The belief that the body and blood of Christ are actually present in the bread and wine at communion (Eucharist/Mass). The nature of Christ's presence became the subject of great controversy at the Reformation.
The Real Presence is the term various Christian traditions use to express their belief that, in the Eucharist, Jesus the Christ is really (and not merely symbolically, figuratively or by his power) present in what was previously just bread and wine.
Different understandings
Catholic and Orthodox Christians see the Real Presence in terms of transubstantiation/metousiosis. Other Reformed, Congregationalist, and Baptist traditions simply reject outright the doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
Catholic and Orthodox views - Transubstantiation/Metousiosis
Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church traditions understand the "Real Presence" to reflect the transformed nature of the bread and wine - that the "elements" or "gifts" brought to the altar are transformed through the work of the Holy Spirit at the time of consecration into the body and blood of Christ; Roman Catholic doctrine speaks of this change as transubstantiation, conversion of the whole "substance" or inner reality of the bread and wine into that of the body and blood of Christ, while the "accidents" or humanly perceptible appearances remain unaltered.
Orthodox and Roman Catholics believe that the bread and wine are actually transformed objectively into the body and blood of Christ, and that, therefore, it is theologically incorrect to refer to them, after consecration, as simply "bread" and "wine". The consecrated elements retain the forms of bread and wine, but are indeed the actual body and blood of Christ, resulting in an actual, objective, real presence of the whole Christ, body and blood, soul and divinity, in the Eucharist.
Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, and Old Catholic Christians generally do not speak in terms of "substance" and "accidents", but Orthodox councils and theologians have expounded the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist in terms of transubstantiation [in Greek, μετουσίωσις ("metousiosis")], while stressing that transubstantiation describes the "what" of the change, not "how" it is brought about.
Lutherans - the Sacramental Union: "in, with, and under the forms of bread and wine"
Lutherans believe that the Body and Blood of Christ are "truly and substantially present in, with and under the forms" of the consecrated bread and wine (the elements), so that communicants eat and drink both the elements and the true Body and Blood of Christ Himself (cf. The Lutheran doctrine of the Real Presence is more accurately and formally known as "the Sacramental Union."
For Lutherans, there is no sacrament unless the elements are used according to Christ's institution (consecration, distribution, and reception). Some Lutherans use this formula as their rationale for opposing in the church the reservation of the consecrated elements, private masses, the practice of Corpus Christi, and the belief that the reliquæ (what remains of the consecrated elements after all have communed in the worship service) are still sacramentally united to the Body and Blood of Christ.
Lutherans use the terms "in, with and under the forms of consecrated bread and wine" and "Sacramental Union" to distinguish their understanding of the Lord's Supper from those of the Reformed and other traditions.
Anglicans - broad range of opinions
Anglicans generally and officially believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but the specifics of that belief range from Transubstantiation or Metousiosis, sometimes with Eucharistic adoration (mainly Anglo-Catholics or High Church Anglicans), to something akin to a belief in a "pneumatic" presence, which may or may not be tied to the Eucharistic elements themselves (many Broad-Church Anglicans). A small minority reject the doctrine of the Real Presence altogether (Mainly Low-Church Anglicans). In the Eucharist, the outward and visible sign is that of bread and wine, while the inward and spiritual grace is that of the Body and Blood of Christ. (Roman Catholic doctrine insists that the material substance, being part of what is open to the senses, is in no way altered, and that the philosophical-sense substance or inner reality is converted into that of the body and blood of Christ, not substituted by it.) As some Anglican divines have stated: "It may not be about a change of substance, but it is about a substantial change."
It may be noted that from some Anglican perspectives the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist does not imply that Jesus Christ is present materially or completely locally. The Eucharist is not intrinsic to Christ as a body part is to a body, but extrinsic as His instrument to convey Divine Grace; with this understanding, one can, in these perspectives, hold to theories of Christ's Presence, transubstantiation, consubstantation or virtualism at the same time without getting involved in the mechanics of 'change' or trying to explain a mystery of God's own doing.
Methodism - Real Presence as "Holy Mystery"
There is no definitive Methodist statement on how the real presence of Jesus Christ is experienced in Holy Communion. Nevertheless, the followers of John Wesley , himself an Anglican clergyman, have typically affirmed that the sacrament of Holy Communion is an instrumental Means of Grace through which the real presence of Christ is communicated to the believer, but have otherwise allowed the details to remain a mystery. In 2004, the United Methodist Church more clearly defined its view of the sacrament and its belief in the Real Presence in an official document entitled This Holy Mystery. Of particular note here is the church's unequivocal recognition of the anamnesis as more than just a memorial but, rather, a re-presentation of Christ Jesus:
Holy Communion is remembrance, commemoration, and memorial, but this remembrance is much more than simply intellectual recalling.This affirmation of Real Presence — of what is sometimes called anamnetical real presence — can be seen clearly illustrated in the language of the United Methodist Eucharistic Liturgy (for example: Word and Table 1) where, in the epecletical portion of the Great Thanksgiving, the celebrating minister prays over the elements:
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.For most United Methodists — and, indeed, for much of Methodism as a whole — this reflects the furthest extent to which they are willing to go in defining Real Presence. They will assert that Jesus is really present, and that the means of this presence is a "Holy Mystery"; the celebrating minister will pray for the Holy Spirit to make the elements "be the body and blood of Christ," and the congregation will even sing, as in the third stanza of Charles Wesley's hymn Come Sinners to the Gospel Feast:
Come and partake the gospel feast, be saved from sin, in Jesus rest; For them, the affirmation of Real Presence, as in the above references, is sufficient for them to know and partake of the sacrament in a worthy manner.Reformed or Calvinist/Presbyterian - "Real Presence" as spiritual (not carnal) "pneumatic presence"
Many Reformed, particularly those following John Calvin hold that the reality of Christ's body and blood do not come corporally (physically) to the elements, but that "the Spirit truly unites things separated in space" (Calvin). By faith (not a mere mental apprehension), and in the Holy Spirit, the partaker beholds God incarnate, and in the same sense touches him with hands, so that by eating and drinking of bread and wine Christ's presence penetrates to the heart of the believer more nearly than food swallowed with the mouth can enter in.
This view holds that the elements may be disposed of without ceremony, as they are unchanged and, as such, the meal directs attention toward Christ's "bodily" resurrection and return.
While Reformed theology has taught that Jesus' body is seated in heaven at the right hand of God and therefore is not present in the elements nor do the elements turn into his body, recent ecumenical developments have placed this theology in transition. Reformed theology has also taught that when the Holy Communion is received, not only the spirit, but also the true body and blood of Jesus Christ (hence "real") are received in a pneumatic (ghostly) sense, but these are only received by those partakers who eat worthily (i.e., repentantly) with faith. Hence, in seeking to come to consensus about the Real Presence, the churches have written:
"During the Reformation both Reformed and Lutheran Churches exhibited an evangelical intention when they understood the Lord's Supper in the light of the saving act of God in Christ. 103-104);" and further: "In the Lord's Supper the risen Christ imparts himself in body and blood, given up for all, through his word of promise with bread and wine....we proclaim the death of Christ through which God has reconciled the world with himself. - no Real PresenceSome Protestant groups see Communion (also called the Lord's Supper or the Lord's Table) as merely a symbolic meal, a basic memorial of the Last Supper and the Passion, which is done by the ordinance of Jesus, but in which nothing miraculous occurs.
Consecration, presidency and distribution
Many Christian churches holding to a doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist (for example, Roman Catholics and Orthodox) require ordained clergy to officiate at the Eucharist, consecrating and distributing the elements to communicants.
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