The Eucharist is the central act of Christian worship. In this book Martin Stringer brings together some of the scholarship associated with the sociological analysis of biblical texts into conversation with liturgists and historians of the first century. He begins his analysis of the Eucharist and other early Christian meals from a detailed discussion of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, the most studied text in the sociological tradition of biblical scholarship. He proposes that the meal portrayed in chapter 11 of that letter is more likely to have been an annual event rather than a...

The receiving and handing on of Christian tradition always entails adaptation and re-configuration for the reception to be useful. These essays exemplify many facets of this 'handing on', from the Lord's Prayer, through sermons on and expositions of the Transfiguration, to the contributions of divines from Peter Chrysologus to Lancelot Andrewes and Michael Ramsey. In Kenneth Stevenson's words, they show 'worship and theology living at ease' - words that also encapsulate his own life and work in Church and academy.' Bryan D. Spinks, Goddard Professor of Liturgical Studies and Pastoral Theology...