A long time ago, a question was asked on Christianforums.com (a site I frequently visit) asking Orthodox Christians about their view of the Eucharist. The question went as follows:
"Another question: What is the church's teaching on communion/Lord's Supper/Eucharist? Does the church believe the bread and wine actually become the flesh and blood of Christ?
I have a hard time with most denominations because of my beliefs about this. One, I feel it is symbolic, and two, in light of the scripture where Christ says He will be with us when two or more are gathered, I believe anytime a group of believers come together for fellowship, even in a home or restaurant, if they are celebrating the sacrifice on Cross, then they are in communion with Him."
I have a hard time with most denominations because of my beliefs about this. One, I feel it is symbolic, and two, in light of the scripture where Christ says He will be with us when two or more are gathered, I believe anytime a group of believers come together for fellowship, even in a home or restaurant, if they are celebrating the sacrifice on Cross, then they are in communion with Him."
I wrote the following reply, and like it as a reference:
To your second point that one is in communion with God whenever one is gathered in Christ's name: absolutely. Communion (Eucharist) is the highest earthly expression of that one-ness with God, but it (Communion with God) is the aim of all the spiritual life.
In regards to the Eucharist, we would say it is a divine mystery. We believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and I'll spend this post presenting that view, but in what precise way Christ is present we do not say. We have no doctrinal equivalent to transsubstantiation or consubstantiation as these are later developments of the scholastic west. We do, however, proclaim that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Christ. Even to say "it is merely a symbol" is too much detail and robs the sacrament of its mystery.
We should start by looking at Scripture, which says, quite plainly and without embelishing, "This is my body broken, this is my blood shed." This is said at each of the accounts of the last supper (excepting John's, I believe). It is also said when Paul recounts the last supper in 1 Corinthians.
Yet there is more said concerning the Eucharist in the gospels. John 6 provides the most telling passage, and I'll quote it in full: (John 6:48-58)
In regards to the Eucharist, we would say it is a divine mystery. We believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and I'll spend this post presenting that view, but in what precise way Christ is present we do not say. We have no doctrinal equivalent to transsubstantiation or consubstantiation as these are later developments of the scholastic west. We do, however, proclaim that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Christ. Even to say "it is merely a symbol" is too much detail and robs the sacrament of its mystery.
We should start by looking at Scripture, which says, quite plainly and without embelishing, "This is my body broken, this is my blood shed." This is said at each of the accounts of the last supper (excepting John's, I believe). It is also said when Paul recounts the last supper in 1 Corinthians.
Yet there is more said concerning the Eucharist in the gospels. John 6 provides the most telling passage, and I'll quote it in full: (John 6:48-58)
"I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.
Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.
I don't know how much more plainly it can be stated. If we do not eat His flesh and drink His blood we have no life in us. His flesh is real food. Real food.
On to Corinthians: 1 Cor 11:23-30
On to Corinthians: 1 Cor 11:23-30
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.
A couple of things to note: The mere fact that we do this in remembrance of Christ - to proclaim His death (and therefore His resurrection) - does not preclude His real presence. We attend funerals in remembrance of people, but their body is certainly there. The unique thing about this remembrance is that it is no funeral. Christ is risen! And what better way to remember that then to have Him physically present? A body that is vivified and living is proof of Christ's conquest of death.
Second - why would people get sick and die from a symbol? Why would Paul say that their not "discerning the Body" is making them sick? Doesn't that imply it is more than a symbol - you couldn't possibly be expected to discern that which isn't there, could you? Similarly, if by partaking of the chalice in an unworthy manner I am guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord, then the Body and Blood of the Lord must be actually present.
Another, perhaps more indirect reference to the Eucharist is the sense of marriage feast. There are two senses of this: the Eucharist being food is a feast celebrating Christ's passion with thanksgiving - it is the marriage feast re-membering (re-enacting) when Christ won His bride. It is also that most intimate of moments when Christ's bride takes His body into herself and becomes one flesh with Him (of this, human marriage is only a pale, but glorious, icon).
Scripture references:
Gen 2:20-25
Second - why would people get sick and die from a symbol? Why would Paul say that their not "discerning the Body" is making them sick? Doesn't that imply it is more than a symbol - you couldn't possibly be expected to discern that which isn't there, could you? Similarly, if by partaking of the chalice in an unworthy manner I am guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord, then the Body and Blood of the Lord must be actually present.
Another, perhaps more indirect reference to the Eucharist is the sense of marriage feast. There are two senses of this: the Eucharist being food is a feast celebrating Christ's passion with thanksgiving - it is the marriage feast re-membering (re-enacting) when Christ won His bride. It is also that most intimate of moments when Christ's bride takes His body into herself and becomes one flesh with Him (of this, human marriage is only a pale, but glorious, icon).
Scripture references:
Gen 2:20-25
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
The man said,
"This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called 'woman,'
for she was taken out of man."
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
The man said,
"This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called 'woman,'
for she was taken out of man."
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
Adam is a type (a pre-type) of Christ, who "goes to sleep" (this representing the passion) and thus is given a bride from his side (from whence the blood and water of Christ flowed). Upon rising he declares her to be one flesh with him, and this initiates the mystery of marriage. It isn't a marriage unless the two become one flesh! There is no bride of Christ unless the Eucharist is a true and physical union (as well as spiritual and mental - flesh certainly doesn't encompass the mystery).
St. Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians makes the connection between Christ --> Church and Husband --> Wife:
Ephesians 5:28-32
St. Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians makes the connection between Christ --> Church and Husband --> Wife:
Ephesians 5:28-32
In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.
Would you say that the essential teaching on the Real Presence of the Roman and Orthodox Churches is the same, and that the difference is Rome's acceptance of Aristotlean terminology, whereas the Orthodox teach the same thing, but without endorsing one particular system of thought?
ReplyDeleteI would say that the essential teaching is similar, but not the same. The Orthodox view tends to have more room for diversity of opinion. Consubstantiation, transsubstantiation, just "real presence," or the more Anglican / mystery approach "it is His body and blood" all fit within the Orthodox context. In contrast, the Roman Catholic view turns towards precision and specificty of language (mostly because they had to in response to some uniquely Western heresies in the early middle ages).
ReplyDeleteTo me, it presents no barrier to communion. In other words, I don't think the Roman Catholic Church needs to change the way they talk about the Eucharist in order for there to be communion between them and us. Rather, they need to be ok with other perspectives also being welcomed into the Church (so long as we all jointly affirm the mystery of Christ's real presence in the physical gifts).
Hope that helps!