George KALANTZIS and Marc CORTEZ, editors. Come, Let Us Eat Together: Sacraments and Christian Unity.  Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2018. pp.250. $26.00 pb.  ISBN 978-0-8308-5317-5. Reviewed by Maureen Beyer MOSER, Eastchester, NY 10709.

Come, Let Us Eat Together is a collection of essays that grew out of the 25th annual Wheaton Theology Conference held in 2017 at Wheaton College.  The essays represent viewpoints from a wide range of Christian theologians (Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Methodist, Lutheran, Anglican, Episcopalian, Baptist, and Pentecostal).  The theologians examine a wide range of topics that impact Christian understanding of the Eucharist, the church, and what would be involved in deeper Christian unity among church communities.

A few of the essays in the volume directly address the political questions involved in shared communion between denominations.  D. Zac Niringiye writes about the lack of sacramental unity between two churches in Uganda, the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church.  He argues that the churches’ failure to unite in the sacraments “is primarily due to their sense of ‘otherness’ rather than ‘oneness.’” Niringiye outlines the political history of the Christian churches in Uganda and concludes that their “use of the sacraments [as] instruments of scoring against each other” indicates that they are witnesses to their own “kingdoms” rather than to that of Christ.

Paul L. Gavrilyuk, an Eastern Orthodox theologian, notes that intra-Orthodox politics often play a role in discussions between the Orthodox and Roman Catholics, with anti-Catholic traditionalist groups threatening schism.  Beyond politics, Orthodox theology holds that “true faith” is necessary as a precondition of sharing the Eucharist. However, there is no consensus on the content of that “true faith,” even if the conversation is limited to Eastern Orthodoxy.  Gavrilyuk proposes a different approach to sacramental participation, one which focuses on the eschatological dimension of baptism and the Eucharist.  Drawing on Alexander Schmemann and John Zizioulas, Gavrilyuk says that the Eucharist should “not be limited to an already existing unity,” but that “Eucharistic communion anticipates the perfect union into which the faithful will be drawn in the eschaton.”  He uses the analogy of a driver who has only a partial understanding of the mechanics of his car, but who can still steer it to a destination. Similarly, he says, a Christian with only a partial or mistaken understanding of sacramental theology can participate in and be healed by the Eucharist.  Gavrilyuk’s emphasis on the eschatological reality of Christians’ communion in Christ is helpful as a grounding for a discussion going forward among denominations.

Veli-Matti Karkkainen, with a background both Lutheran and evangelical, expresses a deep concern about the scandalous divisions in Christianity.  The scandal is deepened, he says, because Christians, “united by faith in the one Lord and its trinitarian exposition in the church,” are not in full communion with one another.  Karkkainen’s vision is that all the Christian traditions “could come to a place of mutual recognition as churches of the one and same church of Christ, a communion of communions.”  Karkkainen discusses the different arguments for what defines the church, the arguments that bring denominations to a painful impasse. He then constructs an argument to bridge the gap, starting from the gospel and sacraments as definitive of church.  He suggests a “partial communion,” along with the sense that Christian denominations are “provisional,” not to exist in the eschaton. Partial communion would not try to resolve all differences, but would be a mutual recognition despite those differences.  Such an approach would also make room in excumenical discussions for smaller and newer churches, in addition to the larger, more traditional denominations.

The volume contains a number of thoughtful and thought-provoking essays about the Eucharist, in many cases looking at the Eucharist through particular theological lenses that can enhance sacramental theology.  The authors overwhelmingly choose eschatological, experiential, and artistic approaches to Christ in the Eucharist, rather than dogmatic ones. There is a sense throughout the book that the best road for ecumenism is away from dogmas and doctrinal propositions and towards experience: “a mosaic of integrated doctrine, worship, ethics, and spiritual life...more akin to an icon than a summa theologica”(Bradley Nassif).  Matthew J. Milliner looks to pieces of art, which have historically, “fostered a coy communion where the sacraments have faltered.”  His exploration of specific religious images shows that Christian unity is sometimes greater when words are set aside.    

This collection of essays presents a hopeful tendency in ecumenical thought.  Not one of the theologians who writes here pretends to a false Christian unity among churches. There is, however, a shared tendency to talk about the Eucharist and to see Christ’s Supper at work in the community in ways that move beyond definitions and go to the heart of actual Christian experience.  If churches focus on Christ, on God’s grace, and on the common life of Christians, surely we will move closer to the Supper, to Emmaus, and to the ascended Christ.