Transubstantiation

by Kathy Schley

It is a non-Catholic belief that the doctrine, "Transubstantiation," did not exist prior to Pope
Innocent III in 1215. This belief is incorrect. It was the TECHNICAL TERM
"Transubstantiation" that came into existence to describe this doctrine of what happens when
bread and wine become the actual Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The doctrine of
Transubstantiation began with Christ and is seen in our early Church fathers' writings.

"Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, AND BLESSED, and broke it, and gave it to
the disciples and said, "take, eat; THIS IS MY BODY." And he took a cup, and when he
had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you; FOR THIS IS MY
BLOOD of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."

(Jesus, Gospel of Matthew, 26:28)

"The cup of blessing which we bless, IS IT NOT A PARTICIPATION IN THE BLOOD
OF CHRIST? The bread which we break, IS IT NOT A PARTICIPATION IN THE
BODY OF CHRIST? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we
all partake of the one bread."

(Apostle Paul, 1 Cor. 10:16-17)

"They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they confess not THE
EUCHARIST TO BE THE FLESH OF OUR SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST, WHICH
SUFFERED FOR OUR SINS, AND WHICH THE FATHER, OF HIS GOODNESS,
RAISED UP AGAIN. Those, therefore, who speak against this gift of God, incur death in
the midst of their disputes. But it were better for them to treat it with respect, that they also
might rise again."

(Ignatius epistle to the Smyrnaeans, Chapter VII.-Let Us Stand Aloof from Such Heretics, 110
A.D.)

"And this food is called among us [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake
but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been
washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who
is so living as Christ has enjoined. FOR NOT AS COMMON BREAD AND COMMON
DRINK DO WE RECEIVE THESE; BUT IN LIKE MANNER AS JESUS CHRIST OUR
SAVIOUR, HAVING BEEN MADE FLESH BY THE WORD OF GOD, HAD BOTH
FLESH AND BLOOD FOR OUR SALVATION, SO LIKEWISE HAVE WE BEEN
TAUGHT THAT THE FOOD WHICH IS BLESSED BY THE PRAYER OF HIS
WORD, AND FROM WHICH OUR BLOOD AND FLESH BY TRANSMUTATION ARE
NOURISHED, IS THE FLESH AND BLOOD OF THAT JESUS WHO WAS MADE
FLESH. For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels,
have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and
when He had given thanks, said, "This do ye in remembrance of Me, this is My body;
"and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, "This
is My blood; "and gave it to them alone. Which the wicked devils have imitated in the
mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same thing to be done. For, that bread and a cup of
water are placed with certain incantations in the mystic rites of one who is being initiated,
you either know or can learn."

(Justin Martyr, First Apology, Chapter LXVI.-Of the Eucharist, 148-155 A.D.)

"2. But vain in every respect are they who despise the entire dispensation of God, and
disallow the salvation of the flesh, and treat with contempt its regeneration, maintaining
that it is not capable of incorruption. But if this indeed do not attain salvation, then
neither did the Lord redeem us with His blood, NOR IS THE CUP OF THE
EUCHARIST THE COMMUNION OF HIS BLOOD, NOR THE BREAD WHICH WE
BREAK THE COMMUNION OF HIS BODY. For blood can only come from veins and
flesh, and whatsoever else makes up the substance of man, such as the Word of God was
actually made. By His own blood he redeemed us, as also His apostle declares, "In whom
we have redemption through His blood, even the remission of sins." And as we are His
members, we are also nourished by means of the creation (and He Himself grants the
creation to us, for He causes His sun to rise, and sends rain when He wills). HE HAS
ACKNOWLEDGED THE CUP (WHICH IS A PART OF THE CREATION) AS HIS
OWN BLOOD, FROM WHICH HE BEDEWS OUR BLOOD; AND THE BREAD (ALSO
A PART OF THE CREATION) HE HAS ESTABLISHED AS HIS OWN BODY, FROM
WHICH HE GIVES INCREASE TO OUR BODIES.

