Ping
Of course the Eucharist is a SYMBOL of the body and blood of Christ. Nobody has ever denied that. St. Thomas Aquinas himself says the Eucharist is a symbol or SIGN. He says that the body and the blood of Christ are present in the Eucharist IN THE MANNER OF A SYMBOL.
This is most clearly seen when you consider that if the host is broken in two, each portion of the host contains THE WHOLE CHRIST, precisely because the breaking of the sign creates two pieces, each of which functions as a SIGN just as the one unbroken host did.
Christ is NOT “physically present” in the Eucharist, as so many amateur theologians have said. I.e., when the host is chewed, Christ’s flesh is not torn and his bones are not broken. When the Eucharistic species is moved from place to place, Christ in heaven is not moved about.
Christ is really, fully, substantially present in the Eucharist. The Church has always taught the the Eucharistic presence of Christ in the Eucharist IS TO BE WORSHIPED. I.e., we give the Eucharist the worship of LATRIA, the worship that is due to GOD ALONE.
This leaves absolutely no ambiguity. The Eucharist IS Jesus Christ, because the Eucharist IS the living, risen body of Jesus Christ.
The entire article is a misfire. It seizes on a few uses of the word “symbol” in relation to the Eucharist, and misinterprets them all as meaning “mere symbol.” The writings of all the authors quoted, taken as a whole, will not bear the interpretation that the Eucharist is a MERE symbol.
Very interesting. We don’t see Catholics extolling those views of the Church fathers do we.
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Strange how things get twisted when one disregards the nature of Yeshua’s life!
He was Jew, bound by Torah, lest he be an imperfect sacrifice, and fail his chief mission.
The blessing and breaking of bread he observed at each and every meal is not “Christian” but the ancient blessing of the Melek Zedek, and by his testimony in Matthew 5, is intended to be observed until our bodies no longer depend upon the bread and wine.
The specific message of the blessing Yeshua spoke over his disciples is that which is recorded in Numbers 6:22-27. The additional words he added were a request to continue to practice the traditional breaking of the bread, and to do it in his remembrance as often as we do so.
It was never intended to be taken as some mystical, magical conjuring of flesh and blood, and nothing he ever said supports this man made voodoo.
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Thanks for posting it.