The Lord's Supper Part 1 - The Roman Catholic View

Ever since I partook of the Lord's Supper for the first time when I was 14, I have had a keen interest in studying and learning about this sacrament in the New Covenant.  Like most significant doctrines in Christianity, there are a long list of disagreements over this Supper, disagreements ranging from discussions over the presence of Christ in the sacrament, to the question over who could participate (only professing believers versus believers and their children, a.k.a. paedocommunion), and the effects that come from a faithful participation in this sacrament.  Because of the variety of opinions, I decided to try and get a brief synopsis of some of the major views in the Christian church, written by their respective adherents.  So I picked up this book:

The Lord's Supper; Five Views 

 

The editor, Gordon T. Smith compiles essays from five seminary professors: a Roman Catholic, a Lutheran, a Reformed, a Baptist, and a Pentecostal.  These five denominations represent the majority of the groups of believers who call themselves Christians.  I really benefited from this book and wanted to share some of the key statements of each position with you all.  I have tried to be brief but because of the number of views, the original post was tediously long.  So, it seemed good to me to break this down into three parts: the first being the Roman Catholic position, the second being the Lutheran, and the third being the remaining three views and my conclusion.  With that introduction out of the way, here is the first position on the Lord's Supper!


1)  Roman Catholic - written by Brother Jeffrey Gros
     The Roman Catholic position is best summed up in the word "transubstantiation".  This doctrine was and continues to be a hallmark of the Catholic doctrine of the Lord's Supper.  The 1994 Roman Catholic Catechism defines transubstantiation as follows:

"By the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change in the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood."

Some key quotes from the essay in the book are taken from page 18,
"The Catholic theologians emphasize the importance of affirming the real presence of Chris and the change of the elements of bread and wine.  The doctrine of transubstantiation has been used to give a theological articulation to this faith.  Although other explanations of this presence would be possible, none has yet been approved by the Catholic Church."  (emphasis added)
             I add the emphasis to bring out another key aspect to Catholic doctrine, the necessity of affirmation by a Church council (most notably the Council of Trent) or a pope.  Additionally, the Catholic doctrine of the Lord's Supper (or Eucharist as they call it) brings into light the idea of "re-presentation of Christ's sacrifice":
"In addition to re-presenting Christ's sacrifice, the Eucharistic sacrifice perpetuates the sacrifice of the cross: At the Lord's Supper, on the night He was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of His Body and Blood.  This He did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout the ages until He should come again..." (The Lord's Supper; Five Views, page 19)
               While Roman Catholics vehemently deny that this belief takes away from the final and complete nature of Christ's atonement, they nonetheless uphold the idea that Christ's work is supplemented by the sacrament, a doctrine which we Protestants repudiate.



If you enjoyed reading this article, check out my second article on the Lutheran position!