:Simply on the basis of the biblical text alone, the interpretation that Jesus was using '''τρώγων''' as a metaphor is not supported by the clearly plain and evident pattern of metaphor as used in all the rest of the Bible ("devour your flesh"), a metaphor signifying '''''oppressive violence and cruelty''''' and the effect of the divine wrath of retribution inflicted on evil persecutors. If the strictly literal physical term ''trogon'' in the context of John 6:26-59—''in violation of Greek grammar and vocabulary''—of necessity allowed ''only'' a metaphorical interpretation (it doesn't) then Jesus would be saying that only those who hatefully persecute him have eternal life (John 6:53-57), “Most certainly I tell you, unless you viciously persecute the Son of Man, you do not have life in yourselves. He who viciously persecutes me has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is indeed food, and my blood is indeed drink. He who viciously persecutes Me lives in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; so he who viciously persecutes me, he will also live because of me.” And to such absurdities are men driven when they depart from the simple meaning of the scriptures and from common sense by not taking God at his word according to ''[[Historical-critical method (Higher criticism)#The literal sense of scripture|the literal sense of the scriptures]]''. (Compare [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25%3A41-46&version=RSVCE Matthew 25:41-46]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+2%3A5-11&version=RSVCE Romans 2:5-11]; [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Wisdom+2%3A12-24&version=RSVCE Wisdom 2:12-24].)
::There is historical and documentary evidence that early Greek and Latin Church doctrine before the year 110 already held to the literal meaning of actually eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Jesus in order to "''be partakers of the divine nature''" (2 Peter 1:4), pointing also to the words in John 6:55 "my flesh is food '''indeed''' ('''ἀληθῶς''' in fact, in reality, actually), my blood is drink '''indeed''' ('''ἀληθῶς''' in fact, in reality, actually)". <br>See [http://biblehub.com/greek/230.htm Strong's number ''230''. '''ἀληθῶς''' ''alethos'', indeed, surely, of a surety, truly, of a truth, in truth, verily, very.(biblehub.com)] <br>. Although the biblehub.com site for Strong's greek ''230'' here lists multiple interlinear examples of the use of '''ἀληθῶς''' ''alethos'', including John, it unexpectedly omits these two interlinear examples in the verse of John 6:55 (see the [http://biblehub.com/interlinear/john/6-55.htm interlinear text of John 6:55]). ::[[Ignatius of Antioch]] in his letter to the church at Smyrna (c. 110) said regarding the [[Heresy|heretics]] (the heterodox), "they do not admit that the [[Eucharist]] is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, the flesh which suffered for our sins and which the Father, in His graciousness, raised from the dead."
:See also
:*[[Epistles of Ignatius#Witness to belief in transubstantiation in the early church|Epistles of Ignatius]]
:*[[Real presence]]
:'''John 6:52-58 ''' (boldface emphasis added):'''52 ''' ἐμάχοντο οὖν πρὸς ἀλλήλους οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι λέγοντες· πῶς δύναται οὗτος ἡμῖν δοῦναι τὴν σάρκα φαγεῖν; '''53 ''' εἶπεν οὖν αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐὰν μὴ φάγητε τὴν σάρκα τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου καὶ πίητε αὐτοῦ τὸ αἷμα, οὐκ ἔχετε ζωὴν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς. '''54 ''' ὁ '''τρώγων''' μου τὴν σάρκα καὶ πίνων μου τὸ αἷμα ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον, καὶ ἐγὼ ἀναστήσω αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ. '''55 ''' ἡ γὰρ σάρξ μου '''ἀληθῶς''' ἐστι βρῶσις, καὶ τὸ αἷμά μου '''ἀληθῶς''' ἐστι πόσις. '''56 ''' ὁ '''τρώγων''' μου τὴν σάρκα καὶ πίνων μου τὸ αἷμα ἐν ἐμοὶ μένει, κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτῷ. '''57 ''' καθὼς ἀπέστειλέ με ὁ ζῶν πατὴρ κἀγὼ ζῶ διὰ τὸν πατέρα, καὶ ὁ '''τρώγων''' με κἀκεῖνος ζήσεται δι’ ἐμέ. '''58 ''' οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἄρτος ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβάς, οὐ καθὼς ἔφαγον οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν τὸ μάννα καὶ ἀπέθανον· ὁ '''τρώγων''' τοῦτον τὸν ἄρτον ζήσεται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.
:'''John 13:18 ''' (boldface emphasis added):'''18 ''' οὐ περὶ πάντων ὑμῶν λέγω· ἐγὼ οἶδα οὓς ἐξελεξάμην· ἀλλ’ ἵνα ἡ γραφὴ πληρωθῇ, ὁ '''τρώγων''' μετ’ ἐμοῦ τὸν ἄρτον ἐπῆρεν ἐπ’ ἐμὲ τὴν πτέρναν αὐτοῦ.
::(''The following is edited, revised and adapted from an article in [[Wikipedia]]'')—