Dave Armstrong - Biblical Catholic Eucharistic Theology

Biblical Catholic Eucharistic Theology

Dave Armstrong

Copyright 2011 by Dave Armstrong

All rights reserved.

Biblical citations are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible ( 1971) copyrighted by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America (unless otherwise indicated). All emphases have been added.

For related reading on the authors blog, see my topical index web page:

The Eucharist and the Sacrifice of the Mass

http://socrates58.blogspot.com/2006/11/eucharist-sacrifice-of-mass-index-page.html

DEDICATION

To my beautiful daughter Angelina, who will soon be receiving our Lord Jesus in Holy Communion for the first time. May she always be devoted to the Holy One Who has blessed my wife Judy and I so richly by allowing us the joy and privilege of being her parents.

INTRODUCTION

This volume consists of a collection of articles originally posted on my website and blog (both named Biblical Evidence for Catholicism ): written between 1996 and 2010, oftentimes as a result of questions received, or debate challenges. These have been edited, revised, and combined in various ways, in order to crystallize the thought and to maximize the impact of the arguments.

Most of the queries came from our Protestant brethren in Christ. These occurrences afforded me the opportunity to defend and clarify what Catholics believe with regard to the Holy Eucharist, and to demonstrate that Catholic beliefs areas we believein line with both Holy Scripture and the eucharistic doctrine of the early Church. It is my sincere hope and prayer that my own ruminations along these lines may be of some benefit to others.

I have written extensively on the basics of Catholic eucharistic doctrine and its grounding in the Bible in several of my books: A Biblical Defense of Catholicism (pp. 77100), The Catholic Verses (pp. 113126), The One-Minute Apologist (pp. 5865), and Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths (pp. 255270).

I wont be reiterating those aspects; this work can, therefore, be considered a slightly higher-level course, so to speak (Catholic Eucharist 0201, if you will).

Chapters 3 and 12 are reminiscent of the format of earlier books, since they were originally intended to be included, but were casualties of the editors red pen. Chapter One, written shortly after Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths , would have fit very well into its structure and goal of showing how Catholic doctrine is entirely harmonious with the Bible.

CONTENTS

Dedication

Introduction

1. Biblical Analogical Evidence for the Special Presence of God in Physical Objects Prior to the Incarnation

2. Is the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit Intrinsically Opposed to the Real, Physical Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist?

3. Sacraments: Moral Responsibility and Spiritual Benefits

4. John 6 and Lack of Faith in the Physical Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist as a Parallel to Doubting Disciples

5. Questions and Answers on the Holy Eucharist

6. The Philosophical Theology Behind the Eucharist

7. Biblical Evidence for One Species in Holy Communion

8. Exclusion of Non-Catholic Christians from Communion

9. Protestant Use of Grape Juice in Holy Communion

10. Catholic-Lutheran Dialogue on Corpus Christi: Eucharistic Processions and Adoration

11. Catholic-Protestant Disputes Regarding Transubstantiation and Church History

12. The Protestant Sacramentarian Controversies: Calvin vs. Luther vs. Zwingli

13. John Calvins Mystical Eucharist vs. Logic, the Church Fathers, and Holy Scripture

14. The Simultaneous Assertion of Realism and Symbolism in St. Augustines Eucharistic Doctrine

15. The Church Fathers and the Sacrifice of the Mass

16. St. Pauls Reference to Himself as a Priest and Use of Sacerdotal Categories

17. The Timeless, Miraculous, Transcendent Nature of the Sacrifice of the Mass

18. Biblical Analogies Related to Eucharistic Adoration and the Sacrifice of the Mass

19. Arguments for the Permissibility and Plausibility of the Sacrifice of the Mass from Scripture Alone and Analogy

20. Biblical Evidence for Congregational Participation in Offering and Re-Presenting Jesus Sacrifice on the Cross

21. The Mass: Is It Idolatry Like That of Jeroboam?

22. Biblical Evidence for Wholehearted Formal Worship

23. Biblical Evidence for Holy Days

Bibliography

Chapter One

1. Biblical Analogical Evidence for the Special Presence of God in Physical Objects Prior to the Incarnation

Many Protestants (particularly Calvinists, following Calvin) make the argument that since Jesus bodily ascended to heaven, therefore He could not possibly be present bodily in the Holy Eucharist (since He is already located in heaven). One way to counter this false notion is to show that God being present in physical objects (i.e., in a special way, beyond omnipresence) is not some new, innovative thing.

It was a characteristic of God all along. The incarnation makes it even more plausible, since God took on human flesh. If God can do one thing, He can do the other. This shows that eucharistic presence, or the Real Presence, is not implausible or unbiblical at all, let alone forbidden by the Bible. Colossians 3:11 states that Christ is all, and in all. The Bible frequently refers to God being in physical things (including as a man, or the angel of the Lord in theophanies):

Genesis 16:13 So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, Thou art a God of seeing; for she said, Have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing him?

Genesis 17:1 , When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. [22] When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.

Genesis 18:1 And the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day.

Exodus 3:16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me

Exodus 24:911 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, [10] and they saw the God of Israel; and there was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. [11] And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.

Numbers 12:78 Not so with my servant Moses; he is entrusted with all my house. [8] With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in dark speech; and he beholds the form of the LORD

Deuteronomy 34:10 And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,

1 Kings 22:19 And Micaiah said, Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left; (cf. 2 Chron 18:18)

Isaiah 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. (cf. 6:5)

Ezekiel 1:2528 And there came a voice from above the firmament over their heads; when they stood still, they let down their wings. [26] And above the firmament over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness as it were of a human form. [27] And upward from what had the appearance of his loins I saw as it were gleaming bronze, like the appearance of fire enclosed round about; and downward from what had the appearance of his loins I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about him. [28] Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.