The Case Against Transubstantiation

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He said he meant spiritually to eat his body.
No, he said his flesh was SPIRITUAL food.

1 Corinthians 10:16 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

16Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?
 
We eat food and consume fluid so that our bodies have “fuel”. Without it, we would waste away and die.

In the same way, the Body and Blood of our Lord feeds our spirits. When we participate in the Mass, our spirits are fed. When we don’t participate in the Mass, our spirits waste away, just as our bodies would waste away if our bodies were not fed.

The sacramental elements of the Mass are real. They are the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. We know this because he told us so in so many words. They feed our spirit.
 
Alcoholics should have no problem with grape juice or non-alcoholic wine. My son’s a diabetic & he just drinks wine, but he’s a “Type I” diabetic & his consumption is moderate. The vast majority of diabetics ~ the “Type 2” diabetics ~ might have to find an acceptable substitute ~ perhaps there’s a low-sugar juice? There are low-sugar & sugar free jams now, so perhaps there are sugar-free juices as well.
Sorry, Melanie, but grape juice cannot be substitued for wine. And the host must be made of unleavened wheat bread. This is a Passover meal and has to be celebrated exactly the way the Lord commanded
 
Sorry, Melanie, but grape juice cannot be substitued for wine. And the host must be made of unleavened wheat bread. This is a Passover meal and has to be celebrated exactly the way the Lord commanded
I was talking about what to use at a Passover seder, not for our Eucharist.
 
At the Passover Seders I attended recently, I was asking myself a related question.

At the Seder, a Jew is required to drink four full cups of wine or grape juice.

What if someone is alcoholic, or diabetic?

I’m neither, but I did think about it…have to ask a rabbi what happens in a case like that!
That is a good point. I may be wrong but I will guess that in our sacrament the quantity that is taken is not an issue. I would think that would apply to both the bread and the wine.
Good to see you here.
 
No, he said his flesh was SPIRITUAL food.

16Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?
Baptism with water is a symbol of our baptism with the Holy Spirit(Acts 1:5, 1 Peter 3:21)

Likewise, “food does not bring us closer to God.”(1 Corinthians 8:8)
“It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else that will cause your brother to stumble.”(Romans 14:21)
It is symbolic!
 
Baptism with water is a symbol of our baptism with the Holy Spirit(Acts 1:5, 1 Peter 3:21)

Likewise, “food does not bring us closer to God.”(1 Corinthians 8:8)
“It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else that will cause your brother to stumble.”(Romans 14:21)
It is symbolic!
To you, perhaps. But to the Apostles, the early Christians and to the Catholic Church, these things are not just symbols. Please have a little respect, OK?
 
I don’t suppose it would matter that the Apostles themselves taught that it was not symbolic? They were just wrong about that? 🤷
 
Transubstantiation vs. Real Presence

Fee free to comment if you wish.
In America when ‘vs.’ is used we take it to mean two opposing things. We would expect an essay on contrast. The title makes one think they’ll be reading an essay about the difference between Transubstantiation and Real Presence. I know the two teachings were first taught about 1100 years from each other and are two completely difference things, so I read it. The definition for Transubstantiation from Trent was not included. There was no explanation on the teaching of Transubstantiation. Transubstantiation and Real Presence were twisted together and then it turned into an anti-catholic rant on the Real Presence. Which means is still did not address any issues on Real Presence already brought up in this thread.
making categorical assertions doesn’t really mean anything unless you can back it up with sound arguments.
 
How do you know they taught that, exactly?
How do I know? I don’t claim to be a scholar so I haven’t studied all the writings of the Early Church (although I have studied SOME) but mostly I’ve listened to programs where they cite the writings of the people of the time ~ Ignatius, for example. While not an Apostle himself, he was taught directly by an Apostle (if I remember correctly, it was Paul.) They didn’t teach this “symbolism” thing back then, that’s a more recent construct. (In other words, it is a man-made idea. But we can’t blame it on Luther 🙂 !! )

The Real Presence concept came from Jesus Christ, but then we already know that because it’s in the Gospels WORD FOR WORD, so for anyone to assert that there is no Real Presence is to say that Jesus deliberately misled his Disciples, and, by extension, the whole world. I’m betting on Jesus being clear and saying what he meant to say. 🙂

In order to believe that there is NO Real Presence requires more faith than believing that there is. But there is no point in discussing the subject with anyone whose mind is already made up.

Do you believe that Jesus Christ resurrected? Cured the sick? Made the blind see?
 
The other thing you can do, this is my son’s favorite, is to determine the status of your church in the year 1500. 🙂
You know, if it weren’t for God’s Grace at age 58 which was 3 years ago I never would have believed in Jesus nor would I know that the Catholic Church is the Bride of Christ and Mary is our Spiritual Mother whether we know it or not. It was and is only Grace that makes each and every Sacrament real.
Like Paul said, it is something that cannot be put into words.
 
