Rethinking Eucharistic Communion: A Theology of Harmony—A Study of the Lima Document

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The first thing to recommend to the author is his confessional positioning which does not seem very clear from the way of presentation. It would be appropriate if the introduction somehow mentioned his denominational affiliation.

The second thing has to do with the citation method the author uses. Personally, I prefer the reference notes to be marked with numbers rather than Roman letters.

The third thing concerns the Lima document and specifically the Lima Liturgy text that was used in several meetings of the WCC. Here the author should mention that this liturgical text is no longer in high use, perhaps only among some circles. Regarding the Orthodox position towards the Lima liturgy, I would recommend a study recently published also in Religions: The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity from a Romanian Orthodox Perspective: A Historical and Missiological Analysis of Common Prayer, written by Doru Marcu.

Finally, I appreciated the three dimensions of the document highlighted by Lima and how they can be interpreted today.

Author Response

First, I added a paragraph to supplement the information of the third suggestion that the study of the Lima document and the use of the Lima liturgy become less frequent. Thanks to the reviewer for the reference that helped me understand the position of the Orthodox Church. Meanwhile, I briefly introduced the promotion of the Lima Liturgy in the Chinese Christian churches. 

Second, I quote the article of Mikka Ruokanen to introduce the post-denominational churches in China and the significance of eucharistic ecclesiology for the Chinese churches. Those Protestant churches in China that join the China Christian Council call themselves post-denominational churches.

Meanwhile, I write within this post-denominational context of the church and also hope that the post-denominational church and ecumenical theology can mutually learn from, contribute to, and develop each other, as Prof. Miikka Ruokanen points out. 

Third, according to your suggestion, I marked the note with numbers.

Finally, because of the excellent review, I am appreciative of the reviewer.

Reviewer 2 Report

On line 141 the author uses the term "physical." The Catholic church has never described the Eucharist as "physical" in  any way.

On line 242 the author uses a quotation from Juan Blanco "the Eucharist makes...." In fact this is a traditional adage from  the Catholic Church.  Pope John Paul II adjusted it slightly in his encyclical ECCLESIA DE EUCHARISTIA.  Among others see, Paul McPartlan, THE EUCHARIST MAKES THE CHURCH.

In the citations the author cites the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Full Text and Teological Commentary, then p. and an article number.  I would suggest that the author quote directly from The Catechism of the Catholic Church and then only write the "n.' so as to avoid confusion with the book which was issued several years after the Catechism itself.

Author Response

First, the word "physical" has been changed to "bodily". Meanwhile, I added a note, as follows:

"Both the Catholic Church and Luther hold that the whole Christ is present under the appearance of bread and wine, but Calvin emphasizes that Christ is a spiritual presence in the Eucharist and the body of Christ is in the heaven. Hence, in my opinion, for the Catholic Church and Luther, eating Christ is not only spiritual, but also with the mouth. "

Second, I appreciate the references provided by the reviewer. And, I added the view of John Paul II in my article, as follows,

"And, according to the encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia of John Paul II, the Eucharist builds the Church."

Third, the citation formula of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is modified, as "Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part Two The Celebration of the Christian Mystery, Article 3 The Sacrament of the Eucharist."  It could make it easy to find the source of the reference for the readers.

Fourth, inspired by Paul II's encyclical, I added two sentences in the fourth-last paragraph of the article, as follows:

"Meanwhile, they are unified in the presentation of the Eucharist. As Paul II wrote in his encyclical, eschatological tensions spur us, “with the light of the Gospel to the building of a more human world, a world fully in harmony with God's plan.”"

Finally, I am very grateful to the reviewer for the excellent suggestions.