This study presents Hans Urs von Balthasar's theology of the Eucharist and shows its significance for contemporary sacramental theology. Anyone who seeks to offer a systematic account of Hans Urs von Balthasar's theology of the Eucharist and the liturgy is confronted with at least two obstacles. First, his reflections on the Eucharist are scattered throughout an immense and complex corpus of writings. Second, the most distinctive feature of his theology of the Eucharist is the inseparability of his sacramental theology from his speculative account of the central mysteries of the Christian faith. In The Eucharistic Form of God, the first book-length study to explore Balthasar's eucharistic theology in English, Jonathan Martin Ciraulo brings together the fields of liturgical studies, sacramental theology, and systematic theology to examine both how the Eucharist functions in Balthasar's theology in general and how it is in fact generative of his most unique and consequential theological positions. He demonstrates that Balthasar is a eucharistic theologian of the highest caliber, and that his contributions to sacramental theology, although little acknowledged today, have enormous potential to reshape many discussions in the field. The chapters cover a range of themes not often included in sacramental theology, including the doctrine of the Trinity, the Incarnation, and soteriology. In addition to treating Balthasar's own sources-Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, Pascal, Catherine of Siena, and Bernanos-Ciraulo brings Balthasar into conversation with contemporary Catholic sacramental theology, including the work of Louis-Marie Chauvet and Jean-Yves Lacoste. The overall result is a demanding but satisfying presentation of Balthasar's contribution to sacramental theology. The audience for this volume is students and scholars who are interested in Balthasar's thought as well as theologians who are working in the area of sacramental and liturgical theology.

Taking Hugh of St. Victor's magisterial 'On the Sacraments of the Christian Faith' as his source text, Dillard applies the methods of analytic philosophy to develop a systematic theology in the spirit of Christian Platonism. The themes examined include the existence of God, creation ex nihilo, modality and causality, divine immutability and eternity, divine exemplarity, sin, dualism, personhood, evil, ecclesiology, and resurrection, and beatitude.

Balthasar Hubmaier remains one of the most significant figures in the radical reformation of the sixteenth century. A Pledge of Love is close and thorough examination of Hubmaiers view of the sacraments within the context of worship. This ground-breaking work examines the distinctive theology of this important Anabaptist and his possible influence upon others.

These important and incisive essays, spanning more than two decades of research and engagement, probe facets and episodes of infant baptisms' fortunes over twenty centuries. The story of paedo baptism is traced from its shadowy beginnings as a variant of faith-baptism, through inflated Reformation defenses as it monopolized baptismal thought and practice, to biblical and ecumenical reevaluations and hopeful contemporary rapprochements across divisive waters.

For most Christians, marriage is considered a sacrament, created and uniquely blessed by God. Yet, the theology of marriage rarely matches the actual experience. Marriage is too often a violent, loveless institution-and it is increasingly delayed, avoided, or terminated.

Marriage After Modernity offers new hope for Christian marriage at a time of unprecedented social and theological change. It provides an unreserved commendation of Christian marriage, reaffirming its status as a sacrament and institution of mutual self-giving. At the same time, it breaks new ground. It draws on earlier traditions of betrothal and informal marriage to accept some forms of pre-marital cohabitation and provides a new defense of the link between marriage and procreation by sketching a theology of liberation for children. Chapters shed new light on divorce and legitimate theological grounds for 'the parting of the ways, ' contraception, and the question of whether marriage is a heterosexual institution. Particular attention is paid throughout the book to overcoming the androcentric bias of much Christian thought and the distorting effect it has had on marriage.

Marriage After Modernity argues for a vision of marriage which does not abandon its history, and which draws upon its premodern roots to grapple with our current social, cultural, and intellectual upheavals.

The third volume in the exciting new Interpretation series offers a comprehensive look at the theology of sacraments. For many church people, worship is about preaching and music. Baptism and the Lord's Supper are occasional additions to Sunday services. Recognizing that church-goers are uncertain about the need for sacraments, Ronald Byars describes the possibility that the very "doing" of worship--the actions observed, the postures assumed, the sound and sight of water, the smell and taste of bread and wine--will subtly alter the temper of the heart and the mind. If we encounter the sacraments honestly, they lead us to the very heart of the gospel.