Replies

You wrote:

““The Catholic Church” refers to the Church universal, i.e., the collection of people congregated into relationship with the Lord.”

No, the Catholic Church refers to the Church Christ established which was the original Church and still is THE Church. Yes, she was made up of people who knew Christ, but over time sects broke away and so - as we see today - there are those who have a relationship of Christ but are not in the Catholic Church and in some cases even attack her.

““The Roman Catholic Church” refers to the congregation started in Rome that grew to have a good deal of influence over its members world-wide.”

No. 1) I am not a “Roman Catholic” although some of my fellow Catholic use that term.

2) Protestants invented the term “Roman Catholic” in the 16th century (consult the OED for proof of this) as an attack on the universality of the Catholic Church.

3) The Catholic Church almost always refers to herself as the Catholic Church as in THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.

“I am a member of Christ’s Church, the “Catholic” Church. I am not a member of the Church of Rome, i.e., the “Roman Catholic” Church.”

No, you’re not a member of the Catholic Church. You even have to create or foster the use of a Protestant term to make seem that you are.

“Your response to Scripture? “Irrelevant.” Whew.”

That was not my response to Scripture. That was my response to your false pretense of presenting a verse as if it said something it didn’t.

“Have you read the Council of Trent?”

Yes.

“It clearly states the Roman Catholic position that the bread converts totally and substantially into Christ’s body, only, um, looking like bread.”

Actually it says nothing at all about any “Roman Catholic” thing at all. What is in it are the positions of the Catholic Church. And the fact that the Eucharist is the Eucharist doesn’t mean that Paul wouldn’t refer to it as bread. I have done so as well.

“It looks like bread, and tastes and feels and smells like bread, but it’s in no way bread. If you say that it’s in any way still bread, you are anathema:”

No. I can call it consecrated bread, for instance. St. Paul never denied for a moment that the Eucharist was Christ’s Body. Look at 1 Cor 11. What does he say? Body.

“Good thing common people like me have Scripture available to read. Otherwise, we might still be believing this Middle Ages misunderstanding. Thank God for His sacred Scriptures.”

There was no medieval understanding. Christ said - centuries before the Middle Ages - that the bread had become His body. St. Paul said the same thing and that we are in danger if we do not DISCERN the body of the Lord. It’s a shame you don’t read scripture as often as you pretend I attacked it.