According to Protestants who believe in the Real Presence, what makes for a valid Eucharist?

[lilypadrees]

Then speak of those communions.

Nope. You’ve all made it very clear that the Catholic viewpoint is not welcome in this thread. Since I am Catholic, that means my observations of the various Protestant communions are not welcome either.

 

[GKMotley]

The thread is asking about protestants viewpoints. Perhaps that has been previously mentioned. Not, that is, anyone’s opinion of protestants communions. Which might appear
properly in a thread on that topic.

 

[HopkinsReb]

Though I doubt the thread “what do Catholics think about Protestant communion” would provide very interesting reading.

 

[HopkinsReb]

I am speaking of the denominations that many here get miffed at when I call them Protestant because that’s what they (the members of those denominations where I live) personally told me they are. Denominations like the various Baptist churches, Methodists, Church Of Christ, Presbyterians, Assembly/Assemblies Of God, Pentecostals, etc.

Nobody gets “miffed” at you for referring to those groups as Protestants or referring to a specific person as Protestant (ok, GKMotley may be the exception, but, as he often says, nobody need agree with his definitions). Rather, they have been correcting you for generalizing the views of these certain groups of Protestants to all Protestants.

Both @thebible (a Baptist) and I are officially Protestants. Our views on the Eucharist, sacraments in general, soteriology, eschatology, ecclesial authority, and certainly plenty else are quite different.

Nobody is saying it’s bad thing to critique Protestants’ positions; the Protestants who spend time on this forum obviously can take the heat. Just don’t make the mistake of assuming that our resident Lutherans believe the same things as Assemblies of God. They don’t.

 

[JonNC]

JonNC:

Then speak of those communions.

Nope. You’ve all made it very clear that the Catholic viewpoint is not welcome in this thread. Since I am Catholic, that means my observations of the various Protestant communions are not welcome either.

Really! How did I make the Catholic viewpoint unwelcome?

 

[GKMotley]

Nobody gets “miffed” at you for referring to those groups as Protestants or referring to a specific person as Protestant (ok, GKMotley may be the exception, but, as he often says, nobody need agree with his definitions).

True. For I am the most reasonable and irenic of all the motleys who inhabit Anglicanism.

Of course, nobody need agree with my assessment.

 

[JMMJ]

So how do we know? How do we discern?

The Protestants I know don’t have a way of needing to know everything in absolute terms, in the way that most of the Catholics I know do. They are much more comfortable in accepting that some things are just not knowable. I think that may be your answer.

 

[lilypadrees]

Yep. And someone on the now defunct Amazon discussion forums said he does that every week.

 

[lilypadrees]

If you reread the posts in this thread, JonNC, you’ll see what I’m referring to.

 

[JonNC]

RealisticCatholic:

So how do we know? How do we discern?

The Protestants I know don’t have a way of needing to know everything in absolute terms, in the way that most of the Catholics I know do. They are much more comfortable in accepting that some things are just not knowable. I think that maybe your answer.

And there are those who discern/ know from Christ’s testimony: “This is my body…”. “This is my blood”…”.
And as St John of Damascus said, “And now you ask how the bread becomes the body of Christ, and the wine and the water become the blood of Christ. I shall tell you. The Holy Spirit comes upon them, and achieves things which surpass every word and thought…
Let it be enough for you to understand that this takes place by the Holy Spirit. “

 

[JonNC]

If you reread the posts in this thread, JonNC, you’ll see what I’m referring to.

I think what they are saying is the OP wants to hear the views for various communions what their teachings are, not what Catholics say they are.
That doesn’t mean you can’t comment or ask questions.

 

[ltwin]

This is a Catholic forum, so obviously Catholics are going to offer their opinions. No one is saying they can’t.

@lilypadrees, you made an overly broad statement about what “Protestants” do not believe about the Eucharist and based it on your personal experience with Protestants and their churches.

You were then politely corrected by several posters that this isn’t true of all Protestants. Rather than just saying “Yeah, you’re right; I was overly broad in my statement” or “I never knew that; thanks for the information,” you instead doubled down on your prior statement and seemed to dismiss Anglicans and Lutherans in favor of other Protestants that better fit your narrative.

