Block, SkipCaptcha, Upload, Automoderated users, edit, move, protect
30,891
edits
Changes
added section authored by me (as espresso-con-pana) and later rejected by Wikipedia copied and pasted from back history of Wikipedia article "Transubstantiation"
As to whether or not the Communion bread and wine cease to be bread and wine (i.e. Transubstantiation, a change-over of substance into another substance) while taking on the presence of Christ, Protestants maintain that there is no Biblical evidence which supports that speculation.
As to whether or not the Communion bread and wine cease to be bread and wine (i.e. Transubstantiation, a change-over of substance into another substance) while taking on the presence of Christ, Protestants maintain that there is no Biblical evidence which supports that speculation.
==In Roman Catholic theology==
"Substance" here means what something is in itself, its "essence". A hat's shape is not the hat itself, nor is its colour, size, softness to the touch, nor anything else about it perceptible to the senses. The hat itself (the "substance") ''has'' the shape, the color, the size, the softness and the other appearances, but is distinct from them.<ref>This illustration is given in [http://books.google.com/books?ei=DfqWTNTxIpHBswb30Yxb&ct=result&id=4cU9AAAAIAAJ&dq=Catholic+Evidence+Training+Outlines&q=hat#search_anchor Maisie Ward and F. J. Sheed, ''Catholic Evidence Training Outlines'' (Sheed & Ward, third edition 1935), p. 240.]</ref> While the appearances, which are also referred to, though not in the Church's [[Dogma|official teaching]], by the philosophical term '[[accident (philosophy)|accidents]]', are perceptible to the senses, the substance is not.<ref>"The word 'substance' as here used is not a technical philosophical term, such as might be found in the philosophy of Aristotle. It was used in the early Middle Ages long before the works of Aristotle were current. 'Substance' in common-sense usage denotes the basic reality of the thing, i.e., what it is in itself. Derived from the Latin root 'sub-stare', it means what stands under the appearances, which can shift from one moment to the next while leaving the subject intact. Appearances can be deceptive. You might fail to recognize me when I put on a disguise or when I become seriously ill, but I do not cease to be the person that I was; my substance is unchanged. There is nothing obscure, then, about the meaning of 'substance' in this context" ([http://www.30giorni.it/us/articolo.asp?id=9352 [[Avery Dulles]]: Christ's Presence in the Eucharist: True, Real and Substantial).]</ref>
Consider the classic example<ref>[[Plato]], [[Aristotle]], [[Augustine]], [[Plotinus]], [[Thomas Aquinas]], [[Duns Scotus]], [[Bonaventure]], et al. ''For more detailed treatment and bibliographical links and references see'' [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11090c.htm The Catholic Encyclopedia, ''"Nominalism, Realism, and Conceptualism"''], [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/universals-medieval/ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ''"The Medieval Problem of Universals"''], and [http://www.friesian.com/universl.htm "Meaning and the Problem of Universals, ''A Kant-Friesian Approach''"]</ref> of the [[Human nature|human body]]. All of the separate chemical compounds, minerals and water—which when piled together constitute the sum total of the actual physical matter of the human body—are not of themselves a human body, however much they may be physically compounded and mixed and rearranged in the laboratory, since they are still only a pile of [[Organic chemistry|organic chemicals]], minerals and water in a particular complex configuration. If this has never been alive it is not a human body. If they are ''participant'' <ref>See [https://almanac2010.wordpress.com/tag/modo-hoc/ Logical fallacy of Composition (Modo hoc fallacy)]</ref> in the integral physical expression of a living human being who has absorbed and metabolized them, or if they are now the physical remains of a once-living human being, the substance of what they actually are is human, hence, a human body. The substantial reality of what is before us is human. The ''substance'' (substantial reality) of what is seen is not solely that of a complex organization of organic chemical compounds, but is (or has been) someone. The chemical elements of the food a person eats become in a few hours part of that person's human body and are no longer food but have been turned into the human flesh and blood and bone of that person, yet the physical chemical elements of what was once food remain the same (calcium, copper, salt, protein, sugars, fats, water, etc.). The ''substance'' of any matter that has become an integral part of any human being has ceased to be the ''substance'' or ''reality'' of ''food'' and has become incorporated as an integral part of the physical manifestation or expression of that ''human person''. To touch that matter now is not to touch a batch of chemical compounds or food but to touch that person.<ref>''see also'' [[Moderate realism]] ''and'' [[Ontologism]] ''for influences found within the specifically Catholic interpretation of the reality of the human person underlying the outward physical appearance that is the human body. see also ''[[soul]]'' and ''[[incarnation]].</ref>
