Protestantism and the Eucharist

Protestantism and the Eucharist

In 1517, an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door at Wittenberg, German, setting off the Protestant Reformation. Following right on Luther’s heels were John Calvin in Geneva, the founder of the Reformed tradition of Protestantism, and the former Swiss priest Ulrich Zwingli, who led the more radically-minded Protestants. More and more trails began to appear and confusion was rampant, with new leaders and voices and beliefs appearing on a regular basis. Soon, the Church in England split from the Catholic Church because King Henry VIII wanted a divorce. Thereafter, English Catholics were severely persecuted, driven underground and even martyred.

Between the 1500’s and the beginning of the 20th century, it is estimated that close to 2,000 new tracks were created: Lutheran, Calvinist, Anabaptist, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, Puritan, Plymouth Brethren, Seventh-day Adventism, and many more. The desert was filled with the clamour of emerging groups, movements, beliefs, leaders, and self-proclaimed shepherds. One trail led to Pentecostalism, another to Fundament-alism, this one to liberal Protestantism, and that one to conservative Evangelicalism. So many trails, so many options – what is are we to do?

As mentioned earlier, a recent edition of the World Christian Encyclopaedia lists more that 33,000 Christian denominations, not including “non-denominational” denominations. The question for the average believer is who do we follow? Which one will truly feed us? All churches and denominations claim they are the true trail. Each says that it has the best meal. Almost all of them claim to base their beliefs on “Scripture alone,” even though they have different teachings on specific issues, often based on the same biblical passages.

Which of the Endless Answers is Correct?

There are so many questions Protestants must ask as they gaze upon the criss-crossing trails in front of, behind, and beside them: What is baptism? What does it do? Does it require sprinkling of immersion? Is it needed at all? What about marriage? Is it a sacrament? Who or what group interprets the Bible? Which translation of the Bible is reliable?

There are even bigger questions, similar to the ones the early Church had to address. Who is Jesus? A great teacher? A political revolutionary? The Son of God? Did He really die and then rise from the dead? Did He really found a Church? What about the Eucharist? Does bread and wine really become the body and blood of Christ or is it just a symbol? Is bread and wine required or will crackers and grape juice suffice? How often should the Eucharist be celebrated? Who can receive it? Who cannot?

Martin Luther had a strong devotion to the Eucharist, believing that it truly did contain the body and blood of the Christ, although he also believed that the essence of the bread and wine remained. (This become known as consubstantiation)

John Calvin believed that the Eucharist was a symbol of Christ’s body with great spiritual power, but that the elements were not changed in any way. Speaking of Luther’s devotion to the Eucharist, Calvin stated, that “He has sinned” and was acting “from ignorance and the grossest extravagance.” Luther’s view, Calvin stated, was “a very foul error” full of “absurdities.”

Zwingli’s went even further, insisting that the Eucharist was only a symbol and nothing more. The Swiss reformer believed the same was true of baptism. In his view, the sacraments have no power and cannot convey God’s grace. This was logical to a certain extent, since the Reformers generally agreed that grace was God’s external favour only – not the actual Trinitarian life of God, who desires to dwell in us and transform us, as Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians believe.

By the end of the sixteenth century, there were literally dozens of different beliefs about the Eucharist and the meaning of Jesus’ words, “Eat my flesh and drink my blood.” Just sixty years after the posting of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, a book was published in Ingolstadt, Germany, entitled Two Hundred Interpretations of the Words, “This Is My Body.” Imagine how many interpretations you could find for these words today!

A person can begin to despair, wondering if there really are answers to these critically important questions. Finding the answers is often too formidable a task for the average believer. The complexity of the topics, combined with the average believer’s limited theological education, causes many to dismiss the idea of objective truth with phrases such as “Jesus is the important thing, and we’ll just agree to disagree on all the rest,” or “I like the way so and so teaches, it just feels right.”

There is a dilemma faced by Christians today. It is especially faced by Protestants, who are sincerely looking for the fullness of truth, but aren’t certain that they have it.

Cavins Jeff: I’m not being Fed – Discovering the Food that Satisfies the Soul (Ascension Press 2005) Pg 50 – 53

ACROSS

5. One of the trails led to after the Protestant Reformation

8.Calvin was the founder of this tradition

9.A person can be led to ______, wondering if there really are answers to these critically important questions

10.Most people are sincerely looking for the fullness of this

11.How many sacraments are there in the Catholic tradition?

12.Calvin stated that Luther made a ______error regarding his teaching on the Eucharist

13.This person was a radically minded reformer

17.Most protestant only believe there are two of these

18.Faith, Grace and ______alone are all protestants believe they need

DOWN

1.Zwingli did not believe sacraments could convey this

2.Zwingli believed that the Eucharist was only a ______

3.Since the Protestant Reformation the Churches have continued to split into over 33,000 different ______

4.Henry the VIII split away from the Church so he could ______

6.Calvin believed the ______did not change in the Eucharist

7.Jesus took the ______gave it to his disciples and said…

14.Jesus took the cup filled with ______gave....

15.The author of the 95 Theses

16.He came from Geneva and followed in Luther’s footsteps