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Tracy
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Posted: Fri Nov 17th, 2006 06:42 pm |
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| I am a non-catholic trying to learn more about the history of Christianity and the Church. I have a question regarding the real presence in the Eucharist. I understand from what I have read that the early christians believed in the real presence in the Eucharist as did Martin Luther. I would like to know when this changed and why. I'm assuming this belief changed for protestants during the reformation, but I would like more details about it from a catholic perspective.
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CajunRick
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Posted: Fri Nov 17th, 2006 07:44 pm |
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Tracy wrote: I am a non-catholic trying to learn more about the history of Christianity and the Church. I have a question regarding the real presence in the Eucharist. I understand from what I have read that the early christians believed in the real presence in the Eucharist as did Martin Luther. I would like to know when this changed and why. I'm assuming this belief changed for protestants during the reformation, but I would like more details about it from a catholic perspective.
From a Catholic perspective, it never changed. The Catholic and Orthodox Churches both believe, and have consistently believed and taught for 2000 years, that the Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The consecration of the Eucharist is dependent on the legitimate apostolic succession maintained in both Churches, as well as in the Polish National Church and the Assyrian Church of the East. Without valid apostolic succession, bishops cannot be properly consecrated, and priests cannot be validly ordained. Without a validly ordained priest, there is no Eucharist.
So if a Protestant denomination rejected the authority of the Church and the unity of the priests, bishops, and patriarchs, then they have rejected the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. If they no longer had claim to apostolic succession, they had to look for other theologies. Martin Luther believed in the Real Presence, but he broke apostolic succession when he named bishops and priests invalidly. Henry VIII broke apostolic succession when he declared himself head of the Church of England and demanded that the bishops remain loyal to him rather than Rome. Archbishop Marcel Lefevre and Archbishop Malingo, and the National Catholic Church of China, broke apostolic succession in recent years when they ordained bishops contrary to the authority of the Patriarch, the Bishop of Rome. In New Orleans in the 1980's, the Imani Temple broke apostolic succession when Father Glen Jeanmarie, a Catholic priest and former classmate of mine, was declared and ordained a bishop without the proper authority.
So while the answer is different for each denomination, the correct answer is that they lost the Real Presence when they broke with the authority of the Church. As to when their beliefs changed, you would have to check with each individual denomination.
Last edited on Fri Nov 17th, 2006 07:45 pm by
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Tracy
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Posted: Fri Nov 17th, 2006 08:08 pm |
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Rick,
Thank you for the information regarding the RCC perspective on the Real Presence. I will keep this in mind as I study and investigate Church history.
Tracy
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CajunRick
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Posted: Fri Nov 17th, 2006 08:13 pm |
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Tracy wrote: Thank you for the information regarding the RCC perspective on the Real Presence. I will keep this in mind as I study and investigate Church history.
You're welcome, Tracy. Please feel free to ask any other questions. Hopefully some others will weigh in on this topic as well.
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