Test your argument (this is why I was "insulting," as you put it"), since Augustine is speaking of the "meat which endureth unto everlasting life" that is given by the Son to us, which is the immediate subject of these passages. Thus, to eat this meat, one needs to believe, and this done "without teeth and stomach." Augustine isn't talking about bananas or donuts, but this spiritual meat from heaven.
Here we can already see St Augustine stressing the need for Jesus as a heavenly food. However, as has already been pointed out to you, Tractate 26 (starting from paragraph 15 onward) more fully develops this concept and indeed the belief he had that the Eucharist was indeed His flesh and blood.
And he goes on to say the same things. From Tractate 26:
“Wherefore, the Lord, about to give the Holy Spirit, said that Himself was the bread that came down from heaven, exhorting us to believe in Him. For to believe in Him is to eat the living bread. He that believes eats; he is sated invisibly, because invisibly is he born again. A babe within, a new man within. Where he is made new, there he is satisfied with food.
(12) What then did the Lord answer to such murmurers? Murmur not among yourselves. As if He said, I know why you are not hungry, and do not understand nor seek after this bread. Murmur not among yourselves: no man can come unto me, except the Father that sent me draw him. Noble excellence of grace! No man comes unless drawn. There is whom He draws, and there is whom He draws not; why He draws one and draws not another, do not desire to judge, if you desire not to err.” (Augustine, Tractate 26)
He even has a nice little Calvinistic conclusion there for us.
He's saying that we shouldn't look to Jesus to fill our bellies (in other words as Someone who is some kind of heavenly ATM providing us things here on earth), rather He is the source of life itself therefore we must believe in Him first before anything else including seeking after any carnal need or desire.
This ignores the context of the verses he is dealing with, which are:
Joh 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
This "meat that the Son of man shall give unto you" can be nothing else but Himself, which is eaten through faith "without teeth and stomach."
Here we can already see St Augustine stressing the need for Jesus as a heavenly food. However, as has already been pointed out to you, Tractate 26 (starting from paragraph 15 onward) more fully develops this concept and indeed the belief he had that the Eucharist was indeed His flesh and blood.
Augustine holds to suprasubstantiation. He believes in Christ's presence in the Eucharist in a spiritual sense. The Eucharist is both Christ Himself on the table, and the Christians (we also are the bread); and it is through faith that we spiritually commune together in the celebration of Christ's body. The elements themselves, however, are not transubstantiated. Indeed, they "pass away," and are consumed, although Christ and the Church are not consumed.
“What you can see passes away, but the invisible reality signified does not pass away, but remains. Look, it’s received, it’s eaten, it’s consumed. Is the body of Christ consumed, is the Church of Christ consumed, are the members of Christ consumed? Perish the thought! Here they are being purified, there they will be crowned with the victor’s laurels. So what is signified will remain eternally, although the thing that signifies it seems to pass away. So receive the sacrament in such a way that you think about yourselves, that you retain unity in your hearts, that you always fix your hearts up above. Don’t let your hope be placed on earth, but in heaven. Let your faith be firm in God, let it be acceptable to God. Because what you don’t see now, but believe, you are going to see there, where you will have joy without end.” (Augustine, Ser. 227)
Augustine does not hold to a Zwinglian type view of the Eucharist, that it is purely symbolic. But he does hold that there is a difference between the spiritual and the physical. And thus, in a spiritual way, Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, but you are not actually eating chunks of Christ's liver.
Catholics say the same thing so, if you believe that Catholics claim to eat Jesus' liver then no wonder you don't accept the teaching. There's a difference between the physical and the substantive. We don't say He is physically present in the Eucharist (as if we are chewing on a piece of meat) but He is substantially present (and this literally present)
With that said I guess we are just going to have to continue to disagree about what St Augustine is talking about in the Tractate 25 quote you always post. I say it's about the insufficiency of carnal food to give everlasting life, you say it's about the Eucharistic feast. Fine.
