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The Idolatry of the Communion Wafer:
The Doctrine of Transubstantiation
[Return to Roman Catholicism Page]
The idolatries of the Roman Catholic Church do not confine themselves to statues and goddess worship. There is another gross heresy that the church has peculiar to itself. This heresy is its claim to fame in the eyes of its deluded millions of followers. The RC Church claims that its priests - and its priests only - have the power to turn bread and wine into the very body and blood of Jesus Christ.
To understand this RC doctrine, let's turn to the latest RC catechism:
The essential signs of the Eucharistic sacrament are wheat bread and grape wine, on which the blessing of the Holy Spirit is invoked and the priest pronounces the words of consecration spoken by Jesus during the Last Supper: "This is my body which will be given up for you. . . . This is the cup of my blood..." Note: Excerpts from Article 3 Paragraph 1412, Catholic Catechism
By the consecration the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is brought about. Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity (cf. Council of Trent: DS 1640; 1651). Note: Excerpts from Article 3 Paragraph 1413, Catholic Catechism
The mode of Christ's presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the sacraments as "the perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all the sacraments tend. In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist "the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained. This presence is called 'real'-by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence as if they could not be 'real' too, but because it is presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present. Note: Excerpts from Article 3 Paragraph 1374, Catholic Catechism
The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: "Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation." Note: Excerpts from Article 3 Paragraph 1376, Catholic Catechism
Only validly ordained priests can preside at the Eucharist and consecrate the bread and the wine so that they become the Body and Blood of the Lord. Note: Excerpts from Article 3 Paragraph 1411, Catholic Catechism
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Not content with having totally misinterpreted and distorted the meaning of the Lord's Supper in this way, the RC Catechism further expands on their "transubstantiation" heresy by informing us:
Nothing could be further from the truth of what the Scripture plainly teaches. There is not one text of Scripture that speaks of offering reparations for the dead. What Scriptures will a Catholic offer in defense of this heresy? Fact is, no scripture could be remotely bastardized to defend any sort of after-the-fact "reparations for the dead!"
In defense of their eucharist and transubstantiation, the Catholic will however quickly offer these scriptures from John chapter 6:
"Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him."
--John 6:53-56
Of course,in the verse above the Lord Jesus Christ is speaking in spiritual and not LITERAL terms.
Simply stated, the Elect are saved by grace, each one given by the Father and bought by the Son via the giving of His own own flesh and the shedding of His own perfect blood in the act of Atonement. Clearly, the Lord is in no wise making a physical mandate to eat His flesh or drink His blood!
The Lord Jesus often spoke in metaphors, referring to Himself as "the door" (John 10:9) and "the light of the world" (John 8:12). He, in fact, was neither a door with a doorknob on Him, nor was He an incandescent light - though the Roman Catholic method of interpretation could lead you there.
Of course, it is nothing new to see God's Word distorted to suit the fables of men. To gain a better insight of the verses the RC church bastardizes in John 6:53-56, we need only go back in that chapter and take a look at other metaphorical statements made by the Lord Jesus Christ, in the same dialogue with His disciples.
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
--John 6:35 and 40
As we read the verses above, that directly precede the mis-interpreted verses by the RC church, we see that Jesus says "I am the bread of life..." Obviously, the Lord is not a piece of bread. And clearly, when Jesus states that those who believe on Him shall never thirst, He is not saying that as a Believer you will never have physical thirst (or hunger) again.
The bread, the door, the light of the world, and so many other phrases that the Lord Jesus Christ
used were metaphorical terminology designed to describe Himself and His relationship to His Bride and to relate spiritual ideas to those with the spiritual eyes and ears to understand. Obviously, the RC is blind to these truths and selectively go about bastardizing various scriptures as they see fit. If they stayed consistent in the ridiculous interpretation method they used for John 6:53-56 they would also have need for a magic ceremony which allows sinful men to also turn physical bread into "truly, really, substantially Christ" -- this so that their followers would never have to eat (nor drink) again on this earth. Are these things so difficult to discern? Not if you have the eyes and ears to see. Let us take another look at our Lord Jesus speaking to a woman in John chapter 4, verses 13 and 14:
Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water [literal water] shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the [spiritual] water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him [The Holy Spirit] a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
--Romans 8:34
Here's the reality of the matter: Those who believe in the Lord and are born again (another metaphor figuratively playing on our physical birth, but speaking of a spiritual birth), and receive Him as Savior can be truly have said to have eaten His flesh and drank of His blood -- of course, in a figurative and spiritual sense. There is no literal, physical cannibalism involved in true Christianity!
Salvation does not come from any sacrament or any other vain work of man. Salvation comes from believing on the Lord Jesus Christ ALONE for forgiveness of sins. And, effectual saving faith is a gift from God Himself lest any man should boast. What religious men do with their sacraments and traditions is to rob God of what is His glory alone - the act of salvation by grace. (Ephesians 2:8,9) Fact is, no "Eucharistic" wafer can save you - and it most certainly is not changed into the Body of our Lord by some magical incantation of an RC priest. That is simply gross distortion and blasphemy.
As we continue to study this matter further, the Scripture tells us:
And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. --Luke 22:13-20
The Lord's Supper is a memorial service and a sacrament. It cannot take the place of a living relationship to our Lord!!!
Finally, an honest and Holy Spirit-led reading of Matthew 26 will close the matter once and for all, for the Bible believing Christian:
And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine [NOT BLOOD, this was ACTUAL WINE - and bread - used in a commemorative, memorial service!], until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.
--Matthew 26:26-29
The cult of the Eucharist - like that of the goddess Mary - has deceived millions of Catholics and left them in bondage. The "Veneration of the Blessed Sacrament" leaves them sitting in a church, worshipping a piece of bread as though it were God, for hours on end!
Do you dear Christian, have the compassion mixed with courage to tell them they must be personally converted to Christ? That their church, their sacraments, their "Eucharist", their goddess, cannot save them? Will you tell them that it is a gross insult to our God to proclaim that sinful men can now turn bread into God? The images alone contained herein only give you a small idea of the slavery that idolatry and blasphemy bring to those deceived souls. May the Lord of the harvest send forth workers to tell the Roman Catholic people the truth so that the light of the glorious gospel can shine on them!
For further reading:
"The Bread of Life" by Dr. Joseph Mizzi
"The Lord's Supper" by Ian Paisley
The Holy Eucharist - Eating the Flesh of Deity
By Keith Green
Eucharistic Adoration: Worship or Idolatry?
by Mike Gendron
Eat My Flesh and Drink My Blood
by Mike Gendron
"Two Hundred Theses against Transubstantiation" by Dr. Francis Nigel Lee
"Transubstantiation" by Rick Jones
Disclaimer: Joe Pavone does not necessarily agree with all content contained in the websites listed herein.
He does however endorse these individual sites as great resources on their particular subject matter.
You may email Joe Pavone at:
joe@calvinistcontender.org
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