3. When, therefore, the mingled cup and the manufactured bread RECEIVES THE
WORD OF GOD, AND THE EUCHARIST OF THE BLOOD AND THE BODY OF
CHRIST IS MADE, FROM WHICH THINGS THE SUBSTANCE OF OUR FLESH IS
INCREASED AND SUPPORTED, HOW CAN THEY AFFIRM THAT THE FLESH IS
INCAPABLE OF RECEIVING THE GIFT OF GOD, WHICH IS LIFE ETERNAL,
WHICH [FLESH] IS NOURISHED FROM THE BODY AND BLOOD OF THE LORD,
AND IS A MEMBER OF HIM?-EVEN AS THE BLESSED PAUL DECLARES IN HIS
EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS, THAT "WE ARE MEMBERS OF HIS BODY, OF
HIS FLESH, AND OF HIS BONES." He does not speak these words of some spiritual
and invisible man, for a spirit has not bones nor flesh; BUT [HE REFERS TO] THAT
DISPENSATION [BY WHICH THE LORD BECAME] AN ACTUAL MAN,
CONSISTING OF FLESH, AND NERVES, AND BONES,-THAT [FLESH] WHICH IS
NOURISHED BY THE CUP WHICH IS HIS BLOOD, AND RECEIVES INCREASE
FROM THE BREAD WHICH IS HIS BODY. And just as a cutting from the vine planted
in the ground fructifies in its season, or as a corn of wheat falling into the earth and
becoming decomposed, rises with manifold increase by the Spirit of God, who contains all
things, and then, through the wisdom of God, serves for the use of men, and having
RECEIVED THE WORD OF GOD, BECOMES THE EUCHARIST, WHICH IS THE
BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST; so also our bodies, being nourished by it, and
deposited in the earth, and suffering decomposition there, shall rise at their appointed
time, the Word of God granting them resurrection to the glory of God, even the Father,
who freely gives to this mortal immortality, and to this corruptible incorruption, because
the strength of God is made perfect in weakness, in order that we may never become
puffed up, as if we had life from ourselves, and exalted against God, our minds becoming
ungrateful; but learning by experience that we possess eternal duration from the excelling
power of this Being, not from our own nature, we may neither undervalue that glory
which surrounds God as He is, nor be ignorant of our own nature, but that we may know
what God can effect, and what benefits man receives, and thus never wander from the true
comprehension of things as they are, that is, both with regard to God and with regard to
man."

(Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 5:2-3, Exhibiting to Us His True Flesh in the Eucharist, 140-
202 A.D.)

"Then, having taken the bread and given it to His disciples, He made it His own body, by
saying, "This is my body," that is, the figure of my body. A figure, however, there could
not have been, unless there were first a veritable body. An empty thing, or phantom, is
incapable of a figure. If, however, (as Marcion might say, ) He pretended the bread was
His body, because He lacked the truth of bodily substance, it follows that He must have
given bread for us. It would contribute very well to the support of Marcion's theory of a
phantom body, that bread should have been crucified! But why call His body bread, and
not rather (some other edible thing, say) a melon, which Marcion must have had in lieu of
a heart! He did not understand how ancient was this figure of the body of Christ, who said
Himself by Jeremiah: "I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter, and I
knew not that they devised a device against me, saying, Let us cast the tree upon His
bread," which means, of course, the cross upon His body. And thus, casting light, as He
always did, upon the ancient prophecies, He declared plainly enough what He meant by
the bread, when He called the bread His own body. He likewise, when mentioning the cup
and making the new testament to be sealed "in His blood," affirms the reality of His
body. For no blood can belong to a body which is not a body of flesh. If any sort of body
were presented to our view, which is not one of flesh, not being fleshly, it would not
possess blood. Thus, from the evidence of the flesh, we get a proof of the body, and a proof
of the flesh from the evidence of the blood. In order, however, that you may discover how
anciently wine is used as a figure for blood, turn to Isaiah, who asks, "Who is this that
cometh from Edom, from Bosor with garments dyed in red, so glorious in His apparel, in
the greatness of his might? Why are thy garments red, and thy raiment as his who cometh
from the treading of the full winepress? "The prophetic Spirit contemplates the Lord as if
He were already on His way to His passion, clad in His fleshly nature; and as He was to
suffer therein, He represents the bleeding condition of His flesh under the metaphor of
garments dyed in red, as if reddened in the treading and crushing process of the wine-
press, from which the labourers descend reddened with the wine-juice, like men stained in
blood. Much more clearly still does the book of Genesis foretell this, when (in the blessing
of Judah, out of whose tribe Christ was to come according to the flesh) it even then
delineated Christ in the person of that patriarch, saying, "He washed His garments in
wine, and His clothes in the blood of grapes"-in His garments and clothes the prophecy
pointed out his flesh, and His blood in the wine. Thus did He now consecrate His blood in
wine, who then (by the patriarch) used the figure of wine to describe His blood."

