[Sca-cooks] RE: Cannibalism , ritualistic or otherwise

[Gary van Lingen]

Greetings
 
Having had the chance to ponder theological differences as the root of the religious wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as well as having been brought up in a conservative Calvinist Protestant church (which eventually kicked me out for being gay) while living in the middle of an even more conservative Amish community, I've discovered that the interpretation of the Eucharist falls into three broad categories:  transubstantiation, consubstantiation, and symbolic reference/metaphor.  There are large bodies of literature covering these comparatively and singularly in depth.  If I can find the bibliographies for my senior undergrad papers, I'll post them.
Transubstantiation holds the for a literal interpretation - the bread and wine literally become the body and blood of Christ.  Also called 'the Real Presence' of Christ.  Prominent for Catholics (although it may not be exclusive or even dominant in that Church now) and most early Reform demoninations including Lutheranism.  (More web-based information can be found here - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05573a.htm)  This is the root of early attempts to defame Christianity as cannibalistic.
Consubstantiation holds for a more spiritual interpretation - the bread and wine hold the spirit of Christ only.  Many of the early Protestant denominations followed this one (including early reform attempts in the Church of England) including early Anabaptists.  Catholic dogma still holds this one to be a heresy (if we can take the online Catholic Encyclopedia was representative of the larger church - which we shouldn't - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04322a.htm)
Symbolic Reference/Metaphor - that the Eucharist is simply a ritual for memory purposes, imbued with large amounts of significance but yet without the connotations of the other two.  My parents' church followed this interpretation as did my Amish neighbours.
 
Gary van Lingen
Broer Weird fan Loujwert


Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu> wrote:
I won't wade into this subject because the literature is far too vast
to be summed up in a series of e-mails, even on this list.
There are several hundred books that are catalogued under
the subject headings of Lord's Supper or the Eucharist. The subject
includes books on Lord's Supper in Art, Lord's Supper Anglican Communion,
Lord's Supper Baptists, Lord's Supper Bread,
Lord's Supper (Canon Law)-- Oriental Catholic churches,

There are 294 books alone on Lord's Supper Catholic Church.
I suppose if one wants something to read you might start with
Consuming passions : the uses of cannibalism in late medieval and early 
modern Europe / by Merrall Llewelyn Price.
It's another expensive Routledge volume published in 2003.
(No I don't own this one.)
Bio for the author is at
http://english.okstate.edu/faculty/fac_pages/price.htm

The Table of CONTENTS for it lists these chapters:

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Chapter One: The Man-Eating Body
Chapter Two: Corpus Christi: The Eucharist and Late Medieval Cultural Identity
Chapter Three: Mass Hysteria: Heresy, Witchcraft, and Host Desecration
Chapter Four: The Maternal Monstrous: Cannibalism at the Siege of Jerusalem
Chapter Five: Teratographies: Writing the American Colonial Monster
Notes
Bibliography
Index 

Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication: 
Lord's Supper Catholic Church History Middle Ages, 600-1500, 
Cannibalism History To 1500, 
Lord's Supper Catholic Church History 16th century, 
Cannibalism History 16th century

It seems to cover both topics.

Hope this helps--

Johnnae



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