Come, Let Us Eat Together

The German Catholic bishops recently gave that reliably tiresome hysteric Rod Dreher another chance to collapse on his fainting couch in response to matters he's too lazy to understand with anything like detail, context, or intelligence. The bishops floated some proposals for the vexed question of eucharistic hospitality in mixed Catholic-Lutheran marriages. I have read reports of the German proposals and they would very strongly seem to vary in such slight ways from the Ecumenical Directory published by Rome (in 1967 and updated in 1993) as to be insignificant and unworthy of any comment, least of all by people who see the sky falling every time they wake up.

If the question of eucharistic hospitality is to be treated seriously, then a book forthcoming next month will aid in that important task. Edited by George Kalantzis and Marc Cortez, Come, Let Us Eat Together: Sacraments and Christian Unity (IVP Academic, 2018), 250pp. is a collection with some very prominent contributors.

On the Catholic side, we have chapters by Thomas Weinandy and Matthew Levering, inter alia; the Protestant Matthew Milliner, a dynamic young scholar of Byzantine Christian art, also has a chapter; and then on the Orthodox side we have chapters from Bradley Nassif and Paul Gavrilyuk.

About this book the publisher tells us:

As Christians, we are called to seek the unity of the one body of Christ. But when it comes to the sacraments, the church has often been―and remains―divided. What are we to do? Can we still gather together at the same table? Based on the lectures from the 2017 Wheaton Theology Conference, this volume brings together the reflections of Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox theologians, who jointly consider what it means to proclaim the unity of the body of Christ in light of the sacraments. Without avoiding or downplaying the genuine theological and sacramental differences that exist between Christian traditions, what emerges is a thoughtful consideration of what it means to live with the difficult, elusive command to be one as the Father and the Son are one.

Jesus in the Desert

The Orthodox author Bradley Nassif together with Gary Burge have written a short new book Bringing Jesus to the Desert (Zondervan, 2012), 144pp.

About this book the publisher tells us:

Through the third to sixth centuries, great Christian men and women colonized the deserts of Palestine, Syria and Egypt, shaping the church through their examples of faith and devotion. History now knows them as the Desert Fathers and Mothers and their lives display an unswerving commitment to the love of Christ sorely needed in today's world. Bradley Nassif tells the story of how the deserts of the Holy Land forged a holy people and a lasting legacy of faith. As part of the Ancient Context, Ancient Faith series, Middle Eastern lands, culture and history directly undergird this exploration of ancient spirituality. Surveying the lives of Anthony of Egypt, Pachomius, Melania and others, Nassif demonstrates how the wilderness experiences chronicled in Scripture guided the practice of Christian faith in biblical lands. Bringing Jesus to the Desert can help pastors, Bible students and lay learners trace God's work in the past and draw on the power of God in the desert places of their own lives.

Christian Spirituality Differently Understood

Who among us is not tired of that trite and tedious phrase about being "spiritual but not religious"? Spirituality today seems to suffer from overuse, misunderstanding, and narcissism. Along comes a new book that may help correct some of those problems: Bruce Demarest, ed., Four Views on Christian Spirituality (Zondervan, 2012), 240pp.

About this book, which contains a chapter "Orthodox Spirituality: A Quest for Transfigured Humanity" by Bradley Nassif, the publisher tells us:

Amid a culture that is both fascinated by spirituality and inundated by a dizzying variety of options for pursuing it, many Christians long for a deeper, more historically rooted spiritual life. In Four Views on Christian Spirituality, general editor Bruce Demarest presents an invaluable resource for study and comparison of the major Christian perspectives on spiritual formation. Contributors' chapters on Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Evangelicalism, and Liberal Protestantism, collected side-by-side, easily allow for the beliefs and emphases of the viewpoints to be thoughtfully considered---all in pursuit of greater understanding and spiritual growth. The four viewpoints are given equal opportunity in the hands of the following capable scholars, and each proponent's chapter is followed by responses from the other three. * Brad Nassif (Eastern Orthodoxy) * Scott Hahn (Roman Catholicism) * Evan Howard (Evangelicalism) * Joe Driskill (Liberal Protestantism) In the end, an increased familiarity with each of the different schools of Christian thought will aid readers seeking spiritual transformation for themselves, their family members, and their churches.