Towards a eucharistic theology and practice for the South African context : a re-appraisal of Reformed eucharistic theology from the perspective of the Eucharist in Catholic liberation theology

The theology and practice of the eucharist emerged as one of the major points of contention in the 16th Century Reformation. While the Reformers themselves differed in their respective eucharistic theologies, they were nevertheless unanimous in rejecting what they perceived as heresy and abuse in the theology and practice within the Roman Catholic Church. Part One of this dissertation explores the Reformed teaching on the eucharist by surveying the eucharistic theologies of the Reformers, Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin, and more recent theologians, Peter Forsyth and Karl Barth. The challenge of the Reformation, however timeous and valid, did not go far enough. While the Reformers went to great lengths to expose theological heresy and to condemn abuses, they gave scant attention to the contextual implications of their theology. For instance, the Reformation focussed on such theological issues as the "essence" or "substance" of Christ's presence in the eucharist, without giving attention to its missiological implications within the contextual struggles for human liberation from socio-political and economic structures of domination, oppression and exploitation. Roman Catholic theology of liberation, emerging from Latin America in the latter part of the 20th Century, presents a compelling challenge to both traditional Catholic teaching and Reformed theology and practice. While not departing from the basic tenets of Catholic teaching, liberation theology adopts a radically critical stance, whereby any orthodox theology and practice is judged in terms of its relevance to the existential situations of human oppression, poverty and suffering. Part Two of this dissertation reflects on the response of liberation theologians to a new crisis for the sacraments within the Roman Catholic Church. This is done by surveying the eucharistic theologies of Juan Luis Segundo, Rafael Avila (from Latin America) and Tissa Balasuriya (from Asia). The Churches of the Reformed tradition have not as yet adequately responded to the challenges within a country characterised by racism, state oppression, social injustices and economic exploitation. A Reformed eucharistic theology and practice should be formulated for the South African context, which takes seriously the criticisms of Catholic liberation theology, while simultaneously exploring the contextual implications of its own Reformed tradition. It is not necessary for a Reformed understanding of the eucharist to break with tradition, anymore than Catholic liberation theology does. What is required is that the tradition be retrieved in relation to the struggle for liberation within our historical context. Part Three sets out the proposal for a eucharistic theology and practice for the South African context, in terms of two major themes, namely those of protest and celebration. These themes are fundamental to both the biblical framework and the contextual application of the eucharist, are consonant with the intention of Reformed eucharistic theology. Central to the proposal will be the formulation of a theology and practice of the community-of-faith. It will become evident as to what is meant by community-of-faith as we explore the above themes.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Religious Studies

Year dc:date.issued

1989

Author dc:creator

• Van der Water, Desmond

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• De Gruchy, John W

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15883

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/15883