Thursday, April 7, 2011

Do, then, the bread and the wine become the real body and blood of Christ?

Heidelberg Catechism

Question 78. Do, then, the bread and the wine become the real body and blood of Christ?

Answer. No, but as the water in Baptism is not changed into the blood of Christ, nor becomes the washing away of sins itself, being only the divine token and assurance thereof,[1] so also in the Lord’s Supper the sacred bread[2] does not become the body of Christ itself, though agreeably to the nature and usage of sacraments it is called the body of Christ.[3]

[1] Mt 26:29; Eph 5:26; Tit 3:5; [2] Mt 26:26-29; 1 Cor 11:26-28; [3] Gen 17:10-11; Ex 12:11, 13, 26-27, 43, 48; 1 Cor 10:1-4, 16-17, 26-28

No comments: