Consubstantiation
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Theology Transubstantiation |
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Consubstantiation is a theological doctrine that, like the competing theory of transubstantiation, attempts to describe the nature of the Christian Eucharist in concrete metaphysical terms. It holds that during the sacrament the fundamental "substance" of the body and blood of Christ are present alongside the substance of the bread and wine, which remain present. Transubstantiation differs from consubstantiation in that it postulates that through consecration, according to some, that one set of substances (bread and wine) is exchanged for another (the Body and Blood of Christ) or, according to others, that the reality of the bread and wine become the reality of the body and blood of Christ. The substance of the bread and wine do not remain, but their accidents (superficial properties like appearance and taste) remain.
Consubstantiation is commonly associated with the teachings of Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon, the latter actually employing the term with the approval of the former. Luther did teach that the body and blood of Christ are present "in, with, and under the forms" of bread and wine, and present-day Lutherans hold to this statement while disagreeing about its exact meaning. Some Lutherans use the term "consubstantiation"[citation needed] to refer to this belief, but the theology intended is not always the same as the philosophical theory described above. Luther illustrated his belief about the Eucharist "by the analogy of the iron put into the fire whereby both fire and iron are united in the red-hot iron and yet each continues unchanged," a concept which he called "sacramental union" , which is analogous to the Hypostatic union of Christ's Divine and Human natures . Otherwise , the term Real Presence is also used to describe the Lutheran position in this regard . (Against the Heavenly Prophets (1525) and Confession Concerning Christ's Supper (1528) as quoted in The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, F.L. Cross, Ed., London: Oxford, 1958, p. 337). Consubstantiation is affirmed by a minority of Christians, including some Lutherans and some Eastern Orthodox churches.
[edit] History and culture
In England in the late 14th century, there was a political and religious movement known as Lollardy. Among much broader goals, the Lollards affirmed a form of consubstantiation -- that the Eucharist remained physically bread and wine, while becoming spiritually the body and blood of Christ. Lollardy survived up until the time of the English Reformation.
In literature the conflict between consubstantiation and transubstantiation was satirically described in Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" as war between Lilliput and Blefuscu.
