In this engrossing analysis, Cavanaugh contends that the Eucharist is the Church's response to the use of torture as a social discipline.

William T. Cavanaugh is Assistant Professor of Religion at the University of St Thomas, St Paul, Minnesota. He is the author of several articles, including A Fire Strong Enough to Consume the House: The Wars of Religion and the Rise of the State (Modern Theology, Vol. 11 No. 4, 1995).