Your doctrine DEMANDS the simultaneous presence of Christ’s human body in numerous locations (ubiquity). Martin Luther (ML) formulated the doctrine of the ubiquity of Christ’s human body. According to ML and the Lutheran Church (LC), there is a “real presence” that is consistent with their doctrines of a corporeal bodily presence of Christ in the Eucharist elements. Please note, that the RCC and the LC admit that Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist is intangible and invisible, yet they both claim that it is a corporeal bodily presence. The difficulty is that NEITHER church can begin to explain precisely what an intangible corporeal presence is, nor can they explain what an intangible and invisible “body” is and how such a body is distinguishable from the spirit. They cannot explain how an intangible and invisible presence of Christ is distinguishable from a spiritual presence of Christ. They cannot do this because they cannot define body as opposed to spirit, or corporeal as opposed to incorporeal, in a way that is also consistent with their doctrine of bodily presence. If they define corporeal in a way that is distinguishable from incorporeal, that definition is also applicable to their doctrine of corporeal presence. The only way they can maintain their doctrine of a bodily corporeal presence is to define those words in a way that is indistinguishable from their opposites. The result is an utterly confusing and self-contradictory doctrine that renders human language (i.e. please note this is the language that God has chosen to communicate to us in) utterly meaningless. This is what William and other have tried to convey to you.

One of the major faults of the RCC and LC is they fail to see the historical context of the meal itself. During the Passover meal, Jesus took the bread, He blessed it, He then broke it, and then He gave the bread to the disciples (Matt 26). As Jesus gave His disciple the bread He said, “this is my body.” The RCC and others interpret this too literalistically, while others interpret it too symbolically.

However, what is the “context” of the statement given? Normally, the Passover liturgy would include the following words: “This is the bread of affliction which our ancestors ate when they came from the land of Egypt.” Now of course the Jews did not believe they were actually eating the “very same pieces” of bread that their ancestors ate on the night of the first Passover. The main point of contact is NOT between “this bread” and “that bread,” rather these words point, by a figure of speech, to a “real participation” by the Jews in the act of redemption that their ancestors experienced firsthand. Thus, the words of the Passover liturgy communicated to each generation of Jews that they were partakers of the act of the redemption of God had accomplished when He brought their ancestors out of Egypt—the passage of time did not alter the oneness of the covenant people of God…..

While not a perfect illustration, the next time you show a photograph of yourself to someone you could say something like “this is me.” What would you really mean? Is the photograph literally the person? Are you in, with, and under the photograph? The context of the verses in question do not call for the RCC or LC interpretation of Scripture. The words Jesus spoke did not indicate that the bread in His hand was His very body any more than the words of the Jews spoke indicated that the bread they held was the very bread eaten by their ancestors. In BOTH cases a figure of speech is being used to indicate another connection. Jesus is also called a "vine,", "the door," the "morning star," the "cornerstone," the "lamb," the "fountain," the "rock," etc. Are we to take these "literally" too? Is Jesus "in, with, and under" these?

As Christians we participate in the benefits of Jesus’ act of redemption by virtue of union with Him to the degree that Paul can say that Christians have been crucified and died with Christ (Romans 6:6-8). Have you died and been crucified with Christ? Do you literally have the marks of crucifixion on your body (Jesus still does)? In the Lord’s Supper, Christians partake of the true Passover lamb and the benefits of His great redemptive act on the Cross. We are united to Him and are seen “in Him.”

Please read the book: Given for You, by Keith Mathison. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/cheers2.gif" alt="" />