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Is The Roman Catholic View of the Eucharist Supported by the Historical Evidence?
In Plain Site ^ | Jason Engwer

Posted on 02/20/2015 12:33:03 PM PST by RnMomof7

There aren't many subjects Catholic apologists like to discuss more than the eucharist. Even if their arguments about the papacy are refuted, even if the evidence they cite for the Immaculate Conception, Purgatory, and other doctrines isn't convincing, they still think they have a strong argument in the doctrine of the eucharist. They'll quote John 6 and the passages of scripture about the Last Supper. They'll quote centuries of church fathers referring to the eucharist as a sacrifice and referring to Jesus being present in the elements of the eucharist. They'll point out that even Protestants like Martin Luther have believed in a eucharistic presence. How, then, can evangelicals maintain that the eucharist is just symbolic, that there is no presence of Christ? Are evangelicals going to go up against 1500 years of church history?

This sort of reasoning seems to have had a lot of influence on evangelicals who have converted to Catholicism. Some converts to the Catholic Church even cite the eucharist as the primary issue, or one of the most significant issues, in convincing them to convert. But is the argument as compelling as so many Catholics think it is?

There are a lot of problems with this popular Catholic argument. The argument isn't even a defense of Catholicism. It's a defense of something like what the Catholic Church teaches. The Council of Trent made it clear just what the Catholic position is on this issue (emphasis added):

According to the Catholic Church, transubstantiation is the view of the eucharist always held by the Christian church. Some Catholics try to redefine this claim of the Council of Trent by saying that what Trent meant is that there was always some sort of belief in a presence in the eucharist, which was later defined more specifically as transubstantiation. While it's true that Trent doesn't claim that the word "transubstantiation" has always been used, Trent does claim that the concept has always been held by the Christian church.

There are two sentences in the quote above. The first sentence refers to a view of the eucharist always being held by the Christian church. The second sentence says that this view is transubstantiation. The way in which Trent describes the view always held by the Christian church makes it clear that transubstantiation is being described. The council refers to the whole substance of the bread and the whole substance of the wine being converted. That's transubstantiation.

Why do Catholic apologists attempt to redefine what the Council of Trent taught? Because what Trent said is false. Let's consider just some of the evidence that leads to this conclusion.

Though Catholics often cite some alleged references to their view of the eucharist in the Bible, the truth is that there's no evidence of the Catholic eucharist in scripture. John 6 is often cited as referring to eating Christ's flesh and drinking His blood by means of a transubstantiated eucharist. There are a lot of problems with the Catholic view of John 6, however, such as the fact that Jesus speaks in the present tense about how He is the bread of life and how people are responsible for eating and drinking Him. Jesus doesn't refer to how these things will begin in the future, when the eucharist is instituted. Rather, He refers to them as a present reality. And John 6:35 identifies what the eating and drinking are. The passage is not about the eucharist. (See http://members.aol.com/jasonte2/john666.htm for a further discussion of the problems with the Catholic interpretation of John 6.) Likewise, the passages about the Last Supper don't prove transubstantiation. They could be interpreted as references to a physical presence of Christ in the eucharist. That's a possibility. But they can also be interpreted otherwise.

There's no evidence for the Catholic view of the eucharist in scripture, but there is some evidence against it. In Matthew 26:29, Jesus refers to the contents of the cup as "this fruit of the vine". It couldn't be wine, though, if transubstantiation had occurred. And Jesus refers to drinking the contents of the cup with His followers again in the kingdom to come. Yet, the eucharist apparently is to be practiced only until Jesus returns (1 Corinthians 11:26). If the cup in Matthew 26:29 contained transubstantiated blood, then why would Jesus refer to drinking that substance with His followers in the future, at a time when there would be no eucharist? And if the eucharist is a sacrifice as the Catholic Church defines it to be, why is there no mention of the eucharist in the book of Hebrews?

The author of Hebrews is silent about the eucharist in places where we would expect the eucharist to be mentioned, if it was viewed as the Catholic Church views it. This is acknowledged even by Catholic scholars. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1990) is a Catholic commentary that some of the foremost Catholic scholars in the world contributed to. It was edited by Raymond Brown, Joseph Fitzmyer, and Roland Murphy. Near the end of the section on the book of Hebrews, the commentary admits:

There's nothing wrong with viewing the eucharist as a sacrifice in the sense of thanksgiving and praise (Hebrews 13:15). Some of the church fathers referred to the eucharist in such a way. For example, Justin Martyr wrote the following in response to the followers of Judaism who claimed to be fulfilling Malachi 1:11 (emphasis added):

These arguments of Justin Martyr are contrary to what the Catholic Church teaches. According to Justin Martyr, the eucharist is a sacrifice only in the sense of being a means by which Christians offer prayers and thanksgiving to God. Justin Martyr not only says nothing of the eucharist being a sacrifice in the sense Catholics define it to be, but he even excludes the possibility of the Catholic view by saying that the eucharist is a sacrifice only in the sense of prayers and thanksgiving being offered through it. Justin Martyr seems to have had Biblical passages like Hebrews 13:15 in mind, which is a concept that evangelicals agree with. The eucharist is a sacrifice in that sense.

