The Eucharist as the Bread of Life: Phenomenological and Existential Explorations

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 672

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Philosophy, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA 15282, USA
Interests: metaphysics; phenomenology; eucharistic theology
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

For two millennium, faithful Christians, as well as historians, theologians, and philosophers, have developed ways of understanding, appreciating, and living Christ’s action of the eucharistic transformation of bread and wine into his body and blood. Many divergent yet mutually complementary ways of thinking about the meaning of the Eucharist have emerged, from how to develop the eucharist reenactment in ritual, to how to interpret its action with models that stem from communities of faith, and how individuals’ reception of the eucharist informs their practical and existential understanding of life. Of particular relevance for the issue will be Orthodox/Catholic, Protestant/Reformed, or Evangelistic explorations of the phenomenological and metaphysical analyses of eucharistic actions of consecration and reception of the Eucharist. These contributions are meant to confirm that the practice of the Eucharist moves the faithful to deepen their practices of service and charity that confirms their faith-seeking understanding through the eucharistic gift given by the Father through the Son in unity of the Spirit.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome and research areas may include, but not limited to, the following:

Research into disciplines of theology, Scripture, liturgy, church history, philosophy, phenomenology, existentialism, and existential psychology. These areas may include Old Testament studies, New Testament studies, as well as research of several historical periods of scholarly study—early Christian theologians, medievalists, Reformation scholars, modern scholarship, and contemporary scholars, particularly those in the areas of phenomenology and existentialism.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200-300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send this to the Guest Editor (swindalj@duq.edu) or to the Religions Editorial Office (religions@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editor for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue and full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. James Swindal
Guest Editor

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

  • sacramental theology
  • eucharist
  • metaphysics
  • existentialism
  • phenomenology
  • transubstantiation
  • consubstantiation

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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16 pages, 283 KB  
Article
The Eucharistic Redemption of the Traumatized Victim
by David Grumett
Religions 2025, 16(7), 909; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16070909 - 15 Jul 2025
Viewed by 415
Abstract
In his passion, Jesus Christ was a victim of the intentional violent acts of others, which were highly likely to have been traumatic for him and those around him. In the Eucharist, traumatizing acts and events are represented through symbolism, narrative and action. [...] Read more.
In his passion, Jesus Christ was a victim of the intentional violent acts of others, which were highly likely to have been traumatic for him and those around him. In the Eucharist, traumatizing acts and events are represented through symbolism, narrative and action. Although the body is a common doctrinal and eucharistic trope, particularly in Paul, the flesh, which is prominent in Johannine imagery, is a more distinctively Christian symbol as well as being more generative for a eucharistic theology of the victim. In the eucharistic elements of separated bread and wine, Christ the priest is presented as also the paradigmatic victim. His shed blood, which was not reassimilated into his flesh at his resurrection, indicates an abiding earthly humanity in solidarity with other victims. For traumatized victims, where space in the Eucharist is provided for the acknowledgement of suffering and other negativity, participation in it may be a pathway of transformation. Traumatized victims might themselves continue this priestly transformation in the world, bearing, like Christ, the sins and woundedness of others and contributing to Christian witness, instruction and healing. Full article
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