Book Review: Essays on the Lord's Supper by Cullmann & Leenhardt
This book review examines Essays on the Lord's Supper by Oscar Cullmann and Franz Jehan Leenhardt, two European Reformed Protestant scholars who approach the theology of the Eucharist from complementary but distinct perspectives. Cullmann argues that early Christian communal worship centered on the resurrection rather than Christ's death, challenging traditions like Catholic transubstantiation. Leenhardt extends this argument by emphasizing Christ's living word and active ministry as the heart of the Lord's Supper. The review traces both essays' theological claims, their use of scriptural evidence, and their broader implications for understanding how Christian communities have interpreted the ritual of communion from the earliest church to the present day.
- Introduction: Two Scholars, One Controversy: Context for two Reformed Protestant Eucharist scholars
- Cullmann's Resurrection-Centered Theology: Cullmann prioritizes resurrection over sacrificial death
- The Resurrection as Lens: Paul and Early Christian Community: Paul and disciples understood Christ through resurrection
- Leenhardt on the Word and Christ's Living Ministry: Leenhardt emphasizes Christ's word over sacramental death
- Assessment and Broader Significance: Review evaluates coherence and historical importance
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What makes this paper effective
- The review moves cleanly from biographical context to theological argument, grounding abstract doctrine in the authors' institutional backgrounds and historical moment.
- It balances summary and evaluation, giving readers enough of each essay's content to follow the argument while offering brief critical commentary on coherence and impact.
- The paper draws meaningful connections between the two essays — noting where Cullmann and Leenhardt agree, differ, and complement each other — rather than treating them as isolated pieces.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates comparative theological analysis: it reads two essays alongside each other, identifying shared assumptions (resurrection over death, communal experience over ritual objects) while distinguishing each author's emphasis. This technique allows the reviewer to construct an integrated argument about the book's overall thesis without collapsing the two voices into one.
Structure breakdown
The review opens with historical and biographical framing, then dedicates the bulk of its analysis to Cullmann's essay — covering his core thesis, his scriptural evidence, and his treatment of the disciples and Paul. A shorter section addresses Leenhardt's complementary argument before a brief closing evaluation. The structure mirrors the book's own two-essay format, making the organizational logic transparent and easy to follow.
Introduction: Two Scholars, One Controversy
One of the most perplexing issues facing any Christian today is how to view the taking of the Lord's Supper. The ancient images of wine, bread, and physical and spiritual sacrifice have undergone extensive debate and reinterpretation throughout all of Christianity. These images, despite the controversy they have inspired, remain central to Christian ritual, communal life, and doctrine. Their controversial nature has spanned from the doctrine of transubstantiation established in the early Catholic Church to the more flexible and metaphorical definitions found in some of today's Christian communities.
In their book Essays on the Lord's Supper, Oscar Cullmann and Franz Jehan Leenhardt offer their own faith perspectives on the issue. Their duality of perspective is particularly instructive — not simply from a theological point of view, but because Oscar Cullmann was a professor of Christianity in France at the Sorbonne, while Franz Jehan Leenhardt was a professor of Theology at the University of Geneva. Their perspective is thus multinational, although both come from the same European Reformed traditions of worship.
The approach of these two authors is therefore complementary yet distinct. It is perhaps because there is no single "correct" way to interpret the Lord's Supper that these authors chose the format of two complementary essays. Rather than offering a singular, linear explanation, they examine the various ways of understanding the nature and centrality of this ritual — stressing both its significance and the importance of understanding the Lord's Supper as part of the full journey of Christ on earth, rather than simply a time to dwell upon the sacrificial nature of Christ's death upon the cross.
Works Cited
Cullmann, Oscar and F. J. Leenhardt. Essays on the Lord's Supper. London: Lutterworth Press, 1958.
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