At the Table with the Spirit: Toward a Pneumatological Theology of the Eucharist in Conversation with Wolfhart Pannenberg

Abstract

This article develops a constructive pneumatological theology of the Eucharist in conversation with Wolfhart Pannenberg. It takes Pannenberg’s reflections on the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Lord’s Supper as a point of departure for exploring the pneumatological interrelation of eucharistic presence, anamnesis, ecclesial communion, transformation, and eschatological anticipation. By bringing Pannenberg’s theological insights into conversation with biblical texts and broader Christian traditions, the article argues that Christ’s eucharistic presence can be understood as mediated through the Spirit, who unites believers with the risen Christ and constitutes the church as his body. Eucharistic participation thereby emerges not merely as sacramental remembrance, but as a transformative and hermeneutical event in which the Spirit shapes the church’s perception of Christ and draws the community into God’s eschatological future. Pannenberg’s eschatological pneumatology finally provides resources for extending this account toward the renewal of creation. The Eucharist thus appears as a pneumatological participation in God’s coming renewal of humanity, community, and creation.