Overview

In a context of scandal and precipitous decline, the Christian church cannot afford to do what it has always done, argues Eugene R. Schlesinger. It must return to its roots and clarify to itself and the general public what its nature and purpose are. Sacrificing the Church provides this clarity by returning to the church’s foundation: Jesus Christ and his crucifixion. It presents a vision of the church in which every aspect of the church’s life flows from and expresses the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This sacrifice is the basis of every ecclesial experience. It is the form and content of the church’s life, a life which shares in the eternal Trinitarian life of God. By Christ’s sacrifice we are introduced into the divine life, and therefore we must participate in it. This plays out in three key areas of the church’s life: its worship of God (Mass), its mission to the world (mission), and its efforts toward the unity of all people, beginning with divided Christians (ecumenism).

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9781978700000

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Reviews

In this richly orchestrated theology of sacrifice, Eugene Schlesinger demonstrates how this often neglected theme is what truly binds together the Paschal Mystery, the Trinity, and the Church's deepest being, as expressed in Liturgy, mission, and ecumenical endeavour. In so doing, he shows himself a worthy successor of the great Anglo-Catholic theologians of the past. -- Aidan Nichols, OP, Blackfriars, Cambridge The Church is liturgical self-giving, a theurgic performance. If we can see this, then worship, mission and ecumenism are one enterprise. This is the arrestingly direct thesis of this excellent book, diversely articulated and expanded. -- Catherine Pickstock, University of Cambridge In measured and lucid prose, Schlesinger burrows into the depths of reality, that is, into God's own life, and finds there a divine sacrifice for the sake of the world God has made. He finds there too the Church. It is this profound conjunction of divine sacrifice and Christian life that Schlesinger explores with faithful care and a wondering devotion. Books on liturgy, mission, and ecumenism are rarely beautiful; this one sings a hushed hymn of understanding and gracefully sober invitation, that presents a unified vision of the Church's sacrificial life that is both challenging and extraordinarily satisfying. Sacrificing the Church is a needed and moving call to rethink the nature and form of our common life. -- Ephraim Radner, Wycliffe College, University of Toronto

In this richly orchestrated theology of sacrifice, Eugene Schlesinger demonstrates how this often neglected theme is what truly binds together the Paschal Mystery, the Trinity, and the Church's deepest being, as expressed in Liturgy, mission, and ecumenical endeavour. In so doing, he shows himself a worthy successor of the great Anglo-Catholic theologians of the past. -- Aidan Nichols, OP, Blackfriars, Cambridge The Church is liturgical self-giving, a theurgic performance. If we can see this, then worship, mission and ecumenism are one enterprise. This is the arrestingly direct thesis of this excellent book, diversely articulated and expanded. -- Catherine Pickstock, University of Cambridge

Author Information

Eugene R. Schlesinger is lecturer in the department of religious studies at Santa Clara University.

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