Some church fathers defined the eucharist as a sacrifice differently than Justin Martyr, including in ways that are similar to the Catholic view. But Justin Martyr illustrates two things. First, it's false to claim that all of the church fathers viewed the eucharist as the Catholic Church views it. Secondly, the eucharist can be referred to as a sacrifice in numerous ways. It's not enough for Catholic apologists to cite a church father referring to the eucharist as a sacrifice. What type of sacrifice did the church father believe it to be? And how convincing are that church father's arguments?

Even more than they discuss the concept that the eucharist is an atoning sacrifice, Catholics argue that there's a presence of Christ in the eucharist, and that the church fathers agreed with them on this issue. Some Catholics will even claim that every church father believed in a presence in the eucharist. They'll often cite a scholar like J.N.D. Kelly referring to the church fathers believing in a "real presence" in the eucharist. But what these Catholics often don't do is quote what Kelly goes on to say. As Kelly explains, the church fathers defined "real presence" in a number of ways, including ways that contradict transubstantiation. Some of the church fathers were closer to the consubstantiation of Lutheranism or the spiritual presence of Calvinism, for example.

See the section titled "The Church and the Host" at:
http://www.aomin.org/JRWOpening.html

Also see the historian Philip Schaff's comments in section 69 at:
http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/history/2_ch05.htm

And section 95 at:
http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/history/3_ch07.htm

I also recommend consulting Schaff's footnotes, since the notes cite additional passages from the fathers and cite other scholars confirming Schaff's conclusions.

The church fathers held a wide variety of views on subjects such as how to interpret John 6 and Christ's presence in the eucharist. For example, Clement of Alexandria wrote the following about John 6 (emphasis added):

In another passage, Clement contradicts transubstantiation. He writes the following about how Christians should conduct themselves when drinking alcohol (emphasis added):

Clement, like evangelicals, cites Matthew 26:29 as evidence that Jesus drank wine. If Clement believed that wine is what was drunk at the Last Supper, he didn't believe in transubstantiation.

Similarly, Irenaeus denies transubstantiation in his writings. He seems to have believed in consubstantiation rather than the Catholic view of the eucharist. For example (emphasis added):

Irenaeus describes the eucharist as consisting of two realities, one that comes from Heaven and another that's from the earth. He refers to the eucharist as an example of drinking wine, the same substance that people will drink in Christ's future kingdom, after the eucharist has served its purpose (1 Corinthians 11:26). Irenaeus, like Clement of Alexandria, contradicts transubstantiation. Though Irenaeus does seem to have believed in a presence in the eucharist, it isn't transubstantiation.

Other examples could be cited, and other examples are cited in the article I linked to above. It's a historical fact that the church fathers held a variety of eucharistic beliefs, including some that contradict what the Catholic Church teaches. This fact is contrary to the Council of Trent's claim that transubstantiation had always been the view held by the Christian church.

It should be noted, also, that many evangelicals believe in a presence in the eucharist. Some believe in consubstantiation. Some believe in a spiritual presence. Evangelicals don't even have to hold to any specific view. Jesus and the apostles told Christians to celebrate the eucharist. A Christian can do so without knowing whether there's any presence of Christ in the eucharist or what type of presence there is. For an evangelical, this issue isn't too significant. The reliability of our rule of faith (the Bible) isn't dependent on proving that Christ is present in the eucharist in some particular way. Catholics, on the other hand, must defend the Catholic Church's allegedly infallible teaching of transubstantiation. They must also defend the Council of Trent's claim that transubstantiation is the view always held by the Christian church, as well as Trent's claim that every other view is unacceptable. Evangelicals just don't carry the same burden of proof that Catholics carry on this issue. Catholics can't say that this is unfair, since the claims of the Catholic Church itself are what create the added burden of proof for the Catholic apologist. If you don't want to have to carry such a burden, then tell your denomination to quit making such weighty claims.

