'It Is Bread and It Is Christ's Body Too': Presence and Sacrifice in The
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
‘It is Bread and it is Christ’s Body Too’: Presence and Sacrifice in the Eucharistic Theology of Jeremy Taylor Paul Andrew Barlow PhD, MA, BSc, PGCE A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Dublin City University Supervisor: Dr Joseph Rivera School of Theology, Philosophy and Music July 2019 ii I hereby certify that this material, which I now submit for assessment on the programme of study leading to the award of Doctor of Philosophy is entirely my own work, and that I have exercised reasonable care to ensure that the work is original, and does not to the best of my knowledge breach any law of copyright, and has not been taken from the work of others save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work. Signed: ID No.:15212014 Date: 15th July 2019 iii iv And yet if men would but do reason, there were in all religion no article which might more easily excuse us from meddling with questions about it than this of the holy sacrament. For as the man in Phaedrus that being asked what he carried hidden under his cloak, answered, it was hidden under his cloak; meaning that he would not have hidden it but that he intended it should be secret; so we may say in this mystery to them that curiously ask what or how it is, mysterium est, ‘it is a sacrament and a mystery;’ by sensible instruments it consigns spiritual graces, by the creatures it brings us to God, by the body it ministers to the Spirit. Jeremy Taylor, The Real Presence and Spiritual of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. (Taylor, VI, p. 11) v vi Acknowledgements There are number of people to whom I must extend my thanks, for without their help, encouragement and support this thesis would not have been written: my wife, Caroline, whose support made it possible for me to undertake this study and bring it to completion; my supervisor, Dr. Joseph Rivera, whose encouragement and enthusiasm, along with his expertise and sense of humour, have been crucial in helping me see this project through; Dr. Ethna Regan, who welcomed me as an MA student and encouraged me to pursue doctoral studies; Dr. Susan Hood, who kindly arranged me to have access to the thesis by Fr. Thomas Caroll; the Trustees and community of the Church of St. John the Evangelist, Sandymount, who have graciously allowed their priest the space for academic study; and, finally, the librarians, who have helped me find the books which were sitting on shelves in front of my nose. vii viii Contents Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... vii Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... xiii Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Early Studies of Taylor’s Theology ............................................................................ 3 1.2 The 1970s: Thomas Carroll and Harry Boone Porter ................................................. 9 1.3 H.R. McAdoo’s The Eucharistic Theology of Jeremy Taylor Today ....................... 15 1.4 Three Authors and their Interrelated Studies ............................................................ 19 1.5 New Voices ............................................................................................................... 22 1.6 Drawing the Threads Together: Competing Descriptions of Taylor’s Theology...... 24 1.7 The Structure of the Thesis ....................................................................................... 25 Chapter 2: Eucharistic Presence Following the Reformation ........................................................... 27 2.1 Being and Identity, Ontology and Substance ............................................................ 27 2.2 Lutherans and the Eucharist ...................................................................................... 29 2.3 The Zürich Reformer Ulrich Zwingli ........................................................................ 32 2.4 Jean Calvin ................................................................................................................ 37 2.5 Bullinger – A Middle Way between Zwingli and Calvin ......................................... 41 2.6 Thomas Cranmer and the English Prayer Books ...................................................... 42 2.7 Richard Hooker and the Beginnings of Anglicanism ................................................ 48 2.8 Lancelot Andrewes, Bishop of Winchester ............................................................... 50 2.9 The Anglican Position ............................................................................................... 53 Chapter 3: Taylor’s Arguments against Transubstantiation and his Support for ‘Spiritual Presence’. ........................................................................................................................................................... 55 3.1 The State of the Question .......................................................................................... 56 3.2 Transubstantiation not Warrantable by Scripture ...................................................... 63 3.3 Of the Sixth Chapter of S. John’s Gospel ................................................................. 64 3.4 Of the Words of Institution ....................................................................................... 74 3.5 Hoc, ‘This’ ................................................................................................................ 77 3.6 Est Corpus Meum ...................................................................................................... 81 3.7 Considerations of the Manner and Circumstances of the Institution ........................ 83 3.8 Arguments from Other Scriptures, Proving Christ’s Real Presence in the Sacrament to be Only Spiritual and not Natural. .............................................................................. 87 3.9 The Story So Far ....................................................................................................... 90 Chapter 4: Transubstantiation and Taylor’s Thought ....................................................................... 93 4.1 Thomas Aquinas’ Exposition of Transubstantiation ................................................. 99 ix 4.2 Aquinas’ Hymns for Corpus Christi ....................................................................... 106 4.3 Transubstantiation in the Decrees of the Council of Trent ..................................... 107 4.4 The Doctrine of Transubstantiation is Against Sense. ............................................ 109 4.5 The Doctrine of Transubstantiation is Wholly Without and Against Reason ........ 114 4.6 Transubstantiation: Both a Shibboleth and a Straw Man ....................................... 121 4.7 Taylor’s Ressourcement: Looking to the Fathers ................................................... 123 4.8 Transubstantiation Defeated, Spiritual Presence Vindicated .................................. 126 Chapter 5: Taylor on the Eucharist: Sacrifice, Presence and Benefits. .......................................... 129 5.1 How Does the Eucharist Connect with the Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross? ......... 129 5.2 How is Christ Present in the Sacrament? ................................................................ 138 5.3 The Benefits of Receiving Holy Communion ........................................................ 146 5.4 Conditional Grace? Who May Receive the Holy Sacrament? ................................ 150 5.5 What are Taylor’s Main Themes? .......................................................................... 152 Chapter 6: Fathers and Philosophers: Sources and Influences on Jeremy Taylor .......................... 157 6.1 Reason and Mystery: The Platonic Strands in Taylor’s Thought. .......................... 157 6.2 Taylor and Patristic Sources: What Taylor Understood as the Proper Way of Using the Fathers .................................................................................................................... 161 6.3 John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople ......................................................... 163 6.4 Origen c. 185 – c. 254: Alexandrian Biblical Critic, Exegete, Theologian and Spiritual Writer. ........................................................................................................................... 167 6.5 Tertullian (c. 160 – c. 255) African Church Father ................................................ 170 6.6 St. Augustine or Austin (354 – 430) Bishop of Hippo ........................................... 173 6.7 S. Ambrose (c. 339 – 97) Bishop of Milan ............................................................. 178 6.8 Platonic Theology Redivivus.................................................................................. 179 Chapter 7: A Contemporary Vision of Real Presence Rooted in Taylor’s Theology ..................... 181 7.1 Thomas Cranmer .................................................................................................... 183 7.2 Transelementation: A Description of Eucharistic Change Drawn from Eastern Theology ....................................................................................................................... 185 7.3 Convaluation: a Description of Eucharistic Presence Based in Value Philosophy 191 7.4