(Tertillian, The Five Books Against Marcion, Chapter XL, The Institution of the Lord's Supper.
The Docetic Error of Marcion Confuted by the Body and the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
155-250 A.D.)

"But we give thanks to the Creator of all, and, along with thanksgiving and prayer for the
blessings we have received, we also eat the bread presented to us; AND THIS BREAD
BECOMES BY PRAYER A SACRED BODY, WHICH SANCTIFIES THOSE WHO
SINCERELY PARTAKE OF IT."

(Origen, Against Celsus, Book 8:33, 185-254 A.D.)

"1. Even of itself the teaching of the Blessed Paul is sufficient to give you a full
assurance concerning those Divine Mysteries, of which having been deemed worthy, ye are
become of the same bad and blood with Christ. For you have just heard him say distinctly,
That our Lord Jesus Christ in the night in which He was betrayed, took bread, and when
He had given thanks He brake it, and gave to His disciples, saying, Take, eat, this is My
Body: and having taken the cup and given thanks, lie said, Take, drink, this is My Blood.
Since then He Himself declared and said of the Bread, THIS IS MY BODY, WHO
SHALL DARE TO DOUBT ANY LONGER? AND SINCE HE HAS HIMSELF
AFFIRMED AND SAID, THIS IS MY BLOOD, WHO SHALL EVER HESITATE,
SAYING, THAT IT IS NOT HIS BLOOD?

2. He once in Cana of Galilee, turned the water into wine, akin to blood, AND IS IT
INCREDIBLE THAT HE SHOULD HAVE TURNED WINE INTO BLOOD? When
called to a bodily marriage, He miraculously wrought that wonderful work; and on the
children of the bride-chamber, shall He not much rather be acknowledged to have
bestowed the fruition of His Body and Blood?

3. WHEREFORE WITH FULL ASSURANCE LET US PARTAKE AS OF THE BODY
AND BLOOD OF CHRIST: for in the figure of Bread is given to THEE HIS BODY, and
in the figure of Wine HIS BLOOD; that thou by partaking of the Body and Blood of
Christ, mayest be made of the same body and the same blood with Him. For thus we come
to bear Christ in us, because HIS BODY AND BLOOD ARE DISTRIBUTED THROUGH
OUR MEMBERS; thus it is that, according to the blessed Peter, we became partakers of
the divine nature.

4. Christ on a certain occasion discoursing with the Jews said, Except ye eat My flesh and
drink My blood, ye have no life in you. They not having heard His saying in a spiritual
sense were offended, and went back, supposing that He was inviting them to eat flesh.

5. In the Old Testament also there was shew-bread; but this, as it belonged to the Old
Testament, has come to an end; but in the New Testament there is Bread of heaven, and a
Cup of salvation, sanctifying soul and body; for as the Bread corresponds to our body, so
is the Word appropriate to our soul.

6. Consider therefore the Bread and the Wine not as bare elements, for they are, according
to the Lord's declaration, the Body and Blood of Christ; FOR EVEN THOUGH SENSE
SUGGESTS THIS TO THEE, YET LET FAITH ESTABLISH THEE. JUDGE NOT
THE MATTER FROM THE TASTE, BUT FROM FAITH BE FULLY ASSURED
WITHOUT MISGIVING, THAT THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST HAVE BEEN
VOUCH-SAFED TO THEE.

