Dr. David Stubbs is Professor of Ethics & Theology at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan. He is Co-Director of the Hope-Western Prison Education Program. His newest book, Table and Temple: The Christian Eucharist and its Jewish Roots, is available for pre-order on Amazon.
In most modern discussions of the Eucharist, the Jewish temple and its services of worship do not play a large role. They are often mentioned in passing, but they do little work in grounding, organizing, or explicating what is happening in the Eucharistic celebration.
In Table and Temple, David Stubbs throws light on the reasons for this neglect and shows the important role the temple and its worship played in the imagination of Jesus and his disciples about this central Christian practice. He then explores the five central meanings of the temple and its main services of worship, demonstrating their relationship to the five central meanings of the Christian Eucharist.
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Available for Pre-Order on Amazon
“For those who think biblically and theologically about the Lord’s Supper, ‘Remember the future’ often functions as a paradoxical rallying cry. In this deeply Reformed and generously ecumenical work, Stubbs invites us to enter into a much deeper ‘remembrance’ and a much richer imagination of the future by exploring the roots of this sacrament in the Jewish temple. This book helps us to see that long-lost memories of the interplay between the temple in Jerusalem, the incarnation of Jesus, and early church typological exegesis can stimulate fresh theological imagination about creation, redemption, eschatology, ethics, mission, and Triune presence on the earth. New lines of inquiry among various Christian traditions and between Christians and Jews open up as a result of what Stubbs has contributed in this study.”
— Gordon Mikoski, Princeton Theological Seminary
“This book shows the ongoing liveliness of the ‘oracles of God’—from both testaments—for a proper understanding and appreciation of the Lord’s Supper. David Stubbs is among the best theologians active today in his careful attention to Scripture; that ability is again on display here, though Scripture is just one of a treasure trove of theological, ecumenical, liturgical, even architectural, resources he deploys. Stubbs has thought long and hard about his subject matter and, as a result, has given us a beautiful and inspiring book that will change how we think about—and practice—the Eucharist. We are in his debt.”
— Brent A. Strawn, Duke University
“With the care of a scholar and the clarity of a master teacher, David Stubbs invites us into the ancient Jewish context that shaped the meal at the center of Christian worship. Employing figural reading of Scripture, he links five dimensions of eucharistic theology to their ancient roots in Jewish temple practices. At every step, he attends to the practical implications of his scholarly historical and theological discoveries. Above all, Stubbs seeks connections everywhere: connection of Christians to our common Israelite and Jewish history, Christians to one another, people to creation, and creation to the living triune God. All these things, Stubbs argues, are—or ought to be—nourished at the common table.”
— Martha L. Moore-Keish, Columbia Theological Seminary
“David Stubbs invites us to discover—or, more precisely, recover—an understanding of the Eucharist that is grounded in figural interpretation of Israel’s scripture and worship traditions. This provocative study, written with great clarity and hermeneutical insight, will encourage all Christians to think more deeply about the roots of our practices of coming together at the Lord’s table. Stubbs’s book is a fresh, incisive work of constructive theology; it must be pondered by everyone engaged in the leadership of Christian worship.”
— Richard B. Hays author of Reading Backwards: Figural Christology and the Fourfold Gospel Witness