- Roman Catholic Teaching On Transubstantiation:
-"By the consecration the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is brought about. Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity." (CCC # 1413)
-"Then the Liturgy of the Eucharist began. I watched and listened as the priest pronounced the words of consecration and elevated the host. And I confess, the last drop of doubt drained away that moment. I looked and said, "My Lord and my God." As the people began going forward to receive communion, I literally began to drool, "Lord, I want you. I want communion more fully with you. You've come into my heart. You've become my personal Savior and Lord, but now I think You want to come onto my tongue and into my stomach, and into my body as well as my soul until this communion is complete." (Scott Hahn, from his conversion story titled Rome Sweet Home)
- A Detailed Critique Of Roman Catholic Transubstantiation:
2.) Scripture defines the "gospel" as believing from the heart in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). If the eucharist is the source and summit of Christian life, then why is it never included in a biblical presentation of the gospel message? How come the earliest church creeds mention nothing about transubstantiation as being an essential article of the Christian faith?
3.) Given that ancient pagan religions, such as Mithraism, had rituals involving sacred meals and symbolic consumption of divine substances, how do advocates of transubstantiation reconcile this parallel between such practices and the eucharist?
4.) How does the alleged power of transubstantiation not imply that the authority of the parish priest is superior to that of Jesus Christ? Does he somehow become the creator of the Creator?
5.) If we must interpret the bread of life discourse in John 6 literally because Jesus Christ had stated six times to eat His flesh and to drink His blood, then why must we accept what Catholics say when they claim that the term "thousand years" in Revelation 20 is symbolic, yet repeated six times, in support of amillennialism? How does repetition translate into literalness?
6.) Did not Jesus Christ literally say that all who eat His flesh and drink His blood will receive everlasting life (John 6:54)? Would that include unrepentant pagans and atheists? If we are going to be consistent with the literalist interpretation of the bread of life discourse, then should people who eat Christ's flesh and drink His blood (i.e. consecrated elements of the Mass) never physically hunger and thirst again (John 6:35)?
6.) Did not Jesus Christ literally say that all who eat His flesh and drink His blood will receive everlasting life (John 6:54)? Would that include unrepentant pagans and atheists? If we are going to be consistent with the literalist interpretation of the bread of life discourse, then should people who eat Christ's flesh and drink His blood (i.e. consecrated elements of the Mass) never physically hunger and thirst again (John 6:35)?
7.) If Jesus' use of the Greek term "phago" (i.e. meaning to gnaw, chew, indicates a slow process) in John 6:54-58 decisively proves that we must interpret His words literally, then how come the disciples did not start consuming His flesh and drinking His blood right away?
8.) Given the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, where every drop of wine, and every crumb of bread, is changed into the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ while retaining their accidental properties as bread and wine, how does Rome reconcile this with the physical needs of the world, such as blood shortages?
9.) What biblical basis exists to justify the notion that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice of the mass are "one in the same" (CCC #1367)? How can this be? What passage of Scripture teaches that the work of Christ is "ongoing" (CCC #1405)? Why would the atonement sacrifice of Christ need to be re-presented?
10.) If the host is truly the literal body of Jesus Christ, then should we expect that the bread wafer never becomes stale, moldy, or goes through the process of decomposition (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:27)? Could a scientist not conduct tests to confirm that the elements are still bread and wine after consecration?
11.) Would a Roman Catholic priest be willing to consume the consecrated elements, if he knew that they had been saturated in poison prior to the instance of transubstantiation?
12.) Did not Jesus Christ specifically instruct us to serve a cup of wine with the bread during communion (Matthew 26:26-29; 1 Corinthians 11:27-29)? How come the Roman Catholic Church was not consistent with apostolic practice from the twelfth century until changes were made during the Second Vatican Council in 1970?
13.) From 1570 to 1965, Roman Catholic Mass was held exclusively in Latin, leaving most attendees unable to understand the proceedings. After reforms, the first congregations to hear Mass in their native language were the Irish. This practice contrasts with the Apostle Paul's caution against speaking in unknown tongues without interpretation (1 Corinthians 14:19), which he believed did not edify the church. Why did the Church of Rome conduct all services in a language that few understood?
14.) If transubstantiation is true, then how is it that the Corinthians, who had abused the Lord's Supper by treating it as a mere feast, had managed to become intoxicated with the wine (1 Corinthians 11:20-22)? Where was the change in substance that time? How can the accidents of bread and wine exist without their original substance after transubstantiation?
15.) If "this is my body" and "this is my blood" literally means that the bread and wine were transubstantiated into the body and blood of Christ, then does "this cup is the new testament" literally mean that the literal cup becomes a literal covenant (Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:25)? In the New Testament, the word "is" does occur with the meaning of "this is representative of" or "this symbolizes" (Matthew 13:20; Galatians 4:26).
16.) If the Lord's Supper was truly a mass service, then how could Jesus be sitting there at the same time proclaiming the bread and wine to be His literal flesh and blood? He would be sitting in a chair, while holding Himself up in the air, with His own two hands. Would we not have an illogical scenario of Jesus Christ offering Himself for our sins prior to the appointed time of His crucifixion?
17.) If the human body of Christ is located in heaven, then how can it be at the same time in thousands of different places at masses across the globe?
18.) If transubstantiation took place during the Lord's Supper, then would that not imply Jesus Christ had two physical bodies? Does this mean that there are multiple bodies of Christ? If each wafer becomes Christ, then does this not imply a multiplicity of Christs?
