Eucharist: Encyclopedia II - Eucharist - Christian Theology

Eucharist - Christian Theology

The Eucharist has always been at the center of Christian worship, though theological interpretations vary. In general, the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox traditions see the Eucharist as the fulfillment of God's plan for the salvation of humanity from sin (the "Divine Economy"), a commemoration and making present of Jesus' Crucifixion on Calvary and his Resurrection, the means for Christians to unite with God and with each other, and the giving of thanks for all these things. Differences in Eucharistic theology tend to be related to differences in understanding of these areas.

Efforts at mutual understanding of the range of theologies led in the 1980s to consultations on Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (BEM) through the World Council of Churches, and included the Roman Catholic Church.

Eucharist - Roman Catholic: Sacrifice; Transubstantiation

Main articles: Mass (liturgy) and Transubstantiation

In the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, the Eucharist is one of the seven sacraments, but is also considered the "queen of the sacraments" and "the blessed sacrament", and the institution of the Eucharist is one of the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary. The Eucharist is a commemoration, or, in Greek, anamnesis [11] of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ, understood in the fullest sense given to it in Biblical tradition. In other words, it is a memorial which does not just bring to mind the event celebrated, but also makes it truly present. The Eucharist is therefore understood to be not simply a representation of Christ's presence, or a remembrance of his Passion and Death, but an actual participation in the Sacrifice of Christ, the manifestation, in the present, of an event that occurred once for all in time. The Eucharist makes present that one sacrifice, not a different sacrifice. The priest and victim of the sacrifice are one and the same; the only difference is in the manner in which it is offered—the Church teaches that the Mass is the sacrifice at Calvary made present in an unbloody manner.

The only minister of the Eucharist, that is, one authorized to celebrate the rite and consecrate the Eucharist, is a validly ordained priest (either bishop or presbyter) acting in the person of Christ (in persona Christi). In other words the priest celebrant represents Christ, who is the Head of the Church, and acts before God in the name of the Church. The matter used must be wheaten bread and grape wine; this is essential for validity.

According to the Roman Catholic Church, when the bread and wine are consecrated in the Eucharist, they cease to be bread and wine, and become instead the body and blood of Christ. The empirical appearances are not changed, but the reality is. The consecration of the bread (known as the host) and wine represents the separation of Jesus's body from his blood at Calvary. However, since he has risen, the Church teaches that his body and blood can no longer be truly separated. Where one is, the other must be. Therefore, although the priest (or minister) says, "The body of Christ", when administering the host, and, "The blood of Christ", when presenting the chalice, the communicant who receives either one receives Christ, whole and entire.

The hosts are kept in a tabernacle after the celebration of the Mass, so that they can be brought to the sick and dying outside the time of Mass, and also so that the Eucharistic presence may be worshipped and adored. On occasions, the Eucharist is exposed in a monstrance, in order for it to be the focus of prayer and adoration.

The mysterious change of the reality of the bread and wine used in the Eucharist, a change to which patristic writers had given other equivalent names, began to be called "transubstantiation" in the twelfth century. In the judgement of the Catholic Church, this term, with its accompanying unambiguous distinction between "substance" or underlying reality, and " accidents" or humanly perceptible appearances, still best safeguards against the opposite extremes of a cannibalistic or of a merely symbolic interpretation of the Eucharist.

The Eucharist is given to Catholics who wish to receive either at Mass or outside of Mass. This is called the administration of Holy Communion. When it is given at Mass, it may be given under one kind (usually the host), or under both kinds (both the host and the consecrated wine, referred to by Catholics as the Precious Blood). Regular use of Communion under both kinds requires the permission of the bishop, but bishops in some countries have given blanket permission to administer Holy Communion in this way. The ordinary ministers of Holy Communion are Bishops, Priests and Deacons, the latter traditionally ministering the chalice. Members of the laity can also be commissioned as Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, where there is a necessity. This is, in a way, a return to a very early practice, whereby the ordinary faithful took Communion to the sick and to others unable to come to the Eucharistic celebration.

Eucharist - Eastern Christianity: Sacrifice and Objective Reality but Pious Silence on the Particulars

The key defining theology centers on the idea of metousiosis. The Eastern Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Assyrian Church of the East agree with the Roman Catholic Church that Christ is really, fully, and uniquely present in the Eucharistic elements, and that, in the Divine Liturgy, the one sacrifice of Christ is made present; however, beyond that, these traditions reject any further analysis. Instead, they hold that the exact means by which the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit, is a mystery. They are not particularly interested in the precise moment the change occurs, although this "change" or "fulfillment" of the bread and wine is usually identified with the Epiklesis. As in the Roman Church, the change is regarded as permanent, and any of the consecrated elements, or "gifts," that remain at the end of the Divine Liturgy are normally consumed by a priest or deacon.

