Taste and See: Eucharist as Revelation in Phenomenological Perspective

J.W. Olson argues that recent Christian theologies of divine revelation have not taken incarnality sufficiently into account as the mechanism for the knowledge of God in Christ. He suggests that Christian language and belief are shaped at the precognitive level of embodied involvement long before they ever take mental, conceptual form. Olson offers an original interpretation of the Eucharist as the material epicenter of Christian epistemology, where Christians come to know Christ most fundamentally through the movements of the body. He reiterates the Christian focus on the incarnation as not just the medium of Gods self-revelation but as the very content of Christian faith, with Christ known in act and God revealed where Christ lives in us.

Format: Hardback
Length: 258 pages
Publication date: 15 September 2023
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

J.W. Olson contends that contemporary Christian doctrines of divine revelation, while frequently emphasizing the indivisibility of the incarnation, have not adequately accounted for incarnality as the means of knowing God in Christ. In response to this issue within a secular environment where the credibility of religious truth is being increasingly scrutinized, Olson engages with the phenomenology of Martin Heidegger to propose that Christian language and belief are shaped at the precognitive level of embodied involvement long before they ever take mental or conceptual form. He then offers an innovative interpretation of the Eucharist as the material epicenter of Christian epistemology. In the sacrament, Christians are engulfed in a dynamic world that reveals itself as the very person of Jesus Christ, enabling Christians to know Christ most fundamentally through the movements of the body. By redefining the criteria for recognizing Christ's sacramental presence, Olson reiterates the Christian emphasis on the incarnation as not merely the medium of God's self-revelation but as the very essence of Christian faith. Christ is known in action, and thus God is revealed where Christ dwells within us.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781978715783