- Feb 5, 2002
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If you want to understand why the Catholic Church in America is in such a dire condition, here is the explanation. Thomas Reese SJ is a kind of high priest of NuChurch–that version of Catholicism which dominates the contemporary American Catholic establishment.
Father Reese lays out the problem very clearly when he admits that he doesn’t believe in transubstantiation. He says transubstantiation is out of date, out of touch and impossible to explain to modern Americans who have not studied Aristotelian metaphysics. Nonsense. I explain the doctrine very simply in a way everyone can understand. Maybe what Father Reese is acknowledging is that he doesn’t have the necessary skills to explain a philosophical and theological concept to ordinary people in a relevant way.
Instead Father Reese uses the spongy term “Real Presence.” Some time ago I wrote this article about the term “Real Presence” To summarize, the term “Real Presence” is not really a Catholic term at all. Instead it was developed among Anglican reformers as a way to squirm out of their explicit denial of transubstantiation. They were on trial for heresy and instead of denying transubstantiation (which would have got them burned) they affirmed their belief in the “Real Presence.”
The problem with this is that “the Real Presence” is a term that is also used by non-Catholics to refer to their beliefs about the Eucharist. I’ve heard Anglicans, Methodists and even a Baptist talk about “the Real Presence” at Holy Communion. They all mean something different by the same term.
No doubt this would please NuChurch priests like Fr Reese, but the use of this ambiguous term reflects a major problem in all theological and ecumenical discussion: people use the same terminology to describe totally different beliefs, but they then naively conclude that they all agree. The Catholic uses the term (or should) to refer to transubstantiation. The Anglican says he believes in “the Real Presence” and may be referring to consubstantiation (the belief that Christ is “with” or “beside” the consecrated bread and wine) or receptionism (Christ is received by the individual as he receives the bread and wine by faith) The term “Real Presence” used by a Baptist or Methodist may simply mean, “I feel close to Jesus when I go to our communion service once a month.” For others saying they believe in the “Real Presence” may simply mean that they have warm and cozy thoughts about Jesus when they see the red light in the sanctuary lamp.
Continued below.
dwightlongenecker.com
Father Reese lays out the problem very clearly when he admits that he doesn’t believe in transubstantiation. He says transubstantiation is out of date, out of touch and impossible to explain to modern Americans who have not studied Aristotelian metaphysics. Nonsense. I explain the doctrine very simply in a way everyone can understand. Maybe what Father Reese is acknowledging is that he doesn’t have the necessary skills to explain a philosophical and theological concept to ordinary people in a relevant way.
Instead Father Reese uses the spongy term “Real Presence.” Some time ago I wrote this article about the term “Real Presence” To summarize, the term “Real Presence” is not really a Catholic term at all. Instead it was developed among Anglican reformers as a way to squirm out of their explicit denial of transubstantiation. They were on trial for heresy and instead of denying transubstantiation (which would have got them burned) they affirmed their belief in the “Real Presence.”
The problem with this is that “the Real Presence” is a term that is also used by non-Catholics to refer to their beliefs about the Eucharist. I’ve heard Anglicans, Methodists and even a Baptist talk about “the Real Presence” at Holy Communion. They all mean something different by the same term.
No doubt this would please NuChurch priests like Fr Reese, but the use of this ambiguous term reflects a major problem in all theological and ecumenical discussion: people use the same terminology to describe totally different beliefs, but they then naively conclude that they all agree. The Catholic uses the term (or should) to refer to transubstantiation. The Anglican says he believes in “the Real Presence” and may be referring to consubstantiation (the belief that Christ is “with” or “beside” the consecrated bread and wine) or receptionism (Christ is received by the individual as he receives the bread and wine by faith) The term “Real Presence” used by a Baptist or Methodist may simply mean, “I feel close to Jesus when I go to our communion service once a month.” For others saying they believe in the “Real Presence” may simply mean that they have warm and cozy thoughts about Jesus when they see the red light in the sanctuary lamp.
Continued below.
Thomas Reese: High Priest of NuChurch | Fr. Dwight Longenecker
If you want to understand why the Catholic Church in America is in such a dire condition, here is the explanation. Thomas Reese SJ is a kind of high priest of NuChurch--that version of Catholicism which dominates the contemporary American Catholic establishment. Father Reese lays out the...
dwightlongenecker.com
