The Lord's Supper / Eucharist
Take, eat; this is my body.Matthew 26:26 · World English Bible
Original Language & Text
When Jesus says 'this is my body' at the Last Supper, the whole debate hinges on whether the word 'is' should be taken literally or as a figure of speech, similar to when Jesus says elsewhere, 'I am the door.' The Greek word 'anamnesis,' translated 'remembrance' (1 Corinthians 11:24-25), echoes a Hebrew word used for Passover that means an active, participating re-enactment, not just calling something to mind. The Greek word 'eucharisteo,' meaning 'to give thanks,' gave the ritual its Eastern and Catholic name, 'Eucharist.' In John chapter 6, the Greek text notably switches from the normal word for 'eat' to a blunter, more physical word meaning 'to gnaw or munch.' Scholars read this word choice either as stressing a very literal, physical reality, or as a deliberately shocking way of making a point.
History & Authorship
The Last Supper followed the pattern of the Jewish Passover meal, though the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke disagree with the Gospel of John over whether it happened on Passover itself or the day before. Early Christian writers Ignatius of Antioch and Justin Martyr, writing in the early 100s CE, already describe the bread and wine as Christ's body and blood. Two later disputes, one in the 800s (between theologians named Radbertus and Ratramnus) and one in the 1000s (involving a theologian named Berengar of Tours), sharpened questions about exactly how Christ is present in the meal. The Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 formally defined the Catholic teaching of transubstantiation, meaning the bread and wine actually become Christ's body and blood. The Protestant Reformation split interpretations sharply: Luther taught that Christ is really present 'in, with, and under' the bread and wine; Zwingli taught that the meal is purely symbolic, a memorial; and Calvin taught that Christ is really present in a spiritual sense, received by faith. The Catholic Council of Trent (1551) reaffirmed transubstantiation against all three Protestant views.
The Popular / Mainstream View
Catholic teaching holds that the bread and wine actually change into Christ's body and blood, even though they still look, taste, and feel like bread and wine (this is called transubstantiation). Eastern Orthodoxy also affirms that Christ is really present in the meal as a sacred mystery, without using the Greek philosophical categories the Catholic teaching relies on. Lutherans teach that Christ is really present 'in, with, and under' the bread and wine, without the bread and wine changing into something else. Reformed and Presbyterian churches, following John Calvin, teach that Christ is really present in a spiritual sense and is received by faith. Baptist, Pentecostal, and many evangelical churches hold a memorial view, treating the meal as a symbolic act of remembering Christ's death; numerically, this is the most common Protestant view in the United States today.
Minority & Alternative Views
Pure Memorialism (Zwinglian)
Ulrich Zwingli taught that the Lord's Supper is purely symbolic, a way of remembering Christ's death, with no special divine presence in the bread and wine themselves. Although this view is common among low-church evangelicals today, it was historically a minority position, rejected at the time by Luther, Calvin, and the Catholic and Orthodox churches alike.
No Observance
Quakers and the Salvation Army do not observe the Lord's Supper as a physical ritual at all. They hold that communion with Christ is entirely inward and spiritual, which makes an outward ceremony unnecessary.
Receptionism/Virtualism
Some Reformed and Anglican theologians hold a view where Christ's presence and grace become real in the believer at the moment of receiving the meal, rather than being fixed objectively in the bread and wine themselves beforehand. This view is distinct both from the Catholic teaching that the bread and wine themselves change, and from the view that the meal is only a symbol.
What Scholars Say
Scholars debate how much the Gospel accounts of the Last Supper reflect Jesus's actual words during that final Passover week, versus how much they were shaped later by the worship practices of early Christian communities. They also study how these accounts relate to Jewish meal blessings and possibly to communal meals practiced by the Qumran community. Older claims that Christian communion was borrowed from Greek and Roman mystery-cult meals are now mostly discounted by scholars, who favor a Jewish worship background instead. The theological question of exactly how Christ is present in the meal remains a live disagreement between churches that historical research alone cannot settle.
Sources & Further Reading
- Joachim Jeremias, "The Eucharistic Words of Jesus"
- Justin Martyr, "First Apology"
- Brant Pitre, "Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist"
- Council of Trent, Session XIII
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