In summary:

The eucharist is another issue that illustrates how anachronistic, misleading, and false many of the claims of the Catholic Church are. Some Catholics seem to ignore or minimize their denomination's errors on issues like the papacy and the Immaculate Conception, because they think that the Catholic Church is at least closer to the truth than evangelicalism on other issues, like the eucharist. But such reasoning is fallacious. For one thing, all it takes is one error to refute Catholicism. Since the Catholic Church teaches that its traditions are just as authoritative as scripture, an error on one subject also disproves what the Catholic Church has taught on other subjects. If the Immaculate Conception doctrine is contrary to the evidence, for example, that isn't just problematic for the doctrine that Mary was immaculately conceived. It's also problematic for the doctrine of papal infallibility, since Pope Pius IX allegedly was exercising that power when he declared Mary to be conceived without sin. When the Catholic Church is shown to be wrong on the eucharist, the Immaculate Conception, or some other issue, that has implications for far more than just that one doctrine.

With regard to the eucharist, consider one of the larger implications of the Catholic Church being wrong on that subject. If it's true that the church fathers held a wide variety of eucharistic beliefs, and that they also held a wide variety of beliefs on a lot of other subjects, what does that tell us about early church history? It tells us that it's unlikely that the church fathers were part of one worldwide denomination headed by a Pope. What's more likely is that the church fathers disagreed with each other so much because they belonged to churches that were governmentally independent of one another, and they interpreted the scriptures for themselves. In fact, many of the church fathers specifically said as much. The fact that there were so many differing views among the church fathers, including views that contradict what the Catholic Church teaches, suggests that they weren't Roman Catholics.

If the Catholic Church isn't reliable, what are we to conclude about the eucharist, then? What do we do if we can't trust Catholicism to tell us what to believe? We ought to go to the scriptures. And if the beliefs of the church fathers and other sources are relevant in some way, we should also consider those things. We should study the issue ourselves instead of just uncritically accepting whatever an institution like the Roman Catholic Church teaches. When we go to the scriptures, we find that a number of eucharistic views are plausible, but transubstantiation isn't one of them (Matthew 26:29). The concept that the eucharist is an atoning sacrifice is unacceptable. Trying to continually offer Christ's sacrifice as an atonement for our sins, and offering it as a further atonement of the temporal portion of sins already forgiven, is contrary to what's taught in the book of Hebrews, such as Hebrews 9:12-10:18. For example, in Hebrews 9:25-26, we see the author distinguishing between Christ's sacrifice and the offering of that sacrifice. Not only was Christ only sacrificed once, but He also offered that one sacrifice to God only once. Catholics acknowledge that there was only one sacrifice, but they argue that the one sacrifice is offered repeatedly through the eucharist. This claim of the Catholic Church is contrary to scripture. And there are a lot of other contradictions between what scripture teaches on these subjects and what the Catholic Church teaches, especially in the book of Hebrews. We can reasonably arrive at a number of different views of the eucharist, but the Catholic view isn't one of them.



TOPICS: Apologetics; Evangelical Christian; Mainline Protestant; Theology
KEYWORDS: bread; doctrine; worship
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To: LurkingSince'98
Lurking... "sorry I can't give you want you need."

I became firmly, totally and forever Catholic when I was about 10 when I was serving 6:30am weekday Mass.

Actually, your lack of answer is now answer enough.

Very, very sad.

I became firmly, totally, and forever a Christian when God called me, opened my heart and my eyes to my need of a Savior -- Jesus Christ -- and He gave me salvation by grace through faith alone in Christ... he gives me the faith to trust in Him. He saved me. Now and forever.

I pray that you will be able to give that testimony. Being Catholic will no more save you than standing in a garage will make you a car.

Hoss

381 posted on 02/22/2015 10:43:12 AM PST by HossB86 (Christ, and Him alone.)
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To: ealgeone
Art ol' boy, I sure hope you just arguing for arguing sake.

Yup. I was a stuned bieber too.

Hoss

382 posted on 02/22/2015 10:44:26 AM PST by HossB86 (Christ, and Him alone.)
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To: LurkingSince'98
I’m sure from your response you either did not read what I wrote or you don’t understand it.

Nope...I completely read it and understood it.

It's been my experience that catholics are very proud of being a member of the roman catholic church. The vast majority of catholics I've encountered, when asked if are you a Christian have replied..."no I'm catholic."

You saying the same thing.

383 posted on 02/22/2015 10:48:11 AM PST by ealgeone
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To: HossB86

On the cross, Christ said, “It is finished.”

He was not speaking of His sacrifice.

He was speaking of His Passover meal, because He spoke it immediately after receiving the wine/gall on the reed.

All Passover meals Christ or any Jew ever attended had four cups of wine - yet Christ left abruptly after the third cup and immediately went to the Garden of Gethsemane to begin His Passion.

