Eucharistic theology

This article is about the theology of the Eucharist. For a general overview of the Eucharist, see Eucharist.

Preparation shown for the celebration of the Eucharist.

Eucharistic theology is a branch of Christian theology which treats doctrines concerning the Holy Eucharist, also commonly known as the Lord's Supper. It exists exclusively in Christianity and related religions, as others generally do not contain a Eucharistic ceremony.

In the Gospel accounts of Jesus' earthly ministry, a crowd of listeners challenges him regarding the rain of manna before he delivers the famous Bread of Life Discourse (John 6:22–59), and he describes himself as the "True Bread from Heaven". The aforementioned Bread of Life Discourse occurs in the Gospel of John, 6:30-59. Therein, Jesus promises to give His Flesh and Blood, which will give eternal life to all who receive It. In John 6:53, Jesus says, "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." And continues, (v. 54-55) "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." Every year, the nation of Israel celebrated the Passover Meal, remembering and celebrating their liberation from captivity in Egypt. It was at the Passover that Jesus Christ celebrated the Last Supper with his Apostles.

Saint Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 11:23–26) and the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew (26:26-28), Mark (14:22-24), and Luke (22:19-20) state that Jesus, in the course of the Last Supper on the night before his death and resurrection, said: "This is my body", and "This is my blood". For instance, Matthew recounts: "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body; And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." The Gospel of John, on the other hand, makes no mention of this. One explanation offered is that he wrote his Gospel to supplement what the other evangelists had already written.

Overview

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.

Real presence

Main article: Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist

Transubstantiation

Main article: Transubstantiation

The substance (fundamental reality) of the bread and wine is changed 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 taught by the Roman Catholic Church, and is held by some Anglicans in Anglo-Catholic circles.

The terminology of transubstantiation was adopted within the Eastern Orthodox Church by the Synod of Jerusalem (1672). It is not recognized as having the authority of an Ecumenical Council and has been criticized for a perceived tendency toward Latinization. Eastern Christians generally prefer not to be tied down by the specifics of the defined doctrine of transubstantiation, though they all agree with the definition's conclusion about the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. They prefer simply to use the term "change" (Greek: μεταβολή), as in the epiclesis of the Divine Liturgy, to describe the change of the bread and wine into the actual Body and Blood of Christ. (See "Objective reality, silence about technicalities", below.)

The Church of the East and those of Oriental Orthodoxy also believe in Real Presence, but do not explicitly use the word "transubstantiation".

Consubstantiation

Main articles: Consubstantiation and Impanation

"The bread retains its substance and ... Christ’s glorified body comes down into the bread through the consecration and is found there together with the natural substance of the bread, without quantity but whole and complete in every part of the sacramental bread." It was the position of the medieval scholastic doctor Duns Scotus It is erroneously used to denote the position of the Lutheran Church (see below), although some Lutherans and Anglicans identify with this position.

Sacramental union

Main article: Sacramental union

In the "use" of the sacrament, according to the words of Jesus Christ and by the power of his speaking of them once for all, the consecrated bread is united with his body and the consecrated wine with his blood for all communicants, whether believing or unbelieving, to eat and drink. This is the position of the Lutheran Church that echoes the next view with its "pious silence about technicalities" in that it objects to philosophical terms like "consubstantiation."

Objective reality, silence about technicalities

"Objective reality, but pious silence about technicalities" (or "divine [or holy] mystery") is the view of all the ancient Churches of the East, as well as of many Anglicans and Methodists. While they agree that in the sacrament the bread and the wine are really and truly changed into the body and the blood of Christ, and while they have at times employed the terminology of "substance" to explain what is changed, they usually avoid this language, considering it redolent of scholasticism, as presenting speculative metaphysics as doctrine, and as scrutinizing excessively the manner in which the mystical transformation takes place.

Pneumatic presence

"Real Spiritual presence", also called "pneumatic presence", holds that not only the Spirit of Christ, 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 the "mystical presence" view, and is held by some Low Church Reformed Anglicans. 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:

And we most humbly beseech thee, O merciful Father, to hear us, and of thy almighty goodness, vouchsafe to bless and sanctify, with thy Word and Holy Spirit, these thy gifts and creatures of bread and wine; that we, receiving them according to thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ's holy institution, in remembrance of his death and passion, may be partakers of his most blessed body and blood.

Memorialism

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. Christ is not present in the sacrament, except in the minds and hearts of the communicants. This view is also known as "memorialism" and "Zwinglianism" after Huldrych Zwingli and is held by several Protestant and Latter-day Saint 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.

