Real Presence
Christ is truly present in the Eucharist.
This doctrine is actively contested between major traditions. Faithful Christians disagree.
What the traditions say
Transubstantiation: the substance of bread and wine becomes the Body and Blood of Christ. Defined at Lateran IV (1215) and reaffirmed at Trent.
Sacramental union: Christ is truly present "in, with, and under" the bread and wine. Not transubstantiation, but a real, bodily presence.
Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, but Orthodoxy avoids the Aristotelian categories of transubstantiation. It is a divine mystery, not a philosophical formula.
Calvin taught a "real spiritual presence" — Christ is truly received by faith through the Spirit, but His body remains in heaven. Not mere memorialism, but not corporeal presence.
The Lord's Supper is an ordinance of remembrance, not a sacrament conveying grace. Christ is present spiritually through faith, but the elements are symbols.
Key scriptures
- 1Cor 11:24 — And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
- 1Cor 11:25 — After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
- John 6:53 — Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
- John 6:56 — He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
- Matt 26:26 — And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
- Matt 26:28 — For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.