If it is about the Eucharist though then you (and anyone who agrees with you) claims St Augustine was teaching there is no need to celebrate the Last Supper. That is, there's no reason at all to even receive the "symbolic" Eucharist, because, after all, just "believe, and you have eaten already".
So don't even eat a symbol. "Just believe".
It's amazing though you quote his sermon 227. Here's another portion of that sermon:
"That bread which you see on the altar, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the Body of Christ. That chalice, or rather, what is in that chalice, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the Blood of Christ. (Augustine, Sermons, 227)."
Now I suppose you will continue to see that through the lens of "believe and you have eaten already" and I can't help that. Again, we just disagree what was being discussed at that time. I submit though to anyone else reading this post to read the entire paragraph again. It's clear (at least to me) the Saint is stressing the need for faith in Christ first, before anything else. And that the food He provides is not food to fill a belly, but grant life eternal.
""12. “They said therefore unto Him, What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” For He had said to them, “Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto eternal life.” “What shall we do?” they ask; by observing what, shall we be able to fulfill this precept? “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He has sent.” This is then to eat the meat, not that which perisheth, but that which endureth unto eternal life. To what purpose dost thou make ready teeth and stomach? Believe, and thou hast eaten already. Faith is indeed distinguished from works, even as the apostle says, “that a man is justified by faith without the works of the law:”13 there are works which appear good, without faith in Christ; but they are not good, because they are not referred to that end in which works are good; “for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”14 For that reason, He willeth not to distinguish faith from work, but declared faith itself to be work. For it is that same faith that worketh by love.15 Nor did He say, This is your work; but, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He has sent;” so that he who glories, may glory in the Lord. And because He invited them to faith, they, on the other hand, were still asking for signs by which they might believe. See if the Jews do not ask for signs. “They said therefore rate Him, What sign doest thou, that we may see and believe thee? what dost thou work?” Was it a trifle that they were fed with five loaves? They knew this indeed, but they preferred manna from heaven to this food. But the Lord Jesus declared Himself to be such an one, that He was superior to Moses. For Moses dared not say of Himself that He gave, “not the meat which perisheth, but that which endureth to eternal life.” Jesus promised something greater than Moses gave. By Moses indeed was promised a kingdom, and a land flowing with milk and honey, temporal peace, abundance of children, health of body, and all other things, temporal goods indeed, yet in figure spiritual; because in the Old Testament they were promised to the old man. They considered therefore the things promised by Moses, and they considered the things promised by Christ. The former promised a full belly on the earth, but of the meat which perisheth; the latter promised, “not the meat which perisheth, but that which endureth unto eternal life.” They gave attention to Him that promised the more, but just as if they did not yet see Him do greater things. They considered therefore what sort of works Moses had done, and they wished yet some greater works to be done by Him who promised them such great things. What, say they, doest thou, that we may believe thee? And that thou mayest know that they compared those former miracles with this and so judged these miracles which Jesus did as being less; “Our fathers,” say they, “did eat manna in the wilderness.” But what is manna? Perhaps ye despise it. “As it is written, He gave them manna to eat.” By Moses our fathers received bread from heaven, and Moses did not say to them, “Labor for the meat which perisheth not.” Thou promisest “meat which perisheth not, but which endureth to eternal life;” and yet thou workest not such works as Moses did. He gave, not barley loaves, but manna from heaven."
Note be didn't say, "eating the meat is a metaphor" he said "to eat the meat, first believe, and then you have eaten already". This is not something that is foreign to a Catholic. You have to believe Jesus first before consuming the consecrated bread. Otherwise it's of no effect.
So the message here is the same. Just because he doesn't say "then receive Him in the Eucharist" doesn't mean St Augustine doesn't believe we shouldn't *also* do that too.
It's a classic case of just taking a specific teaching about a specific topic and applying it more broadly than it should.
Go ahead and reply I don't see any reason to continue. I get it, you disagree. Imagine that, a critic if the Catholic Church disagrees with something it says. If you need to say that again in so many other words though, go for it. It won't show anything new though.