"When we can neither grasp nor teach the truth, it is better to get hold of some part of the truth which we can understand and on which we can act. All I have tried to do is to examine the history of the sacrament, and then to set down a view of it which I know is incomplete and which I know means something vital to those to whom it has been through the years presented. " [Author -- Back cover]. "Whatever more we may wish to say about this central act of Christian worship, Dr. Barclay has given us its heart, which is Jesus Christ himself, known, worshipped, loved and obeyed. For this every reader of his book will thank him. " -- [Dr. Norman Pittenger -- Back cover].