In "The Sacrament of the Eucharist," the latest volume in the "Lex Orandi" Series, John D. Laurance considers the Eucharist by way of two questions:

• How, by his first-century life, death, and resurrection, does Jesus Christ save all human beings throughout history from eternal death and make possible their permanent union with God?
• How is that salvation made available now through the community of the church in her liturgical celebrations?

Soteriology and ecclesiology therefore play a prominent role in Laurance's investigation.

After forging a theology of the...