And when it comes to some of the denominations you mentioned (like Methodists and Presbyterians and even Pentecostals in a way), they do not teach that the Eucharist is purely symbolic in any case. Speaking for Pentecostals, I have read religious literature and heard sermons where it is taught that the Lord’s Supper can heal the sick and even heard it preached that those who are spiritually struggling should be encouraged to partake of the Lord’s Supper because it’s like a strengthening ordinance.

Just some examples:

United Methodists: “Our tradition asserts the real, personal, living presence of Jesus Christ.” From “Do United Methodists believe the communion elements actually become the body and blood of Christ?”

Presbyterians: “Is Jesus spiritually present in the elements of the Eucharist, authentically present in the non-atom-based substance with which he is con-substantial with God — that is, is he genuinely there to be received by us, and not just in our memories? Yes.” From " The Sacrament of Christ’s Sustaining Presence"

Pentecostal: “We seek a deeper spiritual reality as a present moment [of] experience. We do not believe superstitiously that the bread and wine actually become the physical body and blood of Christ, nor do we believe that there is any virtue in the physical elements themselves apart from their power as figures to point us to the deeper reality which they typify. We do believe, however, that an act of faith in partaking of the elements results in the real operation of the Spirit in us to strengthen us in the inner man and to heal us in our physical bodies.” From The Lord’s Supper: Five Views edited by Gordon T. Smith

 

[GladTidings]

We do believe, however, that an act of faith in partaking of the elements results in the real operation of the Spirit in us to strengthen us in the inner man and to heal us in our physical bodies. ” From The Lord’s Supper: Five Views edited by Gordon T. Smith

This is interesting since I used to wonder what my parents believed in regards to communion. They were A. of G.

Before that, they created a church which was located where the insurance company used to be, and I remember watching as a loaf of french bread was being broken up and grape juice was poured into small plastic cups.

Mom used to tell me I had to think about any sins I’ve committed since the last communion we had, and ask God for forgiveness before consuming.

So, there are parallels, and sometimes we have to wonder how God sees it when people are trying their best and doing what they think is right.

 

[ltwin]

This is interesting since I used to wonder what my parents believed in regards to communion. They were A. of G.

If they are Assemblies of God, then they definitely do not believe in any kind of real physical presence. It’s possible they are anywhere between Zwinglian (full memorialism) to Calvinist (spiritual presence).

There is this interesting bit from a news article from the AG’s news publication that illustrates Pentecostal beliefs regarding the Lord’s Supper:

“As little children,” Pasechnik says of himself and his four siblings , “we wept and prayed to God, that He would not take our mom from us and would not leave us orphans.” A woman in the church received a word from the Lord that Olga should receive Communion. Though unable to even swallow, she took the Lord’s Supper. Within an hour, Olga rose from her bed and walked. When doctors learned of the miracle, they traveled more than 100 miles to see her.

And there is this rather mystical account from 1916 by a former Methodist preacher turned Pentecostal:

Yesterday was a red-letter day in our Assembly here in Benton, Ark. At the 11 o’clock service, after a short address explaining the nature and purpose of the sacrament, I, assisted by Brother J.N. Orr … administered the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. I have been a Methodist pastor 14 years and have attended many of these services but never in all my past experience have I seen so much of the power of God manifested at a similar service. It seemed as if the very body of our blessed Christ lay before us and the saints came to the altar with loud weeping, commingled with deep rejoicing and the power of the Lord rested upon us all. Praise His dear name.

 

[lilypadrees]

No, I have not been corrected since I don’t speak as a Protestant or even from a Catholic view of Protestant communion. I speak as one who personally observed the communion services of various Protestant denominations in her area and was taught by the pastors and the members of those denominations their beliefs about communion.

 

[JonNC]

No, I have not been corrected since I don’t speak as a Protestant or even from a Catholic view of Protestant communion. I speak as one who personally observed the communion services of various Protestant denominations in her area and was taught by the pastors and the members of those denominations their beliefs about communion.

Specifically, which ones? What did each one teach?
That is the only way to accurately describe beliefs.