Book-Notes-720-x-340-dark-gold-outline-and-medium-blue-pen-_-Notes-light-blue-702x336 Emmaus Academic is the publishing arm of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, and it is quickly becoming my favorite Catholic publisher. This reason is twofold. The first reason is that they publish my favorite annual journal, Letter & Spirit, and the second reason is that they are publishing books that are deeper than entry-level Catholicism. As I have said for years, we need more of these “tougher” books that get us to go beyond the basics. The Eucharist Today, I am looking at one of their thicker books entitled The Eucharist: Mystery of Presence, Sacrifice, and Communion by Lawrence Feingold, author of the series The Mystery of Israel and the Church. The book is divided into sixteen chapters:
  1. Why Did Christ Institute the Eucharist?
  2. The Eucharist Prefigured in the Old Testament
  3. The Eucharist in the New Testament
  4. The Eucharist According to the Fathers of the Church
  5. Essential Elements of the Eucharist
  6. The Berengarian Controversy and Development of Eucharistic Theology
  7. The Doctrine of Transubstantiation According to St. Thomas
  8. Transubstantiation in Dispute: The Reformation and its Legacy
  9. The Sacrifice of the Mass
  10. Objections to the Sacrificial Nature of the Mass
  11. The Participation of the Faithful in Offering the Sacrifice of the Mass
  12. Fruits of the Sacrifice of the Mass
  13. Effects of Holy Communion
  14. Holy Communion Presupposes Ecclesial Communion, Invisible and Visible
  15. Reception of Holy Communion
  16. Eucharistic Adoration
The way the chapters and book are structured is like a textbook for a college level course. In it, you will see a coherent progression of four parts, going from foundations of the Eucharist to the Presence, Sacrifice, and Communion referenced in the title. The book is approximately 700 pages, but 70 of those pages are bibliography and each page of text is about 75% text and 25% footnotes. Yes, this is a textbook, but it doesn’t read like one. Dr. Feingold has a writing style that conveys authoritative knowledge without getting so deep that you feel like you are going to drown. My favorite parts of this book were Chapters 2, 3, and 4 as I love Scriptural analysis and anything having to do with the Church Fathers. In the Old Testament we see the Eucharist in the Manna from Heaven, the Offering of Melchizedek, and the Unleavened Bread at Passover, as well as many others. In the New Testament, there is Bread of Life Discourse in John 6, as well as the four different Gospel accounts of the Institution of the Eucharist. The Church Fathers referenced are Sts. Ambrose, Irenaeus, Cyril of Jerusalem, Augustine, and John Chrysostom to name a few. This book is THE book on the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. Not only is it a wealth of knowledge, but the way that each chapter ends with study questions and suggestions for more reading, you could spend your whole life using this book and its many references and never exhaust the treasure stored within. I cannot recommend this book enough!

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About the Author

Stuart Dunn

Stuart Dunn

Stuart Dunn was born and raised in Mobile, AL and received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master of Business Administration from the University of South Alabama. Stuart reviews all things Catholic including adult books, children’s books, Bible Study series, Catholic Courses, CDs, and DVDs in addition to board games at his blog Stuart’s Study at StuartsStudy.blogspot.com.