When at his [[Last Supper]], [[Jesus]] said: "This is my body",<ref>{{bibleverse||Matthew|26:26}}, {{bibleverse||Mark|14:22}}, {{bibleverse||Luke|22:19||}}, {{bibleverse|1|Corinthians|11:24}}</ref> what he held in his hands still had all the ''appearances'' of bread: the "species" remained unchanged. However, the Roman Catholic Church [[Dogma|teaches]] that, when Jesus made that declaration,<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P41.HTM ''Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1356-1381,'' number '''1376''']</ref> the ''underlying reality'' (the "substance") of the bread was changed into that of his body. In other words, it ''actually was'' his body, while all the appearances open to the senses or to scientific investigation were still those of bread, exactly as before. The Catholic Church holds that the same change of the substance of the bread and of the wine occurs at the [[consecration]] of the Eucharist<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P41.HTM ''Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1356-1381,'' number '''1377''']; ''and'' [http://www.30giorni.it/us/articolo.asp?id=9352 Christ's Presence in the Eucharist: True, Real and Substantial]</ref> when the [[Words of Institution|words]] are spoken ''[[in persona Christi]]'' "This is my body ... this is my blood." In Orthodox confessions, the change is said to start during the [[Liturgy of Preparation]] and be completed during the [[Epiklesis]].
Teaching that [[Christ]] is risen from the dead and is alive, the Catholic Church holds that when the bread is changed into his body, not only his body is present, but Christ as a whole is present (i.e. body and blood, soul and divinity.) The same holds for the wine changed into his blood.<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P44.HTM ''Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1406-1409,'' number '''1413''']</ref> This teaching goes beyond the doctrine of transubstantiation, which directly concerns only the transformation of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ.
In accordance with the dogmatic teaching that Christ is really, truly and substantially present under the remaining appearances of bread and wine, and continues to be present as long as those appearances remain, the Catholic Church preserves the consecrated elements, generally in a [[Tabernacle (Catholic)|church tabernacle]], for administering Holy Communion to the sick and dying, and also for the secondary, but still highly prized, purpose of [[Worship|adoring]] Christ [[Real presence|present]] in the [[Eucharist]].
The Roman Catholic Church declares that the doctrine of transubstantiation is concerned with ''what'' is changed, and not ''how'' the change occurs; it teaches that the appearances (the "species") that remain are real, not an illusion, and that Christ is "really, truly, and ''substantially'' present" in the Eucharist.<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P41.HTM ''Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1356-1381,'' number '''1374''']</ref> To touch the smallest particle of the [[Sacramental bread|host]] or the smallest droplet from the [[chalice]] is to touch Jesus Christ himself, as when one person touches another on the back of the hand with only a fingertip and in so doing touches not merely a few skin cells but touches the whole person: "Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ."<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P41.HTM ''Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1356-1381,'' number '''1377'''], '''''Cf.''''' [[Council of Trent]]: DS 1641: "Nor should it be forgotten that Christ, whole and entire, is contained not only under either species, but also in each particle of either species. ''Each,'' says St. Augustine, ''receives Christ the Lord, and He is entire in each portion. He is not diminished by being given to many, but gives Himself whole and entire to each.''" (Quoted in Gratian, p. 3, dist. ii. c. 77; Ambrosian Mass, Preface for Fifth Sunday after Epiph.) —''[[Roman Catechism|The Catechism of the Council of Trent]] for Parish Priests, issued by order of Pope Pius V, translated into English with Notes by John A. McHugh, O.P., S.T.M., Litt. D., and Charles J. Callan, O.P., S.T.M., Litt. D.'', © 1982 by TAN Books and Publishers, Inc., Rockford, Illinois 61105, p. 249 "Christ Whole and Entire Present in Every Part of Each Species" {{cite book |isbn=978-0-89555-185-6}}</ref>
