"This book by Ansgar Wucherpfennig is a welcome and refreshing resource for anybody interested in learning more about not only the origins of the Eucharist but also what early Christian communities witnessed to in their own reception and practice of the Lord's Supper…. This small book will be challenging for some, affirming for others, yet enlightening for all. And the questions and topics it inspires for discussion will surely deepen every reader's appreciation for the history and lived practice of the Eucharist."

—from the foreword


At the last supper with his disciples, Jesus thought more about life than about death. For him, the focus was on the meal, the eating together—not atonement. Correspondingly, in the early days of Christianity people met for feasts in which they experienced the presence of the Risen One.These celebrations had different forms and yet were connected in unity. This book shows that the role of women, ministry, and ecumenism in the Eucharist must be rethought.


Ansgar Wucherpfennig, SJ, is a German Roman Catholic priest, theologian, and New Testament scholar. He is coeditor of the Frankfurt Theological Studies, member of the working group of Catholic New Testament Students (AKN), the working group for Theology and Spirituality (AGTS), the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) and the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas (SNTS).

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