[FormerLib]

300,000,000 Orthodox Christians believe exactly that, as did all Christians until the Reformation.

Actually, it appears that the Protestants continued to teach this even after the Reformation. They didn't start teaching this new "symbolic" concept until it came into being some centuries afterwards.

[Mr. Lucky]

Orthodox Luteran churches have continued to believe in the real presence of Christ in the communion host.

[Dionysiusdecordealcis]

Not really. Merely symbolic presence and "real absence" was advocated by Zwingli in the early 1520s. Calvin taught a "spiritual presence" and claimed that it was not a form of real absence. In the late Middle Ages, groups were championing merely symbolic presence. They were called "Sacramentarians" and were strong in the NEtherlands and up and down the Rhine River. Berengar of Tours in the 1000s taught merely symbolic presence (although a few scholars say he did not) and was disciplined for it.

Luther did indeed teach real presence and quarreled with Zwingli over it in bitter terms; a parting of the ways came in 1527? at the Marburg Colloquy. Luther also believed in real presence of Breadness alongside real presence of Christ, so he did not believe the same as Catholics and Orthodox but compared to Zwingli he was very close to the Catholic position. Some later Lutheran pietist and revivalist groups, however, did move in a more "mere symbol" direction.