Very Good and explanatory of presence of God I believe is what I want to say, if not someone correct me n I will change it The Lords Supper Martin Luther rejected the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, that is, that the Communion bread and wine are changed into the actual body and blood of Christ. Luther saw no need for this doctrine. Rather, he agreed that Christs presence did not replace the presence of bread and wine but was added to the bread and wine. Luther maintained that the body and blood of Christ are somehow present in, under, and through the elements of bread and wine. It is customary to call the Lutheran view consubstantiation because the substance of the body and blood of Christ are present with (con) the substance of bread and wine. Lutheran theologians, however, do not like the term consubstantiation and protest that it is understood in terms that are too closely associated with the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation. But it is clear that Luther insisted on the real physical and substantial presence of Christ in the Lords Supper. He repeatedly cited Jesus words of institution, this is My body, to prove his point. Luther would not allow the verb is to be taken in a figurative or representative sense. Luther also adopted the doctrine of the communication of attributes by which the divine attribute of omnipresence was communicated to the human nature of Jesus, making it possible for His body and blood to be present at more than one place at the same time. Ulrich Zwingli and others argued that Jesus words this is My body meant really This represents My body. Jesus frequently used the verb to be in such a figurative sense. He said, I am the door, I am the true vine, etc. Zwingli and others argued that Christs body is not present in actual substance at the Lords Supper. The supper is a memorial only, with Christs presence no different from His normal presence through the Holy Spirit. John Calvin, on the other hand, when he debated with Rome and Luther, denied the substantial presence of Christ at the Lords Supper. Yet when he debated with the Anabaptists, who reduced the Lords Supper to a mere memorial, he insisted on the substantial presence of Christ. On the surface it seems that Calvin was caught in a blatant contradiction. However, upon closer scrutiny we see that Calvin used the term substantial in two different ways. When he addressed Roman Catholics and Lutherans, he used the term substantial to mean physical. He denied the physical presence of Christ in the Lords Supper. When he addressed the Anabaptists, he insisted on the term substantial in the sense of real. Calvin thus argued that Christ was really or truly present in the Lords Supper, though not in a physical sense. Because Calvin rejected the idea of the communication of attributes from the divine nature to the human nature, he was accused of separating and dividing the two natures of Christ and committing the Nestorian heresy, which was condemned at the Council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451. Calvin replied that he was not separating the two natures but distinguishing between them. The human nature of Jesus is presently localized in heaven. It remains in perfect union with His divine nature. Though the human nature is contained in one place, the person of Christ is not so contained because His divine nature still has the power of omnipresence. Jesus said, I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). Despite its limitations, and at the risk of being misunderstood, we give the following picture to illustrate what we are saying. Calvin taught that though Christs body and blood remain in heaven, they are spiritually made present to us by Jesus omnipresent divine nature. Wherever the divine nature of Christ is present, He is truly present. This is consistent with Jesus own teaching that He was going away yet would abide with us. When we meet Him at the Lords Supper we commune with Him. By meeting us in His divine presence, we are brought into His human presence mystically, because His divine nature is never separated from His human nature. The divine nature leads us to the ascended Christ, and in the Lords Supper we have a taste of heaven. Luther taught that the body and blood of Christ were added in, under, and through the elements of bread and wine. Zwingli taught the memorial view of the Lords Supper. Calvin denied the physical presence of Christ at the Lords Supper, but affirmed the real presence of Christ. Jesus human nature is localized in heaven; His divine nature is omnipresent.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 11:33:44 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015