In the arguments which characterised the relationship between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism in the 16th century, the [[Council of Trent]] declared subject to the ecclesiastical penalty of [[Anathema#Roman Catholic Church|anathema]] anyone who:
:"'''denieth''', that, in the sacrament of the most holy Eucharist, are contained truly, really, and substantially, the body and blood together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and consequently the whole Christ; '''but saith''' that He is only therein as in a sign, or in figure, or virtue" and anyone who "'''saith''', that, in the sacred and holy sacrament of the Eucharist, the substance of the bread and wine remains conjointly with the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, '''and denieth''' that wonderful and singular conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the Body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the Blood - the species only of the bread and wine remaining - which conversion indeed the Catholic Church most aptly calls Transubstantiation, let him be anathema."<ref name="history.hanover.edu">[http://history.hanover.edu/early/trent/ct13ce.htm Council of Trent, The Thirteenth Session]</ref>
Protestant denominations have not generally subscribed to belief in transubstantiation or [[consubstantiation]].
As already stated, the Roman Catholic Church [[Truth|asserts]] that the "species" that remain are real. In the sacrament these are the ''[[sign]]s'' of the reality that they [[causality|efficaciously]] signify,<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P3Z.HTM ''Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1333-1344,'' numbers '''1333-1336'''] ''under the heading'' "'''III. The Eucharist in the Economy of Salvation''' The signs of bread and wine".</ref> not [[symbol]]s. And by definition [[sacrament]]s are "efficacious signs of [[Grace (Christianity)#Roman Catholicism|grace]], instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Catholic Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us."<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P35.HTM ''Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1131-1134,'' number '''1131''']</ref>
In ''The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist: The Eucharist and Its Effects'' (2000-2012), James H. Dobbins, citing the work ''This Tremendous Lover'' (1989), by Dom Eugene Boylan,<ref>Boylan, Dom Eugene, ''This Tremendous Lover'', Christian Classics, Westminster, Maryland, 1989, pp. 159-170</ref> expresses the paradox of Holy Communion:
:"Ordinary food is consumed and becomes that which consumes it. In the Eucharist, we consume God and become that which we consume."<ref>[http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharist.org/eucharist/realpres/eucheff.html ''The Eucharist and Its Effects—The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist'', James H. Dobbins (''if site says "404 Error: page not found", enter the article title in the site's Search window'')]. Copyright © 2000-2012 by www.therealpresence.org, Real Presence Eucharistic Education and Adoration Association, 718 Liberty Lane, Lombard, IL 60148, Phone: 815-254-4420</ref>
According to Catholic teaching, the whole of Christ, body and blood, soul and divinity, is in the sacrament, under each of the appearances of bread and wine and in each part of the appearances of bread and wine (since the substance of bread or wine is in each part of ordinary bread or wine, and the substance of Christ is in each part of the consecrated and transubstantiated elements of the [[sacramental bread|host]] and the [[blood of Christ|cup]] of the sacrament), but he is not in the sacrament as in a place and is not moved when the sacrament is moved. He is perceptible neither by the sense nor by the imagination, but only by the [[intellect]].<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/aquinas/summa/sum528.htm Thomas Aqunas, ''Summa Theologica'', III, Question 76]</ref>
St. Thomas Aquinas gave poetic expression to this perception in the devotional hymn ''[[Adoro te devote]]'':
:Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore,
:Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more,
:See, Lord, at thy service low lies here a heart
:Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.
:Seeing, touching, tasting are in thee deceived:
:How says trusty hearing? that shall be believed.
:What God's Son has told me, take for truth I do;
:Truth himself speaks truly or there's nothing true.
:::—[http://www.chantcd.com/lyrics/godhead_here_hiding.htm English translation of Adoro Te Devote]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==See Also==
==See Also==