He did not drink the Fourth Cup until He drank the wine on the Cross.

He did not die immediately after saying it is finished because it was His Passover meal that was finished, which ended His Old Covenant and began His New Covenant.

Incidentally His Sacrifice began with the institution of the Eucharist on the night before and wasn’t fully completed until His Resurrection.

For the Greater Glory of God


384 posted on 02/22/2015 10:53:41 AM PST by LurkingSince'98 (Ad Majoram Dei Gloriam = FOR THE GREATER GLORY OF GOD)
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To: ealgeone

wow

I give you my witness

and you insult me

wow


385 posted on 02/22/2015 10:54:58 AM PST by LurkingSince'98 (Ad Majoram Dei Gloriam = FOR THE GREATER GLORY OF GOD)
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To: HossB86

that was my testimony and my witness

nice insult

wow


386 posted on 02/22/2015 10:57:04 AM PST by LurkingSince'98 (Ad Majoram Dei Gloriam = FOR THE GREATER GLORY OF GOD)
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To: ealgeone; HossB86

I just got back from Mass

it is Lent

I am a faithful Catholic

I believe I am posting to two prots who don’t even go to Church on Sunday who like insulting faithful Catholics.

This is my last response to either of you

you don’t deserve the courtesy of a response from any faithful Catholic ever.

AMDG


387 posted on 02/22/2015 11:08:29 AM PST by LurkingSince'98 (Ad Majoram Dei Gloriam = FOR THE GREATER GLORY OF GOD)
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To: LurkingSince'98; HossB86
I am a faithful Catholic

I believe I am posting to two prots who don’t even go to Church on Sunday who like insulting faithful Catholics.

That you identify as catholic only tells me you're a member of the roman catholic church. Beyond that I have no idea if you have faith in Christ.

I know a lot of people who identify with a denomination. It tells me nothing of their relationship with Christ. Most Christians will identify with Christ. That is who we follow. A denomination is irrelevant to faith in Christ.

I am a faithful Christian.

There is a difference.

Sorry to disappoint you, but I did go to church today. I also taught a Bible Study on angels. I teach every week btw.

btw...the term "prot" is a bit condescending.

388 posted on 02/22/2015 11:23:04 AM PST by ealgeone
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To: LurkingSince'98
I believe I am posting to two prots who don’t even go to Church on Sunday who like insulting faithful Catholics.

And you know this how? Our services might have been cancelled-you know -- weather?

And no insult meant; just concern for your immortal soul.

Hoss

389 posted on 02/22/2015 12:09:25 PM PST by HossB86 (Christ, and Him alone.)
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To: LurkingSince'98
Your faux outrage at being insulted is laughable when you go along with other posters accusing people of being in the KKK by implication that some would be content with burning crosses.
390 posted on 02/22/2015 12:53:08 PM PST by ealgeone
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To: rwa265

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,

No different than sending out the 72; is it?

No magic involved at all.


391 posted on 02/22/2015 1:00:30 PM PST by Elsie
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To: elhombrelibre
The obliviousness to the obvious isn’t going to be remedied by a comment on the internet.

But you'll still try.

392 posted on 02/22/2015 1:01:06 PM PST by Elsie
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To: rwa265

And abortion has ended.


393 posted on 02/22/2015 1:01:36 PM PST by Elsie
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To: rwa265
I realize it is something you would not do, but I do hope that you pray to Jesus for an end to abortion, as I do.

Oh?

394 posted on 02/22/2015 1:02:08 PM PST by Elsie
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To: LurkingSince'98
Disprove me

Sorry; it don't work that way.

YOU made a claim; YOU back it up.

395 posted on 02/22/2015 1:04:02 PM PST by Elsie
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To: elhombrelibre
They declare their love of God and speak maliciously of fellow Christians, even claiming that Catholics are not Christians.

In your mind; what would be ANATHAMA?

396 posted on 02/22/2015 1:05:05 PM PST by Elsie
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To: LurkingSince'98
Either way IT IS YOUR LOSS.

What is a PRot losing?

397 posted on 02/22/2015 1:05:48 PM PST by Elsie
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To: LurkingSince'98
I give you my witness and you insult me

I get insulted without a witness!

398 posted on 02/22/2015 1:06:50 PM PST by Elsie
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To: ealgeone
Your faux outrage at being insulted is laughable when you go along with other posters accusing people of being in the KKK by implication that some would be content with burning crosses.

Oh?

399 posted on 02/22/2015 1:08:44 PM PST by Elsie
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To: Elsie

Please allow me to rephrase that:

I suspect that praying to MARY is something you would not do . . .


400 posted on 02/22/2015 2:14:28 PM PST by rwa265
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