An Explanation of Luther's Small Catechism · Martin Luther
WHAT THE SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR IS.
IT IS THE TRUE BODY AND BLOOD OF OUR LORD CHRIST, UNDER (along with) THE BREAD AND WINE, GIVES UNTO US CHRISTIANS TO EAT TO AS IT WAS INSTITUTED BY HIMSELF. The bread and wine _do not simply represent_ the body and blood of Christ (Zwingli's view). The bread and wine are _not changed into_ the body and blood of Christ (the Roman Catholic view, or transubstantiation). The bread and wine are not united with the body and blood of Christ into a third substance different from both (consubstantiation). The bread and wine remain real bread and wine throughout the administration of the Lord's Supper. [I Cor. 11:28] But there is a communion of the bread and wine with the body and blood of Christ, [I Cor. 10:16+] so that when the communicant receives the bread he receives also the body of Christ, and when he receives the wine, he receives also the blood of Christ. The bread and wine are the earthly vehicles through which the heavenly gift of Christ's body and blood, which were given, and shed for us for the remission of sins, are communicated to us. [I Cor. 10:28, 29] DOCTRINES COMPARED. The Reformed, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic doctrines of the Lord's Supper may be compared and illustrated thus:-- Reformed. Lutheran. Roman Catholic. Bread. Bread-Body. Body. Wine. Wine-Blood. Blood.
According to the Reformed view, only bread and wine are present; according to the Roman Catholic[14] view, only the body and blood of Christ are present; according to the Lutheran and Scriptural doctrine, both the bread and wine and the body and blood of Christ are present in the Holy Supper, and are received by every communicant. A GREAT MYSTERY. The Lord's Supper is a great mystery; but also a great comfort. We cannot understand how Christ can give us His body and blood in this sacrament. But it is the part of faith to take the Saviour at His word. This the Lutheran Church does in her doctrine. QUESTIONS.--1. By what different names is this sacrament known and why? 2. From what do we learn what the Lord's Supper is? 3. What is to be said about the earthly elements? 4. When Christ gave His disciples the bread and the wine, what did He say? 5. What do we receive, therefore, in the Lord's Supper? 6. What is to be said about Zwingli's view? 7. What is to be said about the Roman Catholic view, and what is it called? 8. What other false doctrine besides these two is to be rejected? 9. How may the Reformed, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic doctrines of the Lord's Supper be compared? 10. Is the true doctrine to be rejected because we do not understand it?
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