Development of the Catholic Doctrine of the Eucharist from Aquinas to Trent

[albertmc]

A few things I've been pondering concerning the Eucharist. Before we begin let me make clear that I believe the truth of the Real Presence of Christ. What I am making a point about is how we are to understand that presence.

The terminology used derives from Aristotelian philosophy. St. Thomas Aquinas is often given for the definition. The usage had been batted around for awhile before him but he gave it precision. Even at the Fourth Lateran Council, it was not defined with Aquinas' clarity but it can be understood to have the same meaning since the terminology was widely in use.

In Aristotle there was in the study of things, the substance (Aristotle used "essence") and the accidents. Physics is the study of accidents. First Philosophy (or Metaphysics) is the study of substance. All the things of the physical world (size, shape, color, etc.) are accidental to the thing. They may change but the thing also has an essence apart from its physical properties. For men it is the soul.

Hence the change for Aquinas was not a physical but a metaphysical one. The bread and wine were still physically bread and wine but metaphysically we feed on the body and blood of Christ. This gets around most of the most common objections without losing the reality - it also explains why no one objected at the time and why even some Orthodox borrowed the terminology.

What happened later was the rise of nominalism with Occam. Substance became an unperceivable physical reality and accidents the perceivable physical realities. This shows in our common use of "substance" for a physical thing. The philosophical language changed and Trent used the old words with the new meaning implied. Christ became "physically" present but not physically perceivable.

Any comments?

 

[CaliforniaJosiah]

Excellent post, thank you!


Yeah, it seems to ME for over 1,000 years, Christians accepted that the meaning of is is is and accepted that Christ is present in the Sacrament in a literal, physical way in both natures. HOW that can be was left a mystery (like many things in our religion).

Sadly, the Roman Catholic Church embraced this concept "ACCIDENTS" from Aristotle, and spun all kind of philosophical stuff from that. That they would suggest it as a possible way of looking at His presense, that they would suggest it might be one possible explaination for the presence - I have no problem with that. That someone accepts it as true, a personal "pious opinion" - I have no problem with that. But, in 1215, they made this prescience "science" view of "accidents" a DOCTRINE (or is it DOGMA!). It's not "Tradition" (in any sense of that), it's certainly not biblical, it's an invented doctrine coming from a pagan philosopher.


I stand basically with pre-1215 RCC, the EO, Anglicans and Lutherans on this one.


Thanks again for the helpful article.


- Josiah



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[Tonks]

Sadly, the Roman Catholic Church embraced this concept "ACCIDENTS" from Aristotle, and spun all kind of philosophical stuff from that. That they would suggest it as a possible way of looking at His presense, that they would suggest it might be one possible explaination for the presence - I have no problem with that. That someone accepts it as true, a personal "pious opinion" - I have no problem with that. But, in 1215, they made this prescience "science" view of "accidents" a DOCTRINE (or is it DOGMA!). It's not "Tradition" (in any sense of that), it's certainly not biblical, it's an invented doctrine coming from a pagan philosopher.


I stand basically with pre-1215 RCC, the EO, Anglicans and Lutherans on this one.


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It's important to note that transubstantiation is only de fide for the Latin Rite - as such, the Eastern Lung of the Catholic Church does not have the same "doctrinal clarity" as Metousiosis is fully permissible. You fail to fully grasp the differences in thought between the east and west - the more mystical vs. the scholastics. Whether you agree with or not all it does is reaffirm the Real Presence - it is not operational in any aspect.