Mark Vaillancourt - The Eucharistic Realism of St. Augustine: Did Paschasius Radbertus Get Him Right? An Examination of Recent Scholarship on the Sermons of St. Augustine

Some find Augustine’s Eucharistic doctrine difficult to assess.  We can phrase the question this way: who got him right Paschasius Radbertus with his realist interpretation in ninth century or the symbolism of Berengarius of Tours in the eleventh.  Many scholars, including some well known Roman Catholics, have thought that Augustine’s Eucharistic theology was closer to the symbolism of Berengarius than to the realism of Paschasius.  Most of Augustine’s texts that touch on the Eucharist are very well known and have been debated for centuries.  Some of the texts, most notably his sermons which are inclined to be realistic, have had their authenticity questioned.  This talk examines recent scholarship on these issues.