[St.Chuck]

Could you elaborate ?

Sure. The earliest Christians did believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The Romans considered them cannibals because of this. This belief was passed down through Christ's apostles to the present. So to conclude that your interpretation is the only faithful one would be an historical inaccuracy.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Do you have scripture reference that the apostles believed in the real presence, or just history?

Becky

[RnMomof7]

1215 doctrine of Transubstantiation promulgated by Pope Innocent III as official dogma of the church. (it had been debated since the second century)

Not clear at all Chuck

[Quester]

Sure. The earliest Christians did believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

The earliest Christians ? You must mean the apostles and their contemporaries. Interesting that not one of them wrote about the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

The Romans considered them cannibals because of this.

The earliest Christians first lived among and were persecuted by the Jews. Interesting that Jewish objections to the Way did not include the issue of Christian canabalism.

What man-made traditions had arisen by the time of the Roman persecution ... I am not privy to.

This belief was passed down through Christ's apostles to the present.

Again I note, with interest, that none of Christ's apostles considered this belief to be worthy of documenting.

So to conclude that your interpretation is the only faithful one would be an historical inaccuracy.

My concern with any interpretation (understanding) of the written word is it's faithfulness to the written word.