19.) If the communion wafer is supposed to look identical after transubstantiation into the literal body of Christ, then why not also believe a religious leader when he claims to have the ability to transform us into inanimate objects such as iron? Should we believe the pope if he had just so happened to make an ex-cathedra statement declaring that priests have the ability to transform squares into triangles, or both (without a perceptible change)?
20.) Transubstantiation and transgenderism are radically different issues, but share glaring similarities in logic. Both operate on the assumption that things are not as they appear. Both involve things not aligning with what we observe in the natural world. The nature of the communion elements and the nature of a person's gender do not correspond to what they actually are. The DNA/chemical composition is ignored: it's what I say it is, even though it it has all the qualities of something else. The bread and the wine of communion still look, smell, and taste like bread and wine. How does one account for this lack of consistency?
21.) How do advocates of transubstantiation explain the fact that Jesus Christ ate the same bread and drank from the same cup that the Church of Rome claims became His actual body and blood (Matthew 26:27-29; Mark 14:23-25; Luke 22:7-16)? Did He eat His own flesh and drink His own blood? Why would Christ need to do so when He was already sinless (Hebrews 7:26-27)? Did not Jesus Christ say that He used figurative language on the night of the Last Supper (John 16:25-30)?
22.) If the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation was taught in the church from its inception, then how come the issue was not discussed at the Jerusalem Council where the consumption of blood was frowned upon (Acts 15:20; 29; 21:25)? If the leadership who convened had actually believed in this teaching, then would they not have clarified that the blood of Christ was of a different or sacramental nature in order to avoid possible confusion?
23.) If transubstantiation is true, then how can we know whether the apostles were not simply misled by their senses when they saw the resurrected Christ?
24.) If the literalistic interpretation of the Last Supper is correct, then does that mean Roman Catholics who partake of the eucharist become living tabernacles? If the consecrated wafer is the body of Christ, then should we not be able to use it in the process of cloning Him? How is eating a man's flesh and drinking his blood communion?
25.) Transubstantiation conflicts with the nature of the miracles that take place throughout Scripture. Two examples would include Jesus changing water into wine at the marriage at Cana (John 2:1-10) and the doubting Thomas touching His pierced hands and feet after His resurrection (John 20:26-29). Unlike transubstantiation, biblical miracles were recognizable to the five senses. Why would this instance be an exception to the rule?
26.) If transubstantiation is true, then would that mean the full human body of Christ is literally inside the stomachs of partakers during the liturgical service? Getting all of that into our mouths at one time would be an impossibility. Our digestive systems do not have the capacity to hold that much weight at a single time.
27.) Jesus Christ has a material body, just as we all do. That means His body and blood would have been consumed a long time ago. They would have been completely eaten up two thousand years ago, making consumption in future generations a logical impossibility! Nothing is sacrificed during the mass, except one's own common sense.
28.) How can one consume blood in a non-bloody fashion? How can one eat soul and divinity when chewing is a physical process?
29.) If it is true that the eucharist is Jesus, wholly and entirely, then no one would be able to stand in its presence. That would entail Him being in His full glory. The closest person to have done so was the Apostle John, who fell “as a dead man” when He saw His closest friend, Jesus, in all His glory (Revelation 1:17). What Roman Catholics have ever fallen as dead men, paralyzed in the presence of the eucharist?
30.) If the communion elements are indeed the actual body and blood of Christ, then how do we explain the apparent lack of immediate and observable transformation in the personality or behavior of individuals after partaking in communion? Should not such a profound and intimate encounter with Christ result in a more noticeable and immediate impact on one's life, reflecting a significant spiritual and moral transformation?
31.) If the elements of communion are deemed to be the actual body and blood of Christ, does this imply that Christ is subject to digestion? What happens to the essence of Christ within us after consumption?
32.) Since God declares in Isaiah 42:8 that He will not share His glory with another, how can the doctrine of transubstantiation, which posits that the essence of bread and wine becomes the body and blood of Christ, align with the idea that God's glory remains uniquely His? Could this transformation be seen as attributing a divine quality to elements that are not inherently divine, thereby contradicting the assertion that God alone is worthy of glory and reverence?
33.) If transubstantiation is true, would that imply the consecrated elements possess two distinct substances (bread/wine and body/blood) simultaneously? How does this duality align with the law of non-contradiction, which states that a thing cannot be both itself and not itself at the same time?
34.) If transubstantiation is true, how do we logically account for the fact that the elements of bread and wine can seemingly exist in two states simultaneously: as ordinary bread and wine in appearance, but as the body and blood of Christ in substance? Does this not violate the principle of identity, where something cannot be entirely itself and entirely something else at the same time?
35.) Since Deuteronomy 4:15-16 warns against idolatry and the making of physical representations of God, how does the doctrine of transubstantiation, which involves the physical presence of Christ as the eucharist, avoid contradicting this prohibition against creating tangible forms of the divine?
36.) In 1 Kings 18:26-29, the prophets of Baal engage in frenzied rituals hoping to invoke their god's presence. How does the solemnity and formality of the eucharistic consecration differ from such ritualistic acts, and how does this prevent the perception of the eucharist as a form of ritual magic or idolatry?
37.) Since Isaiah 40:18 questions, "To whom, then, will you compare God? What image will you compare him to?," how does the doctrine of transubstantiation, which involves the belief that God is physically present as the eucharist, align with the Old Testament's clear distinction between God and physical representations?
Excellent questions!
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