7. Also the blessed David shall advise thee the meaning of this, saying, Thou hast prepared
a table before me in the presence of them that afflict me. What he says, is to this effect:
Before Thy coming, the evil spirits prepared a table for men, polluted and defiled and full
of devilish influence; but since Thy coming. O Lord, Thou hast prepared a table before
me. When the man says to God, Thou hast prepared before me a table, what other does he
indicate but that mystical and spiritual Table, which God hath prepared for us over
against, that is, contrary and in opposition to the evil spirits? And very truly; for that had
communion with devils, but this, with God. Thou hast anointed my head with oil. With oil
He anointed thine head upon thy forehead, for the seal which thou hast of God; that thou
mayest be made the engraving of the signet, Holiness unto God. And thy cup intoxicateth
me, as very strong. Thou seest that cup here spoken of, which Jesus took in His hands, and
gave thanks, and said, This is My blood, which is shed far many for the remission of sins.

8. Therefore Solomon also, hinting at this grace, says in Ecclesiastes, Come hither, eat thy
bread with joy (THAT IS, THE SPIRITUAL BREAD; Came hither, he calls with the call
to salvation and blessing), and drink thy wine with a merry heart (THAT IS, THE
SPIRITUAL WINE); and let oil be poured out upon thy head (thou sees he alludes even to
the mystic Chrism); and let thy garments be always white, far the Lord is well pleased
with thy works; for before thou camest to Baptism, thy works were vanity of vanities. But
now, having put off thy old garments, and put on those which are spiritually white, thou
must be continually robed in white: of course we mean not this, that thou art always to
wear white raiment; but thou must be clad in the garments that are truly white and
shining and spiritual, that thou mayest say with the blessed Esaias, My saul shall be
joyful in my God; far He hath clothed me with a garment of salvation, and put a robe of
gladness around me.

9. HAVING LEARN THESE THINGS, AND BEEN FULLY ASSURED THAT THE
SEEMING BREAD IS NOT BREAD, THOUGH SENSIBLE TO TASTE, BUT THE
BODY OF CHRIST; AND THAT THE SEEMING WINE IS NOT WINE, THOUGH
THE TASTE WILL HAVE IT SO, BUT THE BLOOD OF CHRIST; and that of this
David sung of old, saying, And bread strengtheneth man's heart, to make his face to shine
with oil, "strengthen thou thine heart," by partaking thereof as spiritual, and "make the
face of thy soul to shine." And so having it unveiled with a pure conscience, mayest thou
reflect as a mirror the glory of the Lord, and proceed from glory to glory, in Christ Jesus
our Lord:-To whom be honour, and might, and glory, for ever and ever. Amen."

(Cyril of Jerusalem,Catechetical Lectures,XXII,1-9, On the Body and Blood of Christ, 350 A.D.)

"LET US THEN IN EVERYTHING BELIEVE GOD, AND GAINSAY HIM IN
NOTHING, THOUGH WHAT IS SAID SEEM TO BE CONTRARY TO OUR
THOUGHTS AND SENSES, BUT LET HIS WORD BE OF HIGHER AUTHORITY
THAN BOTH REASONINGS AND SIGHT. THUS LET US DO IN THE MYSTERIES
ALSO, NOT LOOKING AT THE THINGS SET BEFORE US, BUT KEEPING IN
MIND HIS SAYINGS. FOR HIS WORD CANNOT DECEIVE, BUT OUR SENSES ARE
EASILY BEGUILED. THAT HATH NEVER FAILED, BUT THIS IN MOST THINGS
GOETH WRONG. SINCE THEN THE WORD SAITH, "THIS IS MY BODY," LET US
BOTH BE PERSUADED AND BELIEVE, AND LOOK AT IT WITH THE EYES OF
THE MIND. For Christ hath given nothing sensible, but though in things sensible yet all
to be perceived by the mind. So also in baptism, the gift is bestowed by a sensible thing,
that is, by water; but that which is done is perceived by the mind, the birth, I mean, and
the renewal. For if thou hadst been incorporeal, He would have delivered thee the
incorporeal gifts bare; but because the soul hath been locked up in a body, He delivers
thee the things that the mind perceives, in things sensible.