Efficacy of the rite

Main article: Ex opere operato

Eastern and Western eucharistic traditions generally agree with St. Augustine of Hippo in teaching that the efficacy of the sacraments as a means of divine grace does not depend on the worthiness of the priest or minister administering them. Augustine developed this concept in his controversy with the Donatists.

Theologies of different churches

Orthodox Church

Lamb (host) and Chalice during an Orthodox celebration of the Liturgy of St. James.

Main articles: Divine Liturgy and Metousiosis

The Eucharist is at the center of Eastern Christian faith communities, both Orthodox and Eastern Catholic. Orthodox Eastern Christians affirm the real presence in the Sacred Mysteries (consecrated bread and wine) which they believe to be the actual Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The Eucharist is normally received in the context of the Divine Liturgy. The bread and wine are believed to become the genuine Body and Blood of Christ Jesus through the operation of the Holy Spirit. The Eastern Orthodox Church has never described exactly how this occurs, or gone into the detail that the Roman Catholic Church has with the doctrine of transubstantiation. This doctrine was formulated after the Great Schism took place, and the Eastern Orthodox churches have never formally affirmed or denied it, preferring to state simply that it is a "Mystery", while at the same time using, as in the 1672 Synod of Jerusalem, language that might look similar as to one that is used by the Roman Catholic Church.

Communion is given only to baptized, chrismated Orthodox Christians who have prepared by fasting, prayer, and confession (different rules apply for children, elderly, sick, pregnant, etc. and are determined on a case-by-case basis by parish priests). The priest administers the Gifts with a spoon directly into the recipient's mouth from the chalice. From baptism young infants and children are carried to the chalice to receive Holy Communion.

The holy gifts reserved for the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts or communion of the sick are specially consecrated as needed, especially on Holy Thursday. They are kept in an elaborately decorated tabernacle, a container on the altar often in the shape of a church. Generally, Eastern Christians do not adore the consecrated bread outside the Liturgy itself. After the Eucharist has been given to the congregation, the priest or the deacon has to eat and drink everything that is left.

Russian icon of the Last Supper (1497).

In the Orthodox Churches, the Eucharistic celebration is known as the Divine Liturgy and is believed to impart the actual Body and Blood of Christ to the faithful. In the act of communion, the entire Church—past, present, and even future—is united in eternity. In Orthodox Eucharistic theology, although many separate Divine Liturgies may be celebrated, there is only one Bread and one Cup throughout all the world and throughout all time.

The most perfect expression of the Eucharistic unity of the church is found in the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy (i.e., a Liturgy at which a bishop is the chief celebrant), for as St. Ignatius of Antioch stated, where the bishop is, surrounded by his clergy and faithful, there is the church in all of her fullness.

The Anaphora (Eucharistic prayer) contains an anamnesis (lit. "making present") which not only recounts the historical facts of Jesus' death and resurrection, but actually makes them present, forming an undivided link to the one unique event on Calvary. The Anaphora ends with an epiclesis ("calling down from on high") during which the priest invokes the Holy Spirit to come and "change" the Gifts (elements of bread and wine) into the actual Body and Blood of Christ. Orthodox theology does not make use of the term "transubstantiation" to systematically describe how the Gifts become the Body and Blood of Christ; rather, they state that it is a Sacred Mystery, and prefer to use only the word "change". The Orthodox do not link the moment the Gifts change to the Words of Institution, or indeed to any one particular moment. They merely affirm that the change is completed at the Epiclesis.

Roman Catholic Church

Main article: Eucharist in the Catholic Church

Pope Benedict XVI celebrates the Eucharist at the canonization of Frei Galvão in São Paulo, Brazil on 11 May 2007

In the Roman Catholic Church, the Eucharist is fervently revered in view of the Church's doctrine that, when bread and wine are consecrated in the Eucharist, they cease to be bread and wine and become the body and blood of Christ. The empirical appearances continue to exist unchanged, but the reality is changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, who has been called down upon the bread and wine. The separate consecrations of the bread (known as the host) and of the wine symbolizes the separation of Jesus' body from his blood at Calvary. However, since he has risen, the Church teaches that his body and blood are no longer actually separated. Where one is, the other must be. Therefore, although the priest (or other 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, body and blood, soul and divinity. This belief is succinctly summarised in St. Thomas Aquinas' hymn, Adoro Te Devote.

