Archives for Roman Catholicism

In persona Christi: the rise of the phallogocentric Eucharist

In the middle of the third century a conflict emerged in the church over the use of water instead of wine as an element in the Eucharistic feast.  Attacking the practice in a letter to a fellow bishop, Cyprian of Carthage argued: "For if Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, is Himself the chief priest of God the Father, and has first offered Himself a sacrifice to the Father, and has commanded this to be done in commemoration of Himself, certainly that priest truly discharges the office of Christ, who imitates that which Christ did; and he then offers a
Read More

Whence the bishop?

In a previous post we discussed Derrida's claim that an adequate translation can only be made when we understand not only the grammar and vocabulary of a language, but also the rhetorical uses of the language, as well as the history and the cultural context of work.  With this in mind, we return to Marion, whose explication of the Eucharistic site of theology and the role of the (Roman Catholic) bishop as true theologian and mediator of Christ is also situated within a given context.
Read More