Transubstantiation - could it all have just been a mix-up?

That's as bad as the old joke about the monks who were translating the Dead Sea Scrolls for the first time. Everything was going well until they heard a scream of anguish from one monk's cell.

They all ran through the monastery, and when they reached Brother John's cell, they found him laying on the floor and wailing in misery.

"Dammit all!" he screamed, brandishing the priceless scroll. "It was supposed to read CELEBRATE!"

The ignorance behind some of these questions absolutely amazes me, especially since there are so many wonderful resources online. (And I mean no insult by the word "ignorance" - I use it in the sense of lack of knowledge or understanding.)

(1) "the Catholic ritual of communion" -- we call it a Sacrament, not a ritual. The classic definition of a Sacrament is that it is "an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace" i.e. something is going on outwardly that you can see, and something is happening inwardly that you can't see. What is happening inwardly is the person receiving Communion is receiving grace from God which helps the person grow closer to God.

(2) "cracker" -- this term is offensive. It is not a cracker. It is called a Host (with a small "h" before transubstantiation, with a capital "H" after transubstantiation). It is a small wafer made of unleavened bread.

(3) "misunderstanding" etc. -- There is no misunderstanding. As it says in the 22nd Chapter of the Gospel of Luke, at the Last Supper, Jesus "(Verse 17) After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, 'Take this and divide it among you. (18)For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.' (19)And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.'"

Since I can't tell your faith by your question, or if you have any faith whatsoever, let me say this: Christians believe that what the Bible says is true. So, for example, if a passage reads that Jesus healed a man born blind, we believe that Jesus gave the gift of sight to someone who never had it. If the passage reads that He changed water into wine at the wedding in Cana, we believe that's exactly what He did.

In the passage I quoted above, it says that Jesus "took the cup" (which would have had wine in it since the Last Supper was actually a Passover Seder meal and that is what they would have been drinking), and "took the bread" (which would have been unleavened bread since Jewish people never eat leavened bread during Passover), and said: "'This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.'"

Since we believe that Jesus is God, if He said that the bread was His Body, then no matter what it looks or tastes like, IT IS HIS BODY. Likewise, if He said the cup of wine is His Blood, no matter how it appears, tastes or smells, IT IS HIS BLOOD.

Since He also said "'...do this in remembrance of me'" that's exactly what we do.

He didn't say, "Do something like this", nor did He say, "Do this as a nice nostalgic memorial of me". He said, "... DO THIS..." and what is THIS?? "THIS" is His Body and Blood.

That's what we do. That's what we believe. There is no misunderstanding on our part.

The Real Presence, that the bread and the wine actually become Jesus substantially present body,blood soul and divinity, has always been the ancient Christian understanding of the Eucharistic Communion by historic Christians

Hasse,

What a non sequitor! Is it also clear that since American s have killed many people that democracy is wrong?

It's very small minded to ridicule what other people believe.

Catholics believe that God transforms the bread and wine through the priest during the Consecration of the Mass into the body and blood of Christ. It still looks, tastes and seems like bread and wine, but it is truly Christ. You didn't really want to know that, but that's what happens.

You and Jack Chick and all the atheists out there can make fun of us all you want. It won't change the truth of the Catholic Church.

This brings to mind a section of Alice in Wonderland:

Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under the table: she opened it, and found in it a very small cake, on which the words `EAT ME' were beautifully marked in currants. `Well, I'll eat it,' said Alice, `and if it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key; and if it makes me grow smaller, I can creep under the door; so either way I'll get into the garden, and I don't care which happens!'

She ate a little bit, and said anxiously to herself, `Which way? Which way?', holding her hand on the top of her head to feel which way it was growing, and she was quite surprised to find that she remained the same size: to be sure, this generally happens when one eats cake, but Alice had got so much into the way of expecting nothing but out-of-the-way things to happen, that it seemed quite dull and stupid for life to go on in the common way.

So she set to work, and very soon finished off the cake...

EDIT for daeve930: Christians ridicule the beliefs of others all the time...the difference is that our (lack of) faith is strong enough to withstand it. Life's too short to take it so seriously ALL the time.

You are on thin ice, but the basic point is if you take some texts literally, and others figuratively, you get one idea, and if you turn it around, you see things differently. I think it is clear on this one (from the fact that the Catholics killed many people about this) that transubstantiation is wrong.

Unlikely, IMHO,

The "learned" religious scholars (who incidentally "knew" the earth is flat, men are superior to women, and slavery is right and just.) were trying to "Wow" the uneducated masses. What amazes me is the extent to which it is still working!

Hey! If you make a joke, expect to take a joke!

like when i was little and kept seeing "Save The Whales" everywhere. Save The Whales, Save The Whales, Save The Whales ...

and, in my child-mind, i had this vague notion of collecting enough whales (plus postage) to mail away for a prize ...

boy, you're skating now..... I think I'll just sit back and watch what people say to this.

Source:

Me, Jewish

This proves one and for all that Christ wasn't black, he was a cracka. :D

I am so getting my *** kicked for this one.