Customer Reviews

Eucharist in the New Testament, The (Zacchaeus Studies)

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This book is nothing more than a summary of positions that different scholars hold on the Eucharistic readings of the New Testament. There is nothing new; what's more, there is nothing edifying. It is also unclear through the course of the book whether Kodell supports the historicity of the Gospel accounts; this historicity is clearly affirmed in the Church's Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum), and one would hope a Catholic monk like Kodell would stick to Catholic positions. Also, Kodell does not seem to draw the distinction between what the Savior said (whether He spoke the institution narrative Himself or not) and the revealed Scriptures which transmit all that is needed for salvation. Finally, this book has a number of historical inaccuracies - for instance, pp. 48-9 incorrectly elaborate upon the "Todah" sacrifice (he apparently never read Leviticus 17). Look elsewhere, especially towards Louis Bouyer and J. Jungmann.

I haven't read it all yet, but this book begins with a review of historical discussions from the last century. In this it remains fairly objective, simply saying what the general thought was a different times. Excellent for new testament scholars!

Consult this book to understand more deeply the evolution of the Christian rite of the Eucharist. Fr. Kodell starts with the Jewish meal and then analyzes the traditions from Mark/Matthew and Paul/Luke with a separate chapter on John's interpretation. He advocates learning from the earliest sources and continuously re-aligning the message of Christ's life and the gospel, ever faithful with the scriptural original, "to new expression in our own day and in our own way" (p. 131).

This book will be of interest to liturgists, the liturgy committee, scripture buffs, and inquisitive individuals. Chapter 2, "The Last Supper and the Lord's Supper: a Survey of Recent Scholarship" is the most challenging, but illuminates the status of research and writing on the Eucharist. In all, I am glad to have expanded my view of the Eucharist and to have learned of the many differences between the Gospel accounts of Jesus' last meal.