The Eucharist in The Theology of John Calvin and the Opentable Debate : Towards A Postcolonial Eucharistic Theology

Abstract

The Church in general has always celebrated and revered the sacraments, one of them being, the Eucharist. From inception of the church, the members of the Christian community did what Jesus commanded, they took and ate and drank knowing in faith that this was indeed a sharing in the Body and Blood of Christ. This was done by all, but due to cultural and historical reasons, Eucharistic practices slowly began to change. Various rules and conditions were placed to qualify one to partake the Eucharist. The Eucharist is practiced in a way that some Christians are viewed as unworthy and excluded. This research seeks to bring out the notion that the Eucharist should be open and not closed. The Presbyterian Church has for years observed a Closed Table Eucharist. The exclusive practice creates apathy and anxiety among the Christians and seems to be driven by misinterpretation of some parts of the bible as well as the church words of institution. The research argues that the problem of exclusion can be resolved if postcolonial hermeneutics in the theology of John Calvin is used to reinterpret the biblical texts used by the church. This study has looked at the practice from a postcolonial hermeneutics approach, viewing the practice of the Presbyterian Church alongside the Calvinistic theology of the Eucharist and brought out the need to re-evaluate it.