Homo Eucharisticus: Dom Gregory Dix reshaped

Fuller, David John (2014) Homo Eucharisticus: Dom Gregory Dix reshaped. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

In his book The Shape of the Liturgy Dom Gregory Dix coined the phrase ‘Eucharistic man’. In a speech to clergy Archbishop Rowan Williams remarked that Homo Eucharisticus, his Latinised version of Dix’s words, was, ‘a new human species who makes sense of the world in the presence of the risen Jesus at his table’.

This thesis will seek to define what is specifically meant by the term Homo Eucharisticus and to indicate that, in a very real sense, Dix is Homo Eucharisticus, understood in his life, vocation, and his primary scholarship as it is centred on The Shape of the Liturgy. I shall demonstrate that Dix’s theology was Incarnational and that his Trinitarian understanding was based on the precept of a ‘Spiritual-Logos’. I shall examine these concepts in the context of Dix’s experience and personality. I shall assess the historical, intellectual and theological influences that helped to shape his life and vocation, and explore his Anglican identity as a priest, a scholar and a member of a religious community.

I shall explain Dix’s creative understanding of the Trinitarian nature of the Eucharist and determine that he was a noteworthy theologian of major significance. I shall include studies of his writings on the Ministry of the Church and his major liturgical works The Apostolic Tradition of Saint Hippolytus and The Shape of the Liturgy. I shall present a reassessment of his liturgical scholarship and review his continuing importance in the Church of the twenty-first century.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Keywords: Dom Gregory Dix, priest, monk, scholar, The Shape of the Liturgy, Hippolytus, debate about Thomas Cranmer.
• Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BL Religion; B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BR Christianity
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > Theology and Religious Studies
• Supervisor's Name: Jasper, Revd Prof David
• Date of Award: 2014
• Depositing User: Mr David John Fuller
• Unique ID: glathesis:2014-5144
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 21 May 2014 13:23
• Last Modified: 01 May 2017 10:31
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/5144