between Berengar and Lutheranism, Wild seeks to draw a seminal connection between religious media in the Reformation and aesthetic media in the Renaissance (491). While Wild abstains from affirming Lessing’s conceptual link, he nevertheless finds a link between the Lutheran use of religious media and Enlightenment aesthetics (507). Even if one disagrees with Wild, he has nevertheless preserved Wandel’s holistic goal by affirming that the chasms in Eucharistic theology ran far deeper than simple affirmations or denials of Christ’s presence.
Overall, Wandel’s focus on historical theology, art, media, and liturgics in the Reformation makes this volume a scholarly addition to historical studies. While the volume’s length and cost will certainly be drawbacks to intrigued readers, the substance and usefulness of Wandel’s work prove well worth the time and expense.
