Originally posted by VOW
To fully understand the concept of transubstantiation, you must also understand Apostolic Succession. It is through the authority of Apostolic Succession that the priesthood has the ability to preside over the Eucharist at Mass and serve in place of Jesus. When the Bread and Wine are elevated, as the priest says, "This is My Body," and "This is My Blood," that is when the miracle occurs.
The teachings AGAINST transubstantiation began at the breaking away of the Anglican Church and of course, at Luther's Protestation. These two churches teach something similar, "consubstantiation," whereby the Bread and the Wine become the Body and Blood, NOT by the hands of the priest, but when the elements are received by the congregation.
~VOW
In defence of the Anglican Faith, I feel a need to make a correction. First, it is not the universal faith even in the Roman Church that the dominical words effect the change. In the Oriental Churches in Communion with Rome, it is the Epiklesis that follows the words, together with the assent of the Congregation that allows the presence to be manifest. The Latin form has become fond of the words of institution, but it is by no means universal.
Second, the Anglican faith does not reject the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament, but indeed demands an assent to that fact in her own liturgy. For example:
FROM THE 1549 ENGLISH BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER:
Hear us, O Merciful Father, we beseech thee; and with thy Holy Spirit and Word, vouchsafe to bless and sanctify these thy gifts, and creatures of bread and wine, that they may be unto us the Body and Blood of thy most dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ. Who, in the same night. . .
No question here.
FROM THE 1789, 1892, and 1928 AMERICAN BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER:
INTRODUCTORY DIALOUGE, WORDS OF INSTIUTION, THE OBLATION, then:
And we most humbly beseech thee, O merciful Father, to hear us; and, of thy almighty goodness, vouchsafe to bless and sanctify, with thy Word and Holy Spirit, these thy gifts and creatures of bread and wine; that we, receiving them according to thy Son of Saviour Jesus Christ's holy institution, in rememberance of his passion and death, may be partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood.
While this revision often takes a hit as the "receptionist view" of the Anglican Church, it is not. The prayer is that as we receive these gifts in accordance with the Eucharistic mystery as instituted by Christ, we will receive his Body and Blood.
FROM THE 1929 SCOTTISH and 2001 PRIMITIVE EPISCOPAL BCP:
INTRODUCTORY DIALOUGE, WORDS OF INSTITUTION, THE OBLATION then:
And we thine unworthy servants beseech thee, most merciful Father, to hear us, and to send thy Holy Spirit upon us and upon these thy gifts and creatures of bread and wine, that, being blessed and hallowed by his lifegiving power, they may become the Body and Blood of thy most dearly beloved son, to the end that all who shall receive the same may be sanctified both in body and soul and preserved unto everlasting life.
No question here.
The Anglican teaching, in accord with the Eastern tradition, is that no mere human terms can explain the depth and love of the Eucharistic mystery. Transubstantiation is a pre-christian philosophical terminology that was warped into a farced Christian use. Trans means change of course, but to the pre-Christian greeks, substance did not mean physical properties. Substance was the essence or "essential nature" of something. Thus, when the sacrament is properly consecrated by a Presbyter or Bishop in succession, the bread and wine's essence ceases to exist. It is still physically, atomically, the bread and wine. But in spirit and truth it is the Body and Blood of Christ. The Sacrament brings us to the foot of Calvary, and also to the throne of HEaven. . . to partake of Christ crucified for our sins and risen for our justification. Therefore, the Anglican Church does not worship and glorify any :corporeal: or transmuted physical presence, but indeed does worship in spirit and truth the presence of Christ in the sacrament *and* admits it may not have the exact answer correctly. Therefore, we say that whatever happens, it is exactly what he intended, even if we cannot explain it.
Again, this is the view of the Eastern Churches, both in and out of Communion with Rome, as well as the Anglican view.
Hope this helps. . . I so love our discussions here.
Pax,
Fr. Rob