Transubstantiation
The substance of bread and wine becomes the body and blood of Christ.
This doctrine is actively contested between major traditions. Faithful Christians disagree.
What the traditions say
Dogma since Lateran IV. The substance changes while the accidents (appearance) remain. This is the Catholic church's definitive explanation of the Real Presence.
Some Orthodox theologians accept the term; others reject it as an overly philosophical Western import. The mystery of the change is affirmed, the mechanism is not defined.
Luther rejected transubstantiation while affirming real presence. The bread remains bread; Christ's body is present "in, with, and under" the bread.
Rejected. The Heidelberg Catechism Q80 condemned the Mass as "a condemnable idolatry." Christ's body is in heaven, not locally present in the elements.
Who binds this
Every affiliated congregation inherits its denomination's position. Follow a chip to see the confession's language.
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.
- 1Pet 2:24 — Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
- Exod 12:11 — And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’s passover.
- Exod 12:8 — And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
- Heb 10:20 — By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
- Heb 9:14 — How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
- John 6:51 — I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
- 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.
- Luke 22:19 — And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
- Luke 22:20 — Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
- Mark 14:22 — And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body.
- Mark 14:23 — And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.
- 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 26:27 — And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
What the confessions say
Articles of the historic confessions that address this doctrine.
- Roman Catholic Council of Trent (Decrees) On the Eucharist · Chapter IV — On Transubstantiation
- Reformed Baptist 1689 London Baptist Confession 30.6 — Of the Lord's Supper
- Reformed Westminster Confession of Faith 29.6 — Of the Lord's Supper
- Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion Article 28 — Of the Lord's Supper
- Reformed Heidelberg Catechism Q78 — Are then the bread and wine changed into the real body and blood of Christ?
- Lutheran Augsburg Confession Article 10 — Of the Lord's Supper
The Church Fathers
The earliest Fathers who commented on the Scriptures above.
Now concerning the Thanksgiving (Eucharist), thus give thanks. First, concerning the cup: We thank thee, our Father, for the holy vine of David Thy servant, which Thou madest known to us through Jesus Thy Servant; to Thee be the glory for ever. And concerning the broken bread: We thank Thee, our Father, for the life and knowledge which…
...ye come together man by man in common through grace, individually, in one faith, and in Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David according to the flesh, being both the Son of man and the Son of God, so that ye obey the bishop and the presbytery with an undivided mind, breaking one and the same bread, which is the medicine of…
Let us then continually persevere in our hope, and the earnest of our righteousness, which is Jesus Christ, "who bore our sins in His own body on the tree," "who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth," but endured all things for us, that we might live in Him. Let us then be imitators of His patience; and if we suffer for His…
And this food is called among us Εὐχαριστία [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and…
For as it certainly is in the power of a mother to give strong food to her infant, [but she does not do so], as the child is not yet able to receive more substantial nourishment; so also it was possible for God Himself to have made man perfect from the first, but man could not receive this [perfection], being as yet an infant. And for…
However, one ought to consider continence not merely in relation to one form of it, that is, sexual relations, but in relation to all the other indulgences for which the soul craves when it is ill content with what is necessary and seeks for luxury. It is continence to despise money, softness, property, to hold in small esteem outward…