A sacrament is when we do something, and God is doing something in return. What we do in the Holy Eucharist is break bread and share wine together. What God is doing is make Himself uniquely present in the bread and wine, and it is a mystery to us as to how this takes place.
The Holy Eucharist is indeed a great mystery, and us Anglicans are pretty good at letting God's mysteries remain mysteries. The Church over the centuries, however, has tried to doctrinally and dogmatically explain this mystery. The medieval understanding was known as Transubstantiation, which is that the very substance of bread and wine becomes carnally and actually the flesh and blood of Jesus. Unfortunately, this led to superstitions and misuse of the Eucharistic elements (the Bread in particular), and since Transubstantiation could not be derived or proved directly from Scripture, the 16th Century reformers (Cranmer, Zwingli, Calvin, Luther) felt this needed to be corrected. Each came up with a different way of speaking about this mystery: Luther- "Consubstantiation," which is Christ in, around and through the Elements; Cranmer- Christ simply being "spiritually present" in the Elements; Calvin and Knox- the doctrine of "Real Presence"; Zwingli- no mystery at all, it's just a memorial.
Here is what the Anglican Reformers say about this in the Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion (Article 28): "... the Bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ; and likewise, the Cup of Blessing is a partaking of the Blood of Christ. Transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of Bread and Wine) in the Supper of the Lord, cannot be proved by holy Writ; but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a Sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions. The Body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten, in the Supper, only in a heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the Body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper is through Faith.
So, which is it- Transubstantiation? Consubstantiation? Spiritual Presence? Real Presence? Since Scripture isn't telling, perhaps we should be content to leave a mystery a mystery.
So, which is it- Transubstantiation? Consubstantiation? Spiritual Presence? Real Presence? No Special Presence in the elements what-so-ever because this is a Memorial? Since Scripture isn't telling, perhaps we should be content to leave it largely in the realm of mystery. Amen. Here is what I do know, If you ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart. In my heart, really present, all the time, now and forever.
ReplyDeleteyes, just the main thing... very good. Jesus gave us a touchstone in the bread and wine as His body and blood in which He uniquely spiritually present, like a spiritual lens focusing God's grace into the palm of my hand and upon my lips. A mystery for sure, but all the Protestant reformers are hitting around the truth, including Zwingli. All I know is that when I reach across the altar rail, Jesus is reaching back and tactilely touching me. He is the host of the feast, but also the feat itself (feasting on Jesus is pretty close to keeping teh main thing the main thing. A great gift He has given us until He returns!
ReplyDeleteThanks, my friend, for pondering this great mystery with me.
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