In America when ‘vs.’ is used we take it to mean two opposing things. We would expect an essay on contrast. The title makes one think they’ll be reading an essay about the difference between Transubstantiation and Real Presence.
Okay, I will think about that. Maybe I will change the title to something else later on—except that if I do, it will break all the links that I have already given to it here, which I don’t want to do.
I know the two teachings were first taught about 1100 years from each other and are two completely difference things, so I read it.
“Different” or not, all I know and care about is that they are highly interdependent. You cannot eliminate one and keep the other, in Catholic theology at least. That is the main point that I was trying to make.
The definition for Transubstantiation from Trent was not included.
That is puzzling. I thought it was. This is the definition I gave:

“If anyone says that the substance of bread and wine remains in the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist together with the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and denies that wonderful and extraordinary change of the whole substance of the wine into His blood, while only the species of bread and wine remain, a change which the Catholic Church has most fittingly called ‘transubstantiation,’ let him be anathema.” (Session 13, can.2) Source: The Real Presence Eucharistic

I presume you were referring to the passage that you had quoted, which is this one:

On Transubstantiation.

And because that Christ, our Redeemer, declared that which He offered under the species of bread to be truly His own body, therefore has it ever been a firm belief in the Church of God, and this holy Synod doth now declare it anew, that, by the consecration of the bread and of the wine, a conversion is made of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord, and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of His blood; which conversion is, by the holy Catholic Church, suitably and properly called Transubstantiation.
The Council Of Trent: Session 13, Chapter Iv.

They may be from two different sections of the decision of the Council; but they are saying the same things. Can you tell me what is the difference (doctrinally) between them that I should have preferred your passage to mine? I prefer my quoted passages because they come from the came context, and therefore more closely interrelated.
There was no explanation on the teaching of Transubstantiation.
Such as?
Transubstantiation and Real Presence were twisted together . . .
There was no “twisting together”. I was showing the close interdependence of them. I don’t call that “twisting together”.
. . . and then it turned into an anti-catholic rant on the Real Presence.
No idea what you are talking about here. Legitimate criticism is not a “rant”.
Which means is still did not address any issues on Real Presence already brought up in this thread.
Don’t make sense to me. I thought I had.

zerinus
 
In America when ‘vs.’ is used we take it to mean two opposing things. We would expect an essay on contrast. The title makes one think they’ll be reading an essay about the difference between Transubstantiation and Real Presence.
Okay, I will think about that. Maybe I will change the title to something else later on—except that if I do, it will break all the links that I have already given to it here, which I don’t want to do.
I know the two teachings were first taught about 1100 years from each other and are two completely difference things, so I read it.
“Different” or not, all I know and care about is that they are highly interdependent. You cannot eliminate one and keep the other, in Catholic theology at least. That is the main point that I was trying to make.
The definition for Transubstantiation from Trent was not included.
That is puzzling. I thought it was. This is the definition I gave:

“If anyone says that the substance of bread and wine remains in the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist together with the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and denies that wonderful and extraordinary change of the whole substance of the wine into His blood, while only the species of bread and wine remain, a change which the Catholic Church has most fittingly called ‘transubstantiation,’ let him be anathema.” (Session 13, can.2) Source: The Real Presence Eucharistic

I presume you were referring to the passage that you had quoted, which is this one:

On Transubstantiation.

And because that Christ, our Redeemer, declared that which He offered under the species of bread to be truly His own body, therefore has it ever been a firm belief in the Church of God, and this holy Synod doth now declare it anew, that, by the consecration of the bread and of the wine, a conversion is made of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord, and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of His blood; which conversion is, by the holy Catholic Church, suitably and properly called Transubstantiation.
The Council Of Trent: Session 13, Chapter Iv.

They may be from two different sections of the decision of the Council; but they are saying the same things. Can you tell me what is the difference (doctrinally) between them that I should have preferred your passage to mine? I prefer my quoted passages because they come from the came context, and therefore more closely interrelated.
There was no explanation on the teaching of Transubstantiation.
Such as?
Transubstantiation and Real Presence were twisted together . . .
There was no “twisting together”. I was showing the close interdependence of them. I don’t call that “twisting together”.
. . . and then it turned into an anti-catholic rant on the Real Presence.
No idea what you are talking about here. Legitimate criticism is not a “rant”.
Which means is still did not address any issues on Real Presence already brought up in this thread.
Don’t make sense to me. I thought I had.

zerinus
 
The other thing you can do, this is my son’s favorite, is to determine the status of your church in the year 1500. 🙂
That’s a good one! 🙂 In fact, my husband (former Protestant, now a Jew), sometimes finds that “the protestant in me is acting up again” (his expression), anytime I discuss the Catholic church.

I often tell him that from a purely historical POV, anyone can see the Catholic church is the original Christian church. I think most people knowledgeable of history, realize this.
 
I often tell him that from a purely historical POV, anyone can see the Catholic church is the original Christian church. I think most people knowledgeable of history, realize this.
Don’t tell that to a Fundamentalist! They might have a heart attack 😛
 
“Different” or not, all I know and care about is that they are highly interdependent. You cannot eliminate one and keep the other, in Catholic theology at least. That is the main point that I was trying to make.
Small trees were turning into big trees many many years before mankind could explain how it happens. If we suddenly lost our understand of how a small tree became a big tree, it would still happen. Trees changing and the knowledge of what happens when they change are not interdependent. You can have the Real Presence as Christ taught us without understand how it happens. They are not interdependent.
 
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