The Lord's Supper, Part 2 - The Lutheran 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 second view on the Lord's Supper!

2) Lutheran - written by John Stephenson

   The Lutheran position bears some resemblances with both Reformed positions and, strangely enough, the Roman Catholic position.  Luther and his theological heirs created and coined the term "consubstantiation" in order to express their unique doctrine of Christ and the Lord's Supper.  The Lutheran Confession (The Book of Concord) defines consubstantiation as follows:
"The Sacrament of the Altar is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine, for us Christians to eat and to drink, instituted by Christ Himself." (emphasis added).  While this view may look very close to Roman Catholicism, there is a subtle difference in the word "under".  My understanding of this complex doctrine is that Christ's body and blood truly come and infuse the bread and the wine, so that the believer really does consume the Lord's body and blood.  The analogy is used of a bar of iron which is placed in the furnace.  The heat surrounds the bar of iron, infusing it with energy and making it hot and turn bright red.  Thus Lutherans believe that they consume Christ literally yet in a distinctly different way from the Roman Catholic position.  Personally, I think the line is very fine, but if they insist on the difference, so be it.
    Some key quotes from the essay are taken from page 50,
"For Luther - and the Book of Concord - the sacramental presence is realized in the divine service at the consecration of the elements, which occurs through the celebrant's pronouncing the words of institution over the elements 'in Christ's person and name.'  We speak the divine, almighty, heavenly, and holy words which Christ Himself spoke at the supper with His holy lips and commanded us to speak.  For as soon as Christ says, 'This is My body', His body is present through the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit.  If the Word is not there, it is mere bread; but as soon as the words are added they bring with them that of which they speak."  This is why the Lutheran Church has such a carefully laid out liturgy for the celebration of the Lord's Supper.
"Luther insisted that the Lord's body and blood are not present in the same way as the elements themselves, occupying space and bounded by it.  Rather, the body and blood are supernaturally present and in such a way that each tiniest portion of consecrated bread and wine is the Lord's whole body and whole blood." (The Lord's Supper; Five Views, page 52)
Finally, and perhaps here the difference between Lutherans and Catholics is most clearly shown, Lutherans do join the rest of their Protestant brothers in affirming the once-for-all nature of Christ's sacrifice.
"To the extent that Roman Catholics teach that the celebrant actively offers the really-present body and blood [of Christ] to the Father for the living and the dead, Lutherans react in horror that 'synergism' has swamped what we call the 'divine monergism'.  That is to say, man is now cooperating towards his own justification, rather than simply passively receiving the fruits of the work uniquely and solely accomplished by the God-man, Christ Jesus."  (The Lord's Supper; Five Views, page 53) With this statement, we can breathe a little easier around our Lutheran brothers, though we still have significant disagreement with them over Christ's presence in the Supper.


If you enjoyed reading this article, check out my third article on the remaining three positions!