Dialogue amidst difference in Anglican eucharistic theology: a Habermasian breakthrough

The work and insights of the contemporary critical theorist, Jurgen Habermas, have been applied to fields as diverse as religious education (Groome, 1980), ethics (Lovat, 2004) and theology (Adams, 2006; Douglas, 2006). Apart from its many other utilities, Habermas’s work assists in responding to issues of difference between members of the purportedly same tradition and provides a modus operandi for modern people to participate in dialogue where there are rival views and dissonant voices (Adams, 2006: 1). In this paper, Habermas’s insights are applied to theological debate specifically around Anglican eucharistic theology in order to facilitate a dialogue approach within the Anglican tradition, and potentially more broadly within and among the theologies of different religious traditions.