The mysterious change of the reality of the bread and wine began to be called "transubstantiation" in the 11th century. The earliest known text in which the term appears is a sermon of 1079 by Gilbert of Savardin, Archbishop of Tours, (Patrologia Latina CLXXI 776). The first appearance of the term in a papal document was in the letter of Pope Innocent III Cum Marthae circa to a certain John, Archbishop of Lyon, 29 November 1202, then briefly in the decree Firmiter credimus of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) and afterward in the book "Iamdudum" sent to the Armenians in the year 1341. An explanation utilizing Aristotle's hylomorphic theory of reality did not appear until the thirteenth century, with Alexander of Hales (died 1245).

The actual moment of change is believed to be the priest's liturgical recitation of the Words of Institution: "This is my Body…" and "This is my Blood…".

At a celebration of the Eucharist at Lourdes, the chalice is shown to the people immediately after the consecration of the wine.

The Eucharist is a sacrifice in that it re-presents (makes present again) the sacrifice of the cross. The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice. Christ, of course, is not sacrificed again because the one sacrifice of the Cross was accomplished "once for all" and cannot be repeated. The Mass is a liturgical representation of a sacrifice that makes present what it represents through the action of God in an unbloody manner. The Eucharist is not merely a commemoration of Christ's sacrifice on Golgotha: it also makes that sacrifice truly present. The priest and victim of the sacrifice are one and the same (Christ), with the difference that the Eucharist is offered in an unbloody manner.

The only ministers who can celebrate the Eucharist and consecrate the sacrament are ordained priests (either bishops or presbyters) 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 the Father in the name of the Church. The matter used must be wheaten bread and grape wine; this is considered essential for validity.

Catholics may receive Holy Communion outside of Mass, normally only as the host. Consecrated hosts are kept in a tabernacle after the celebration of Mass and brought to the sick or dying during the week. A large consecrated host is sometimes displayed in a monstrance outside of Mass, to be the focus of prayer and Eucharistic adoration.

The Eucharist is seen as the foundation and the centre of all Catholic devotion. One of the seven Sacraments, it is referred to as the Blessed Sacrament, and is taught to bestow grace upon the recipient, removing venial sin. Reception of the Eucharist and of the sacrament of Confession is a condition for receiving indulgences granted for some acts of piety.

For fear of desecration, the Eucharist may not be received by any in a state of mortal sin, nor (generally) by non-Catholics. However, in exceptional circumstances non-Catholic Christians who share the belief of the Catholic Church in the Eucharist are permitted to receive it.

Anglicanism

Main article: Anglican Eucharistic theology

The historical position of the Church of England 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) and that "Transubstantiation is repugnant to Holy Writ". However, the Articles also state that adoration, or worship per se, of the consecrated elements was not commanded by Christ. It also stated that those who receive unworthily do not actually receive Christ but rather their own condemnation.

Anglicans generally and officially believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, 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. There are also small minorities on the one hand who affirm transubstantiation or, on the other, reject the doctrine of the Real Presence altogether. The classic Anglican aphorism with regard to this debate is found in a poem by John Donne (sometimes attributed to Elizabeth I):

He was the Word that spake it;

He took the bread and brake it;

and what that Word did make it;

I do believe and take it.

An imprecisely defined view known as receptionism common among 16th and 17th-century Anglican theologians is that, although in the Eucharist the bread and wine remain unchanged, the faithful communicant receives together with them the body and blood of Christ.

An Anglican response concerning the Eucharistic Sacrifice ("Sacrifice of the Mass") was set forth in the response Saepius officio of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to Pope Leo XIII's Papal Encyclical Apostolicae curae.

In 1971, the Anglican and Roman Catholic International Commission announced that it had reached "substantial agreement on the doctrine of the Eucharist" in the Windsor Statement on Eucharistic Doctrine from the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Consultation and the later (1979) Elucidation of the ARCIC Windsor Statement but this was questioned in 1991 by the Official Roman Catholic Final Response to the ARCIC Full Report.

Lutheranism

Main article: Eucharist in the Lutheran Church

Lutherans believe that the Body and Blood of Christ are "truly and substantially present in, with and under the forms" of consecrated bread and wine (the elements), so that communicants eat and drink both the elements and the true Body and Blood of Christ himself in the Sacrament of the Eucharist whether they are believers or unbelievers. The Lutheran doctrine of the real presence is also known as the sacramental union. This theology was first formally and publicly confessed in the Wittenberg Concord. It has also been called "consubstantiation" but most Lutheran theologians reject the use of this term as it creates confusion with an earlier doctrine of the same name. Some Lutherans do believe in consubstantiation. Lutherans use the term "in, with and under the forms of consecrated bread and wine" and "sacramental union" to distinguish their understanding of the Eucharist from those of the Reformed and other traditions.

