What Is Transubstantiation? Catholic Teaching and Critiques

　　And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:19-20)

　　In the Last Supper of Christ and His disciples, Jesus offers bread and wine as His body and blood for his followers to partake "in remembrance" of Him. The Christian practice of commemorating Christ's body and blood has developed differently for the various branches of Christianity. One teaching of communion, predominant in the Catholic church, is transubstantiation. Let's look at the actual Catholic doctrine, biblical references, and critiques:

　　

Transubstantiation Definition

In Christianity, transubstantiation is the change by which the substance (not the appearance) of the bread and wine in the Eucharist becomes Christ’s real presence—His body and blood. (Britannica)

　　According to Merriam-Webster, transubstantiation is defined as "the miraculous change by which, according to Roman Catholic dogma, the eucharistic elements at their consecration become the body and blood of Christ while keeping only the appearances of bread and wine."

　　The non-religious meaning of transubstantiation is "to change into another substance, or essence," synonymous with transmute or transform.

　　

Catholic Teaching of Transubstantiation

In Roman Catholicism, the doctrine of transubstantiation was first named as such in the 12th century. This dogma seeks to defend the literal truth of Christ’s presence while highlighting that there is no change in the empirical appearances of the bread and wine. The teaching of transubstantiation, proposed by Scholastic theologians from the 13th to the 15th century, was included into the documents of the Council of Trent (1545-63).

　　The Council of Trent declared: “Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation.” (CCC 1376)

　　As found in a Catholic Dictionary,

　　Transubstantiation: The complete change of the substance of bread and wine into the substance of Christ's body and blood by a validly ordained priest during the consecration at Mass so that only the accidents of bread and wine remain. While the faith behind the term itself was already believed in apostolic times, the phrase was later developed. With the Eastern Fathers before the sixth century, the favored expression was meta-ousiosis, "change of being"; the Latin tradition coined the word transubstantiatio, "change of substance," which was incorporated into the creed of the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215. The Council of Trent, in defining the "wonderful and singular conversion of the whole substance of the wine into the blood" of Christ, added "which conversion the Catholic Church calls transubstantiation" (Denzinger 1652). after transubstantiation, the accidents of bread and wine do not inhere in any subject or substance whatever. Yet they are not make-believe; they are sustained in existence by divine power. (Etym. Latin trans-, so as to change + substantia, substance: transubstantio, change of substance.)

　　

Is Transubstantiation in the Bible?

The central passage of Scripture that Roman Catholics use as evidence that Transubstantiation occurs is John 6:53-57 where Jesus said to them:

　　“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.”

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Critiques of Transubstantiation

Protestant Commentary:

　　In response to transubstantiation, Martin Luther presented an alternative with his doctrine of what came to be called consubstantiation. He taught that Christ’s body and blood are substantially present alongside the bread and wine. This varied from transubstantiation in that there was no change in the substance of the bread and wine itself. However, Luther’s approach was susceptible to comparable objections to those of transubstantiation. Huldrych Zwingli, another Reformer and contemporary of Luther, encouraged the idea that the Lord’s Supper is simply symbolic and only memorializes Christ’s work on the cross. Zwingli’s opinion is now widely accepted in many evangelical circles today. (DesiringGod.org)

　　Orthodox Commentary:

　　In the Orthodox tradition, you will find it taught variously that this change takes place anywhere between the Proskomedia (the Liturgy of Preparation)—which is now a separate service prior to both Orthros and the Divine Liturgy on a typical Sunday, though traditionally, it is done during Orthros—and the Epiklesis (“calling down”), or invocation of the Holy Spirit “upon us and upon these gifts here set forth” (as in Chrysostom’s liturgy). As such, the gifts should be treated with reverence throughout the service. We don’t know the exact time the change takes place, which is left to mystery. This view is standard among those such as the reposed Fr. Alexander Schmemann and others. However, many in the Orthodox tradition will also insist the change does actually take place at the words of the invocation.

　　The critical point of emphasis in the Eastern tradition is not whether or not a change takes place (even if we can’t understand or describe it precisely) but that it does emphatically take place. (Ancient Faith)

　　

Bible Verses on the Body and Blood of Christ

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (Matthew 26:26-28)

　　The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)

　　For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-25)