Recommended Reading on the Lord's Supper
The Lord's Supper is at the heart of the life of the church. Right from the very beginning we're told that the Body of Christ 'continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers' (Acts 2:42). So here are some helpful books to encourage you to learn more about something so important.
· Richard D. Phillips, What is the Lord’s Supper (PRP, 2005)
· Richard D. Phillips, What is the Lord’s Supper (PRP, 2005)
A
short booklet (30 pages) looking at the biblical teaching and theology of the
sacrament.
·
David Allen, Neglected Feast: Rescuing the
Breaking of Bread (Expression/New Life Publishing, 2007)
A short, easy to read book
written by a lecturer from a British Pentecostal Bible college. I've blogged about this book before. It even made my list of top books I read in 2009 as my top Pentecostal book. Back then I'd borrowed it from the library, but didn't know where to get my hands on a copy to buy. Since then I've found out the answer - Mattersey Hall.
·
Robert Letham, The Lord’s Supper: Eternal Word in Broken Bread (PRP, 2001)
Another
short book looking at the Bible, church history, theology and practice. A very good book without being overly long or complicated.
·
Robert Bruce, The Mystery of the Lord’s Supper (Christian Focus, 2005)
Originally a series of
sermons preached in 1589 by one of the leaders of the Reformation in Scotland.
They’ve been translated into modern English. An excellent account of the doctrine.
·
Keith A. Mathison, Given for You:
Reclaiming Calvin’s Doctrine of the Lord’s Supper (PRP, 2002)
A longer and more detailed
theological book. If you want to study this doctrine in depth this is the place
to go.
·
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion
Not as scary as it sounds!
·
Jonathan Black, 'The Church as Eucharistic
Fellowship: A British Apostolic Contribution toward a Pentecostal Ecclesiology', Journal
of the European Pentecostal Theological Association, Vol. xxix, No. 2, pp.
78-89
Not really on the same level as any of the rest, but this article is the only account of which I know of the doctrine of the Lord's Supper within the Apostolic Church. I look at the thought of D.P. Williams and other early Apostolic writers on the sacrament. The article was based on part of a paper I presented at the Theological Perspectives Colloquium at Continental Theological Seminary in 2009 (which you can read online). This isn't where you're going to find the basics of the doctrine, but it should be interesting if you want to know about the place of the Breaking of Bread in the life and thought of the Apostolic Church.