Written in a stern and troubled tone, its purpose was to counter certain theological movements which he perceived were gaining ground in the Roman Catholic Church. Using terminology such as "pastoral concern" and "anxiety," the letter sends a direct and unequivocal message to the Church regarding the Eucharist. The Pope clearly feared that these novel teachings were threatening the Eucharistic piety which had marked the Catholic Church since the earliest centuries. To emphasize the centrality of the Eucharist in the Church, the Pope echoed the words of St. Ignatius of Antioch, referring to the Blessed Sacrament the "medicine of immortality." The Pope acknowledged that there were many "real" presences of Christ, but that in the Communion bread this presence is real and "substantial."The letter, however, received little attention as the world's interest was focused at the time was on the final works of the council fathers, particularly Lumen gentium, issued in November of the same year at the conclusion of the Council.

    He closes with a discussion of the ontological implications of God's self-manifestation at the Cross.This translation of Jüngel's Gottes Sein ist in Werden also incorporates material from the 1975 German edition, together with a substantial new introduction by Professor John Webster.

    I: THE SPIRITUALITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THE FATHERS"Fr. Bouyer's is a mind erudite, brilliant, and endowed with teaching capacity: above all the mind of one with a deep experience of the life of the spirit. . . . This is a book to be read more than once and to be kept as a book of reference prepared by a fine scholar as well as an anthology from a master of quotation and of critical presentation." —Expository Times"A real achievement and a welcome addition to a better type of writingon Christian spirituality in English." — The Heythrop Journal"Should be bought for every Catholic library that has a shelf on Christianspirituality. Compared to it most of its companion studies will seem of tinsel." —Catholie HeraldVOL. II: THE SPIRITUALITY OF THE MIDDLE AGESThe only comprehensive guide available on the development of Christian spirituality in this most important period. The authors tackle their fascinating subject in two stages: from the sixth century to the beginning of the thirteenth (a continuation of the age of the Fathers), and from the twelfth to the dawn of the sixteenth century.VOL. Ill: ORTHODOX SPIRITUALITY ANDPROTESTANT AND ANGLICAN SPIRITUALITYThis last volume of A HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY surveys Orthodox spirituality, the rebirth of Greek spirituality, and the development of Protestant and Anglican spirituality. A massive achievement, this volume brings into sharp focus a difficult and complex period of Church history.