Customer Reviews

Not by Bread Alone: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for the Eucharistic Sacrifice of the Catholic Mass

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sungenis is not for everybody. In fact, most of the people I know are not necessarily watering at the mouth for apologetics text books, and the few that are would prefer Scott Hahn or Pat Madrid to Sungenis. Why? Hahn and Madrid speak more down-to-earth, presupposing no knowledge on the part of the reader. Sungenis writes more for the scholar, presupposing some knowledge of the Greek language (i.e., he spells Greek words using the Greek alphabet, without providing English transliterations, as Hahn or Madrid might do).

If you're still with me, if you're still interested, if you still want to roll up your sleeves and deepen your faith, then hear me telling you to get this book. In fact, get the whole trilogy (Not by Bread Alone, Not by Scripture Alone, and Not By Faith Alone). This book goes through the Old Testament, then the New Testament, then to history itself. Sungenis examines Eucharistic passages with a microscope, highlighting cross references, original language, interpretations offered by the opposition, and refutations of the opposition for each passage. He ends by looking to the Early Church to see how they interpreted the doctrine of the Eucharist.

If you're a Catholic, you need this book to strengthen your own faith, make you appreciate the mass more, and give you some good defense for your beliefs. If you're not Catholic, then you should at least consider what Sungenis offers (if you're open-minded that is - if you're just out to refute anything a Catholic has to say, there are several other books you can attack that are much cheaper than this one), and see if what he says is true.

It's a technical, scholarly work, but if you're serious about worshiping God with your heart AND your mind, then you need to get this book and start getting dirty.

I got this book because I saw the 'eucharist' in some protestant churches, reduced to mere symbolism. While I do believe in the 'real presence', but am not Catholic, so do not believe quite as Sungenis, I still have to give him 5 stars. I just think he did a super job of presenting his viewpoint. Some say it is a bit heavy on the 'scholarly' side, but I found it very well written, and not too hard to follow, even as a 'lay person'.

As with his other Not By books, this leaves no stone unturned. For a an uneducated guy like me, my copy is dog-eared. Very thorough and technical and as usual systematically shows that the Eucharist has always been apart of Christianity.

This book goes to the "heart" of the matter. It is both scholarly and practical. The explanations are in an easy to read style and even the bible quotes are for Protestants who use the NIV. It is evident that Sungenis wrote this to get to the "heart" by way of the intellect. I believe that his work is truly ecumenical because unity cannot be achieved without knowing the truth. The Mass is heaven on earth.

Sungenis has written a comprehensive defense of Transubstantiation and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. He has also analyzed those church fathers (Tertullian, Eusebius, Augustine, etc.) who use figurative language when discussing the Eucharist. Sungenis believes that these fathers were thereby simply employing spiritual applications of the Eucharist, and were in no way questioning the Real Presence. Of course, one needs a technical theological and historical background to assess the validity or otherwise of Sungenis' arguments.

Sungenis defends the view that the latter half of John 6, wherein the Lord tells His disciples to eat His Body and drink His Blood, is a reference to Holy Communion, and not simply a continuation of His Bread of Life discourse of the first part of this chapter (where He uses the eating of bread figuratively to represent believe in Him). Sungenis cites Bultmann's contention that the latter part of John 6 was a later addition by the early church for the purpose of supporting the Real Presence in the Eucharist. But the fact is that Bultmann believed that virtually ALL of the Gospels were simply bits and pieces of early church teachings stuck together. Liberal theologians like Bultmann would furthermore have us believe that almost none of the Lord's teachings and actions are found in the Gospels. According to Bultmann, the Lord never had a Last Supper and never instituted the Eucharist. The church invented these myths long after Jesus and attributed it to Him. For these reasons, Sungenis' citation of Bultmann with regards to the latter part of John 6, and as a defense of Transubstantiation and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, is inappropriate and somewhat disingenuous. If Bultmann is correct, the Last Supper and the Eucharist are inauthentic.

this book was meant to be an apologetic defense of the sacrifice of the Mass and the Catholic teaching on the Eucharist. Sungenis does an excellent job laying out the Catholic position and giving answers to the common objections against it. This is a complete and thorough work on the topic, a must have for any serious Catholic. This book should be on every apologists book shelf.

Not only is this the best, most thorough work of its kind, but if all Catholic priests had to master it and use it to teach about both the Real Presence and the necessaity of propitiation, then we would not see so many contemporary Catholics who think more like Zwinglians and Calvinists than like Catholics. As with Not By Faith Alone, this book is also a must for apologetics.

Sterile? I don't think so. Scholarly? You bet. Exhaustive? That's putting it lightly.

For those reading this who have not read Robert Sungenis, he is meticulous and tedious to a fault. If you want to explore the exhaustive depths of an issue he has covered, you will want it. If you want an hour read by which you can glean snippets to stump others, don't bother. Why? I'll tell you.

He goes for it. When you think Sungenis has totally and utterly exausted and annilated the particular idea or verse or word study, he brings more. I think he's brillant. I'm also kinda geeky and weird. I do fix computers for a living so I have an excuse to be so. I don't know if there are a handful like me who will admit all that to an unknown, online audience.

Fact of the matter is, if you want to exhaust the subject Sungenis sets his mind upon, you gotta get it. Then later you can go back to it as often as you like and learn something new you missed the first million times. If you do not want to do too indepth a study, skip and go on to someone else. But Sungenis MISSES NOTHING!

All of the books written (or edited) by Robert Sungenis are all basically in the same vein. Slowly cover every inch of ground Biblically, linguistically and historically; then, systematically destroy the opponents arguments.

It worked in Not By Faith Alone and Not By Scripture Alone and it works well here too.

Mr. Sungenis explains the nature of God's covenant and the atonement in the Old and New Testaments and applies it to the theology of the Mass and the Real Presence. Finally, he develops the theology of the Eucharist historically through the writings of the church fathers. Through the course of the book, he shows how the Protestant (and Liberal Catholic) positions are simply unworkable Biblically or historically.

If you are really interested in theology then dig in. It is written at an advanced laymans level. Its exhaustive, encyclopedic scope might intimidate some readers, but I encourage anyone to read it. The theology of the Lord's Supper is central to the Christian life, so study it carefully and I guarantee you will profit greatly from it.

I am always very interested in apologetics, and this book is clearly the best defense of the traditional understanding of the eucharist. I agree with all of the positive reviews, and I wanted to bring to your attention some books that will further your study of the meaning of the eucharist and fellowship. These books will really help you draw out the ecclesiological implications of the eucharist and the liturgy. Enjoy!

"The Eucharist Makes the Church" by McPartlan

Eucharist and CHurch Fellowship in the First Four Centuries" by Werner

"Sacrament of Salvation" by McPartlan