At some American Lutheran churches (LCMS and WELS for example), closed communion is practiced (meaning the Lutheran Eucharistic catechetical instruction is required for all people before receiving the Eucharist.). This is also practiced in many European Lutheran churches as well. Other American Lutheran churches, such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, practice open communion (meaning the Eucharist is offered to adults without receiving the catechetical instruction, as long as they are a baptized Christian).

The weekly Eucharist has been strongly encouraged by the bishops and priests/pastors and is now the common practice among some Lutherans.

Methodism

A United Methodist Elder consecrates the elements

Methodists understand the eucharist to be an experience of God's grace. God's unconditional love makes the table of God's grace accessible to all.

According to the Articles of Religion in the Book of Discipline of the Methodist Church,

The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to have among themselves one to another, but rather is a sacrament of our redemption by Christ's death; in so much that, to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith receive the same, the bread which we break is a partaking of the body of Christ; and likewise the cup of blessing is a partaking of the blood of Christ.

Transubstantiation, or the change of the substance of bread and wine in the Supper of our Lord, cannot be proved by Holy Writ, but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions.

The body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper, only after a heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper is faith.

The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was not by Christ's ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshiped.

There are various acceptable modes of receiving the Eucharist for Methodists. Some Methodists kneel at the altar, sometimes referred to as the communion table. In other churches, communicants stand or are served in the pew. Most Methodist Churches use unfermented grape juice instead of alcoholic wine (though there is no official restriction for United Methodists), and either leavened yeast bread or unleavened bread. The wine may be distributed in small cups, but the use of a common cup and the practice of communion by intinction (where the bread is dipped into the common cup and both elements are consumed together) is becoming more common among many Methodists.

The United Methodist Church believes in the real presence of Jesus Christ in Holy Communion:

Jesus Christ, who "is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being" (Hebrews 1:3), is truly present in Holy Communion. Through Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit, God meets us at the Table. God, who has given the sacraments to the church, acts in and through Holy Communion. Christ is present through the community gathered in Jesus' name (Matthew 18:20), through the Word proclaimed and enacted, and through the elements of bread and wine shared (1 Corinthians 11:23–26). The divine presence is a living reality and can be experienced by participants; it is not a remembrance of the Last Supper and the Crucifixion only.

The followers of John Wesley, himself an Anglican clergyman, have typically affirmed that the sacrament of Holy Communion is an instrumental Means of Grace through which the real presence of Christ is communicated to the believer, but have otherwise allowed the details to remain a mystery. In particular, Methodists reject the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation (see "Article XVIII" of the Articles of Religion, Means of Grace). In 2004, the United Methodist Church reaffirmed its view of the sacrament and its belief in the Real Presence in an official document entitled This Holy Mystery. Of particular note here is the Church's unequivocal recognition of the anamnesis as more than just a memorial but, rather, a re-presentation of Christ Jesus:

Holy Communion is remembrance, commemoration, and memorial, but this remembrance is much more than simply intellectual recalling. "Do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24–25) is anamnesis (the biblical Greek word). This dynamic action becomes re-presentation of past gracious acts of God in the present, so powerfully as to make them truly present now. Christ is risen and is alive here and now, not just remembered for what was done in the past.

This affirmation of Real Presence can be seen clearly illustrated in the language of the United Methodist Eucharistic Liturgy (for example: Word and Table 1) where, in the epiclesis of the Great Thanksgiving, the celebrating minister prays over the elements:

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.

For most United Methodists — and, indeed, for much of Methodism as a whole — this reflects the furthest extent to which they are willing to go in defining Real Presence. They will assert that Jesus is really present, and that the means of this presence is a "Holy Mystery"; the celebrating minister will pray for the Holy Spirit to make the elements "be the body and blood of Christ", and the congregation will even sing, as in the third stanza of Charles Wesley's hymn Come Sinners to the Gospel Feast:

Come and partake the gospel feast,

Be saved from sin, in Jesus rest;

O taste the goodness of our God,

and eat his flesh and drink his blood.

Methodists believe that Holy Communion should not only be available to the clergy in both forms (the Bread and the Cup), but to the layman as well. According to Article XIX of the Articles of Religion in the Book of Discipline of the Methodist Church,

The cup of the Lord is not to be denied to the lay people; for both the parts of the Lord's Supper, by Christ's ordinance and commandment, ought to be administered to all Christians alike.

