Understanding Transubstantiation

Forum: Christianity Times Read: 17 
Date: 11-23-2005 17:23 
Author: Shulman, Laura E <lshulman@nvcc.edu> 
Subject Re: Opinion Seeking: The Eucharist 


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I have to admit that transubstantiation is something I don't think I've ever really understood. Clearly, any Catholic will admit that the bread and wine still look like bread and wine. They do not look any different before vs. after they are consecrated by the priest. So perhaps you, as a Catholic, can explain what it means to say they become the "actual" body and blood of Christ if they still look and taste the same. In what way are Catholics using this term "actual"? surely not as meaning "physical" because they are not changed to the senses, are they? 


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Forum: Christianity Times Read: 12 
Date: 11-28-2005 08:34 
Author: anonymous student 
Subject Re: Opinion Seeking: The Eucharist 


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I was not really sure how to better define transubstantiation so I asked the priest at my church, Fr. Pollard, and this is the analogy he gave me.

When Christians think of Jesus we think of him as a living person. We see him, externally, as a man made of flesh and blood. He looks like a man, walks like a man, talks like a man, eats, drinks, sleeps, and sounds like a man but we know that internally he is God. His substance is divine while his appearance is human. In the same way we can see that the Eucharist has the appearance of bread and wine externally but it's internal substance (trans-SUBSTANCE-iated) is the body and blood of Christ. It is the substance of the host that transforms, not the physical appearance of it. Catholics use the term "actual" in the sense that the Eucharist contains the "true, real, substantial presence of Jesus".

The following website (also listed in an earlier post) has a more in depth explanation of transubstantiation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transubstantiation 

Please let me know if you would still like further clarification. 


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Forum: Christianity Times Read: 13 
Date: 11-28-2005 16:03 
Author: Shulman, Laura E <lshulman@nvcc.edu> 
Subject Transubstantiation 


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That was very helpful. Thank you.

I note that a line in the site you cite indicates that "actual" transformation is "substantial". The term substantial (not just "substance") helps because "substantial" suggests important. What is important is on the inside, not mere outer appearance. Like the contents of a book are more important than the cover ("can't judge a book by it's cover" - can't judge the bread and wine by their appearance). 

I think the term "essence" can also be used here (which your cited source also relates to "substantiality"). The essential (again, more important) nature is changed. In science, a "substance" is the physical nature. That may be what is making this difficult for modern day rational thinkers to comprehend. We are influenced by the scientific use of language. "Essence" is something more ephemeral, less tangible. And that seems to be what the "inner nature" of the bread and wine is when Catholics say it is "actually" (really) the body and blood. "Actual" in the same way we might say "it is not actually what it appears to be". 

I really do understand, now that I have written that. And I wonder: if Protestants understood what Catholics meant by "transubstantiation" they too would not have the problem they say they have with it. Protestantism, after all, developed during the age of reason and the development of scientific thinking. I think it is a mistake to apply scientific thinking to spiritual realities. That's what makes religion so difficult for so many modern day rational people (not to say that religious people are irrational. Religion simply goes beyond reason - it's non-rational).

Again, thank you for clarifying that and you can tell your priest that his explanation helped.