Transubstantiation

[Elizabeth]

I have just been told that the belief in transubstantiation came into being only in about 1000 AD and that the Apostles and subsequent Catholics, Church Fathers etc held to a belief and doctrine of the Real Presence, (consubstantiation?) until this time.

Clarification needed. Thanks.

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

1. You should always insist that the people who make claims substantiate them.
2. It is true that the word transubstantiation first began to be used to describe what happens during the Consecration around the eleventh century. For more information, see the Transubstantiation section of the Catholic Encyclopedia article on the Eucharist.
3. It is not true that until the eleventh century Christians held to consubstantiation (i.e., Christ present with the bread and wine, as opposed to Christ present under the appearances of bread and wine). Transubstantiation merely described a belief that can be found on the pages of the New Testament (first century) and in the writings of the Church Fathers as early as the second century:

catholic.com/library/Real_Presence.asp

Merely coining a term to more accurately label an ancient belief does not mean that the belief started when the term was coined. In the same manner, Trinity and hypostatic union were coined centuries after the New Testament to describe apostolic understandings of the nature of God and Christ.