Gifts reserved for the communion of the sick are specially consecrated on Holy Thursday, or at other times as needed, and are not simply leftovers from the previous Divine Liturgy. Since the Eucharistic gifts are regarded primarily as food, Eucharistic adoration is unknown outside the Liturgy itself, except among those Orthodox Christians who worship according to a Western Rite.

Eucharist - Anglicans/Episcopalians: Real Presence with Opinion

The historical position of the Anglican Communion is found in the Thirty-Nine Articles of 1571, which state "the Bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ"; and likewise that "the Cup of Blessing is a partaking of the Blood of Christ" (Articles of Religion, Article XXVIII: Of the Lord's Supper). The fact that the terms "Bread" and "Wine" and the corresponding words "Body" and "Blood" are all capitalized may reflect the wide range of theological beliefs regarding the Eucharist among Anglicans. However, these same articles also state that adoration, or worship per se, of the consecrated elements was not commanded by Christ and state that those who receive unworthily do not actually receive Christ but rather their own condemnation.

Anglicans generally and officially believe in the Real Presence, but the specifics of that belief range from Transubstantiation, sometimes with Eucharistic adoration (mainly Anglo-Catholics), to something akin to a belief in a "pneumatic" presence, which may or may not be tied to the Eucharistic elements themselves (almost always "low church" or Evangelical Anglicans). The normal range of Anglican belief ranges from Objective Reality to Pious Silence, depending on the individual Anglican's theology. A small minority, as in any church, reject the doctrine of the Real Presence altogether, in violation of Anglicanism's historic position on the matter^[12].

The Anglican belief in the Eucharistc Sacrifice ("Sacrifice of the Mass") is laid out in Saepius officio, the response of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to Pope Leo the XIII's Papal Bull, Apostolicae curae.

Anglicans and Roman Catholics declared that they had "substantial agreement on the doctrine of the Eucharist" in the Windsor Statement and its Elucidation. Anglican divines have tended to side with the Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox idea of metousiosis in the sacrament. Remaining differences between Anglicans and Roman Catholics on the issue were highlighted in The Eucharist: Sacrament of Unity.

Eucharist - Lutherans - the Sacramental Union: in with and under the forms

Lutherans believe that the Body and Blood of Christ are "truly and substantially present in, with and under the forms" of the consecrated bread and wine (the elements), so that communicants eat and drink both the elements and the true Body and Blood of Christ Himself (cf. Augsburg Confession, Article 10) in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. The Lutheran doctrine of the Real Presence is more accurately and formally known as "the Sacramental Union." This theology was first developed in the Wittenberg Concord. It has been called "consubstantiation" by some, but this term is rejected by Lutheran churches and theologians as it creates confusion with an earlier doctrine of the same name.

For Lutherans, there is no sacrament unless the elements are used according to Christ's institution (consecration, distribution, and reception). This was first formulated in the Wittenberg Concord of 1536 in the formula: Nihil habet rationem sacramenti extra usum a Christo institutum ("Nothing has the character of a sacrament apart from the use instituted by Christ"). In following this formula or theological principle, some Lutherans have opposed in the Christian Church the reservation of the consecrated elements, private masses, the practice of Corpus Christi, and the belief that the presence of Christ's body and blood continue in the reliquæ (what remains of the consecrated elements after all have communed in the worship service). This interpretation is not universal among Lutherans, and is implicitly (and, in some cases, explicitly) discouraged by the rubrics of the Lutheran Book of Worship - Minister's Desk Edition, and the Lutheran Book of Occasional Services. The consecrated elements are treated with respect, and in some areas are reserved as in Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Anglican practice, but formal Eucharistic adoration is not typically practiced. To remove any scruple of doubt or superstition the reliquæ traditionally are either consumed or poured into the earth, except that a small amount may be kept for delivery to those too ill or infirm to attend the service. In this case, the consecrated elements are to be delivered quickly, preserving the connection between the communion experienced by the ill person, and the communion of the rest of the congregation.

Lutherans use the terms "in, with and under the forms of [consecrated] bread and wine" and "Sacramental Union" to distinguish their understanding of the Lord's Supper from those of the Reformed and other traditions. More liberal Lutheran churches tend to practice open communion, inviting all who are baptized to participate. Conservative Lutheran churches are more likely to practice closed communion or close communion, restricting participation to those, who are more or less in doctrinal agreement with them. This might involve the formal declaration of "altar and pulpit fellowship," another term for eucharistic sharing coupled with the acceptance of the ministrations of one another's clergy.

Eucharist - Methodism: presence as mystery

The followers of John Wesley have typically affirmed that the grace of Christ is experienced via his real presence in the sacrament, but have allowed the details to remain a mystery, rejecting the doctrine of transubstantiation (see "Article XVIII" of the Articles of Religion, Means of Grace). In 2004, the United Methodist Church more clearly defined its view of the sacrament and its belief in the Real Presence in an official document entitled This Holy Mystery.

