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Take Eat, Take Drink: The Lord's Supper Through the Centuries

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Take Eat, Take Drink: The Lord's Supper Through The Centuries by Ernest Bartels is an introduction to the doctrine and practice of the Lord's Supper, written for Christian pastors and lay readers alike. Examining the tradition of the Lord's Supper from the Apostolic Era to Medieval times to the modern day, and changes in the doctrine as seen among a wide variety of Christian churches including Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Anabaptist, Pentecostal, Lutheran, and many more, Take Eat, Take Drink is both a thoughtful study and an excellent prepration read if one is about to participate in the Lord's Supper with a Christian denomination with practices that one is unfamiliar with. An extensively researched and meticulously compiled yet eminently readable account.

Bartels takes us on an enlightening look at the Holy Supper since Jesus' institution. It is here at the beginning that I experienced "mild" frustration. His tendency is to quote from older sources, and neglects more recent exegetical looks at the NT Communal passages, e.g. omission of A: rt Just's Lukan commentaries or Lockwood's views in 1 Corinthians commentary or Art Just's great book: "The Ongoing Feast", or John Stephenson's work in the Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics on the subject.

However, this minor frustration aside, Bartels does provide an excellent overview through time of the thinking and practice of this sacred meal instituted by Christ. This quote from the final chapter is salient: "How has it happened that four litte words, "This is My body," have been so variously interpreted, resulting in such a myriad of applications and beliefs?"

He answers: philosophy, ecumenism, human opinion. Even the Lutherans who by their very namesake stood for Sola Scriptura have abandoned their dogmatic position.

This study showcases these developments, providing not only the historical accounts but also well supported bibliographic references for more research and questions with answers after each chapter.

Good for individual or group usage.