Calvinism

Communion service in the Three-kings Church, Frankfurt am Main.

Many Reformed Christians hold that Christ's body and blood are not corporeally (physically) present in the Eucharist, but really present in a spiritual way. The elements are spiritual nourishment in Christ by faith. According to John Calvin,

The sum is, that the flesh and blood of Christ feed our souls just as bread and wine maintain and support our corporeal life. For there would be no aptitude in the sign, did not our souls find their nourishment in Christ. [...] I hold...that the sacred mystery of the Supper consists of two things—the corporeal signs, which, presented to the eye, represent invisible things in a manner adapted to our weak capacity, and the spiritual truth, which is at once figured and exhibited by the signs.

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. Faith, not a mere mental apprehension, and the work of the Holy Spirit, are necessary for the partaker to behold God incarnate, and in the same sense touch Christ with their 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. The 'experience' of Eucharist, or the Lord's Supper, has traditionally been spoken of in the following way: the faithful believers are 'lifted up' by the power of the Holy Spirit to feast with Christ in heaven. The Lord's Supper in this way is truly a 'Spiritual' experience as the Holy Spirit is directly involved in the action of 'eucharist'.

The Calvinist/Reformed view also places great emphasis on the action of the community as the Body of Christ. As the faith community participates in the action of celebrating the Lord's Supper they are 'transformed' into the Body of Christ, or 'reformed' into the Body of Christ each time they participate in this sacrament. In this sense it has been said that the term "transubstantiation" can be applied to the Faith Community (the Church) itself being transformed into the real Body and Blood of Christ truly present in the world.

Although Calvin rejected adoration of the Eucharistic bread and wine as "idolatry" later Reformed Christians have argued otherwise. Leftover elements may be disposed of without ceremony (or reused in later services); they are unchanged, and as such the meal directs attention toward Christ's bodily resurrection and return.

Christians in the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. and some Christians in the United Church of Christ would reverently endorse this view.

Theology in the mainline branch of this tradition is in flux, and recent agreements between these denominations and the Lutherans have stressed that: "The theological diversity within our common confession provides both the complementarity needed for a full and adequate witness to the gospel (mutual affirmation) and the corrective reminder that every theological approach is a partial and incomplete witness to the Gospel (mutual admonition) (A Common Calling, page 66)." Hence, in seeking to come to consensus about the Real Presence, the churches have written:

"During the Reformation both Reformed and Lutheran Churches exhibited an evangelical intention when they understood the Lord's Supper in the light of the saving act of God in Christ. Despite this common intention, different terms and concepts were employed which. . . led to mutual misunderstanding and misrepresentation. Properly interpreted, the differing terms and concepts were often complementary rather than contradictory (Marburg Revisited, pp. 103-104);"

and further:

"In the Lord's Supper the risen Christ imparts himself in body and blood, given up for all, through his word of promise with bread and wine....we proclaim the death of Christ through which God has reconciled the world with himself. We proclaim the presence of the risen Lord in our midst. Rejoicing that the Lord has come to us, we await his future coming in glory....Both of our communions, we maintain, need to grow in appreciation of our diverse eucharistic traditions, finding mutual enrichment in them. At the same time both need to grow toward a further deepening of our common experience and expression of the mystery of our Lord's Supper."

Zwinglianism

Main article: Memorialism

Some Protestant groups regard the Eucharist (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 Church leader in Zurich, Switzerland during the Reformation. It is commonly associated with the United Church of Christ, Baptists, the Disciples of Christ and the Mennonites. As with the Reformed view, elements left over from the service may be discarded without any formal ceremony, or if feasible may be retained for use in future services.

The successor of Zwingli in Zurich, Heinrich Bullinger, came to an agreement theologically with John Calvin. The Consensus Tigurinus lays out an explanation of the doctrine of the Sacraments in general, and specifically, that of Holy Communion, as the view embraced by John Calvin and leaders of the Church of Zurich who followed Zwingli. It demonstrates that at least the successors of Zwingli held to the real spiritual presence view most commonly attributed to Calvin and Reformed Protestantism.

The Plymouth Brethren hold the Lord's Supper, or the Breaking of Bread, instituted in the upper room on Christ's betrayal night, to be the weekly remembrance feast enjoined on all true Christians. They celebrate the supper in utmost simplicity. Among "closed" Brethren assemblies usually any one of the brothers gives thanks for the loaf and the cup. In conservative "open" Brethren assemblies usually two different brothers give thanks, one for the loaf and the other for the cup. In liberal "open" Brethren assemblies (or churches/community chapels, etc.) sisters also participate with audible prayer.