Eucharist - Calvinist Reformed: spiritual feeding pneumatic presence

Many Reformed Christians, particularly those following John Calvin, hold that Christ's body and blood do not come down to inhabit the elements, but that "the Spirit truly unites things separated in space" (Calvin).

Following a phrase of Augustine, the Calvinist view is that "no one bears away from this Sacrament more than is gathered with the vessel of faith". "The flesh and blood of Christ are no less truly given to the unworthy than to God's elect believers", Calvin said, "but those who partake by faith receive benefit from Christ, and the unbelieving are condemned by partaking. By faith (not a mere mental apprehension), and in the Holy Spirit, the partaker beholds God incarnate, and in the same sense touches him with hands, so that by eating and drinking of bread and wine Christ's actual presence penetrates to the heart of the believer more nearly than food swallowed with the mouth can enter in."

Calvin specifically rejected adoration of the Eucharistic bread and wine as "idolatry", however. The elements may be disposed of without ceremony; they are unchanged, and as such the meal directs attention toward Christ's bodily resurrection and return.

Eucharist - Zwinglian Reformed: no Real Presence

Some Protestant groups see Communion (also called the Lord's Supper or the Lord's Table) as a symbolic meal, a memorial of the Last Supper and the Passion in which nothing miraculous occurs. This view is known as the Zwinglian view, after Huldrych Zwingli, a Swiss leader during the Reformation. It is commonly associated with Baptists and the Disciples of Christ.

Some of the Reformed hold that Calvin actually held this view, and not the Spiritual feeding idea more commonly attributed to him; or that the two views are really the same.

Eucharist - Summary of views

Because Jesus Christ is a person, theologies regarding the Eucharist involve consideration of the way in which the communicant's personal relationship with God is fed through this mystical meal. However, debates over Eucharistic theology in the West have centered not on the personal aspects of Christ's presence but on the metaphysical. The opposing views are summarized below.

• Transubstantiation – the substance (fundamental reality) of the bread and wine is transformed in a way beyond human comprehension into that of the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ, but the accidents (physical traits, including chemical properties) of the bread and wine remain; this view is held by the Roman Catholic Church and many Anglicans, especially Anglo-Catholic Anglicans.
• "In, with and under the forms" - the body and blood of Jesus Christ are substantially present in, with and under the substance of the bread and wine, which remain. This is the view held by most Lutherans, and some Anglicans. Some refer to this view as consubstantiation, but many Lutherans reject this term.
• Objective reality, but pious silence about technicalities - the view of all the ancient Churches of the East, including the Eastern Orthodox, the Oriental Orthodox, and the Assyrian Church of the East as well as perhaps most Anglicans. These, while agreeing with the Roman Catholic belief that the sacrament is not merely bread and wine but truly the body and blood of Christ, have not adopted the "substance" and "accidents" terminology, preferring not to scrutinize the technicalities of the transformation. Orthodox Christians generally speak of metousiosis (a few translate this as "transessentiation") in this regard. Most Eastern Christians, as well as some Anglicans, would understand this view as being "incarnational," reflecting the analogy Justin Martyr drew between the incarnation of the eternal divine Logos and the presence of that incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, in the consecrated bread and wine.
• Real Spiritual presence also called "pneumatic presence" - not only the spirit, but also the true body and blood of Jesus Christ (hence "real") are received by the sovereign, mysterious, and miraculous power of the Holy Spirit (hence "spiritual"), but only by those partakers who have faith. This view approaches the "pious silence" view in its unwillingness to specify how the Holy Spirit makes Christ present, but positively excludes not just symbolism but also trans- and con-substantiation. It is also known as "mystical presence," and is held by most Reformed Christians, such as Presbyterians, as well as some Methodists and some Anglicans, particularly Low Church Reformed Anglicans. See Westminster Confession of Faith, ch. 19. This understanding is often called "receptionism." Some argue that this view can be seen as being suggested—though not by any means clearly—by the "invocation" of the Anglican Rite as found in the American Book of Common Prayer, 1928 and earlier and in Rite I of the American BCP of 1979 as well as in other Anglican formularies:

• Symbolism - the bread and wine are symbolic of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, and in partaking of the elements the believer commemorates the sacrificial death of Christ. This view is also known as "memorialism" and Zwinglianism after Ulrich Zwingli and is held by several Protestant denominations, including most Baptists.
• Suspension - the partaking of the bread and wine was not intended to be a perpetual ordinance, or was not to be taken as a religious rite or ceremony (also known as adeipnonism, meaning "no supper" or "no meal"). This is the view of Quakers and the Salvation Army, as well as the hyperdispensationalist positions of E. W. Bullinger, Cornelius R. Stam, and others.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Christian Theology", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki