ebooks Eucharist and Church Fellowship in the First Four Centuries by Werner Elert in History

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A gift on the giftBy Gary HallThe question of the practice of the Lord's Supper is not new. The church is not reinvented anew each age. It must evaluate practices that are handed down with great care. It must not quickly dismiss practices of the past as ancient piety but consider that the ancient church had the same Spirit. It must treat ancient practices with care and insure it does not cast such practices away without careful consideration. Elbert Werner has given us a thorough and thoughtful investigation that should be used in any meaningful discussion on the practice of the Lord's supper.20 of 21 people found the following review helpful. Worth Ten Stars!By mattThe reprint of this book is a very welcome addition to the current debate concerning the nature of the Church and the meaning of the Eucharist. Even though it is decades old; it is a masterful presentation of what the early Church (in this case up to the fourth century) understood by communion. One could not find a more detailed analysis of the issue. There are 15 chapters; each about 10 to 20 pages; which deal with such topics as Koinonia; The Sacrament as Fellowship; The Lord's Supper not the Christians' Supper; Unity and Fellowship; Closed Communion; Church Discipline and the Eucharist; Church Fellowship and the Local Congregation; Communion and Heretics; Transfers and Certification; Inter-parish Fellowship; Fellowship by Letter; Altar Fellowship Between Churches; Keeping Altar Fellowship in Tact; Attempts at Union. There are also three chapters on the usage of Communio in the Church and the origin of the formula "sanctorum communio" and koinonia and the "holy things".I cannot tell you how useful this book is for ecclesiologists; historians; or the lay student who desires to more fully understand what it means to be in communion within the context of the Church.Other books of interest may be Communion and Intercommunionby Kallistos Ware; The Eucharist Makes the Churchand Sacrament of Salvation: An Introduction to Eucharistic Ecclesiology; both by McPartlan; Communion and Otherness: Further Studies in Personhood and the Church; Eucharist; Bishop; Church: The Unity of the Church in the Divine Eucharist and the Bishop During the First Three Centuries; Being as Communion and; finally; Eucharist: Theology and Spirituality of the Eucharistic Prayer by Bouyer. Enjoy!0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Russ FitchVery helpful.