Baptists

• primary theological development from 16th and 17th centuries
• Eucharistic theology: Memorialism
• Independent Baptists hold to the Relational Presence
• Calvinistic Baptists, in agreement with Presbyterians and the Reformed churches, hold to the doctrine of Pneumatic Presence. The doctrine is articulated in the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith and the Catechism.
• "The bread and cup that symbolize the broken body and shed blood offered by Christ remind us today of God's great love for us..."
• see Huldrych Zwingli, open communion

Quakers and the Salvation Army

• primary theological development from the 17th century
• Eucharistic theology: suspension/Memorialism
• "The bread and wine remind us of Jesus' body and blood."
• Quakers understand all of life as being sacramental and thus do not practice baptism or holy communion. "We believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit and in communion with that Spirit. If the believer experiences such spiritual baptism and communion, then no rite or ritual is necessary. ...The Quaker ideal is to make every meal at every table a Lord's Supper."
• Quakers and Salvationists do not practice Holy Communion in their worship, believing it was not meant to be a perpetually mandated ritual

Moravian Church

Most Moravians hold an understanding of Holy Communion that is similar to Lutherans; however, because the exact meaning of the Eucharist is not defined in Scripture, all understandings of the ceremony are accepted. Each individual believer must arrive at his or her own understanding of the Eucharistic experience. As a result, during the Moravian service of Holy Communion, only the scriptural words of institution are used, and thematic hymns are sung during the serving of the sacrament. Believers may understand the ceremony to be Transubstantiation, Consubstantiation, or that Christ is spiritually present.

The Moravian Church practices open communion. All baptized Christians who have confirmed their faith may join in Holy Communion.

Latter Day Saint movement

Main article: Sacrament (Latter Day Saints)

Among Latter Day Saints (or Mormons), the Eucharist (in LDS theology it is "The Sacrament") is partaken in remembrance of the blood and body of Jesus Christ. It is viewed as a renewal of the covenant made at baptism, which is to take upon oneself the name of Jesus. As such, it is considered efficacious only for baptized members in good standing. However, the unbaptized are not forbidden from communion, and it is traditional for children not yet baptized (baptism occurs only after the age of eight) to participate in communion in anticipation of baptism. Those who partake of the Sacrament promise always to remember Jesus and keep his commandments. The prayer also asks God the Father that each individual will be blessed with the Spirit of Christ.

The Sacrament is offered weekly and all active members are taught to prepare to partake of each opportunity. It is considered to be a weekly renewal of a member's commitment to follow Jesus Christ, and a plea for forgiveness of sins.

The Latter Day Saints do not believe in any kind of literal presence. They view the bread and water as symbolic of the body and blood of Christ. Currently The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints uses water instead of wine. Early in their history the Sacrament wine was often purchased from enemies of the church. To remove any opportunity for poisoned or unfit wine for use in the Sacrament, it is believed a revelation from the Lord was given that stated "it mattereth not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink when ye partake of the sacrament, if it so be that ye do it with an eye single to my glory — remembering unto the Father my body which was laid down for you, and my blood which was shed for the remission of your sins." After this time water was permitted in place of wine, but the church continued to use wine for the sacrament until the early 20th century. As the church's prohibition on alcohol became solidified in the early 20th century, water became the liquid of choice for the Sacrament, although in situations where clean water and/or fresh bread is unavailable the closest equivalent may be used.

Seventh-day Adventists

The Seventh-day Adventists believe that the Lord's Supper is "a participation in the emblems of the body and blood of Jesus as an expression of faith in Him, our Lord and Saviour." In the communion service "Christ is present to meet and strengthen His people."

Branch Davidian Seventh Day Adventists

Main article: Branch Davidian views of the Lord's Supper

The Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists base their belief on the Bible and reject later traditions. They teach that the Lord's Supper is not a sacrificial ceremony, but the common Agape feast.

See also

• Origin of the Eucharist
• Anglican Eucharistic theology
• Eucharistic discipline
• Historical roots of Catholic Eucharistic theology

Further reading

• Borgen, Ole E. John Wesley on the Sacraments: a Theological Study. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Francis Asbury Press, 1985, cop. 1972. 307 p. ISBN 0-310-75191-8

External links

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• The Theology of the Lord's Supper by Gaylin R. Schmeling (A Confessional Lutheran perspective)
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