How many now say, I would wish to see His form, the mark, His clothes, His shoes. Lo!
thou seest Him, Thou touchest Him, THOU EATEST HIM. And thou indeed desirest to
see His clothes, but He giveth Himself to thee not to see only, BUT ALSO TO TOUCH
AND EAT AND RECEIVE WITHIN THEE."

(John Chrysostom,Gospel of Matthew, LXXXII, 4, 370 A.D.)

"Then He added: "For My Flesh is meat indeed, and My Blood is drink [indeed]." Thou
hearest Him speak of His Flesh and of His Blood, thou perceivest the sacred pledges,
[conveying to us the merits and power] of the Lord's death, and thou dishonourest His
Godhead. Hear His own words: "A spirit hath not flesh and bones." NOW WE, AS
OFTEN AS WE RECEIVE THE SACRAMENTAL ELEMENTS, WHICH BY THE
MYSTEROUS EFFICACY OF HOLY PRAYER ARE TRANSFORMED INTO THE
FLESH AND THE BLOOD, "DO SHOW THE LORD'S DEATH.""

(Ambrose, Exposition of the Christian Faith, Book IV, Chapter 10:125, 380 A.D.)

"The Eucharist unites the body, as Baptism the soul, to God. Our bodies, having received
poison, need an Antidote; and only by eating and drinking can it enter. One Body, the
receptacle of Deity, is this Antidote, thus received. But how can it enter whole into each one
of the Faithful? This needs an illustration. Water gives its own body to a skin-bottle. So
nourishment (BREAD AND WINE) BY BECOMING FLESH AND BLOOD gives bulk to
the human frame: the nourishment is the body. Just as in the case of other men, our
Saviour's nourishment (bread and wine) was His Body; BUT THESE, NOURISHMENT
AND BODY, WERE IN HIM CHANGED INTO THE BODY OF GOD BY THE WORD
INDWELLING. SO NOW REPEATEDLY THE BREAD AND WINE, SANCTIFIED BY
THE WORD (THE SACRED BENEDICTION), IS AT THE SAME TIME CHANGED
INTO THE BODY OF THAT WORD; AND THIS FLESH IS DISSEMINATED
AMONGST ALL THE FAITHFUL."

(Gregory of Nyssa, The Great Catechism, The Sacraments, 37, 383 A.D.)

""And was carried in His Own Hands:" HOW "CARRIED IN HIS OWN HANDS"?
BECAUSE WHEN HE COMMENDED HIS OWN BODY AND BLOOD, HE TOOK
INTO HIS HANDS THAT WHICH THE FAITHFUL KNOW; AND IN A MANNER
CARRIED HIMSELF, WHEN HE SAID, "THIS IS MY BODY.""

(Augustine, Psalms 34:1, 392-418 A.D.)

"Dearly-beloved, utter this confession with all your heart and reject the wicked lies of
heretics, that your fasting and almsgiving may not be polluted by any contagion with
error: for then is our offering of the sacrifice clean and oar gifts of mercy holy, when those
who perform them understand that which they do. For when the LORD says, "unless ye
have eaten the flesh of the Son of Man, and drunk His blood, ye will not have life in
you," you ought so to be partakers at the Holy Table, AS TO HAVE NO DOUBT
WHATEVER CONCERNING THE REALITY OF CHRIST'S BODY AND BLOOD.
FOR THAT IS TAKEN IN THE MOUTH WHICH IS BELIEVED IN FAITH, AND IT
IS VAIN FOR THEM TO RESPOND AMEND WHO DISPUTE THAT WHICH IS
TAKEN."

(Pope Leo the Great, Sermon 91:3, 461 A.D.)