Most of the Protestant martyrs of the Sixteenth century were killed because they refused to accept the doctrine of transubstantiation.

What is it about this doctrine that made so many ready to lay down their lives rather than believe it?

Par 1413, “By the consecration, the transubstantiation of the bread and wine of 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 ”.

Par 1414, “As sacrifice, the Eucharist is also offered in reparation for the sins of the living and the dead, and to obtain spiritual or temporal benefits from God”.

Par 1418, “ Because Christ himself is present in the sacrament of the altar, he is to be honoured with the worship of adoration”.

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that what we call the communion bread is indeed not bread but “…in the sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist are contained truly, really and substantially the body and blood together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and consequently the whole Christ…”; “…the whole Christ is contained under each form and under every part of each form when separated…”Canons 1 & 3.

OUR RESPONSE TO ROME’S CLAIM

 In John 6:53 Jesus says, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood ye have no life in you”.

The Roman Catholic Church claims that it is only in the Eucharist that this can be accomplished.

Evangelical exposition would equate this with John 6:35, “ He that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst”.

As eating and drinking are the givers of life, and are equated with coming to Jesus and believing in Him, they must refer to regeneration and not to transubstantiation.

If the Roman Church was correct in its interpretation of John 6: 53, you could replace “fleshand blood” in v 53 with “Eucharist” and say, “Unless you eat the Eucharist you have no life in you”.

This, however, contradicts Roman Catholic doctrine that insists that the communicant must be free from sin, and have received new life in baptism, before coming to the Eucharist.

Let us now turn to Matthew’s record of the last supper, which the Roman Catholic Church would claim is where the Mass, the Eucharist and the Roman Catholic priesthood were established.

Remember that Jesus and the apostles were Jews and would follow the procedure of the Passover which celebrated the deliverance of the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt.

Jesus takes the bread and breaks it, giving it to the apostles, saying, “This is my body ”. He gives them the cup saying, “This is my blood of the new covenant”.

 The Roman Catholic Church teaches that at this moment Jesus literally changed the bread into His body and the wine into His blood.

This is why they have developed their doctrine of transubstantiation.

WHAT IS THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH SAYING?

 Jesus turns the bread into His body. He then passes the bread around to the apostles who in turn break off a piece of bread, each piece becoming the complete Jesus. Each person eats the complete Jesus while He himself is still there in His physical body, which according to the Roman Catholic doctrine had just been eaten.

What utter nonsense! Jesus was a real man as well as God incarnate. As a human He has one body and only one. We therefore consider such a doctrine blasphemous, absurd and leading to idolatry.

Dermot Nash