Trusting in the Holy Spirit: From Fr. Jim Hunter

Discussing the theory of how Christ present in the Holy Eucharist, Charlie Price and Louis Weil state the theory of Transessentiation better than I can etter than I can in Liturgy for Living, (Harper & Row, 1979), pp. 215-216. The underlying philosophical assumptions of the Eastern Orthodox theory are Platonic (427-347 B.C., and a teacher of Aristotle 384- 322 B.C.), rather than Aristotelian.

Plato thought that every object, such as bread or wine, presented to the physical senses a derivative reality, which was the out- ward symbol or sign of the true reality, or idea, of the object. Yet the idea, or the reality, of the object was in different realm, that is to say, in heaven, not in the object itself, as Aristotle held. When one?s senses registered bread and wine, for example, the sensation in the body triggered a ?memory? in the mind, a memory of real, true bread and wine, with which one?s soul had had contact in heaven but with which it had lost contact through being embodied in flesh.

You see, for Plato, what was really ?real? was the idea. Why? Well, think of a table for instance, any table. It has four legs and a flat top. We all know a table when we see one. However, the physical table is not really real because the physical table can be destroyed, burned, and all that is left is ash. However, all one has to do is to think of

?table?, as I just asked you to do, and we can picture a table in our mind.?

The idea of ?table? cannot be destroyed and, therefore, that is why the idea is what is real. When Christian theologians applied this understanding of reality to the Eucharist, they held that when priest and congregation uttered the prayers of the Eucharist, God brought about a change in the heavenly reference of the bread and wine. At the outset, the physical objects were symbols of true bread and wine (the idea), and brought those who experienced the physical symbols to knowledge of the intellectual reality.

By the action of God?s Spirit, the physical objects became participating symbols in the body and blood of the risen and ascended Christ, and brought those who received these symbols to the knowledge of this much greater spiritual reality.

Just as a reminder, participating symbols function not only to point beyond themselves to another reality, but they actually become the reality toward which they point. Words are participating symbols. Every word has a meaning but, all by itself, it has no context which limits its meaning. String some words together and you have a sentence and the word makes more sense. Sting some sentences together and we have a paragraph which functions to communicate an idea. The word becomes the idea and it participates in the reality of the idea. Other common participating symbols are money (participating in the time and effort it took us to earn the money) and the American flag (the red participating in the symbolism of the blood shed over 235 years of American History, the blue for courage, the stars for the 50 states, 13 red and white stripes for the original 13 colonies, white for hon- or). The last thing anyone would do if I gave that person $1,000 would be to burn it or throw it away. But, why? It?s just a symbol. Because it is a participating symbol that has power and we can exchange the money for almost anything we want. When the American flag is desecrated, most of us don?t like such disrespectful behavior be- cause the flag is more than a piece of cloth. It is a participating symbol of our nation and of the brave men and women who have fought to keep us free. All participating symbols have power.

Since it is by the Spirit that the physical objects become participating symbols, in Eastern Orthodox theology, it is during the invocation of the Holy Spirit in the Eucharistic Prayer that the presence of Christ becomes real in the bread and wine, not during the Institution Narrative as in the West. The part of the prayer in Rite 1 when this takes place is when the Celebrant prays, ?And we most humbly beseech thee, O merciful Father, to hear us; and, of thy almighty goodness, vouchsafe to bless and sanctify, with thy Word and Holy Spirit, these thy gifts and creatures of bread and wine...? BCP p. 335. In the Rite 2 service this text becomes, ?Sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of your Son, the holy food and drink of new and unending life in him.? BCP 363.

As in the doctrine of transubstantiation, no change in the physical properties of the bread and wine is involved; but unlike the doctrine of transubstantiation, the change involved does not occur in the bread and wine (the substance), but in the heaven of God and his archetypal creatures.

This doctrine brings into focus a different way of understanding the Eucharist. It is the first theory of sacramental presence to be elaborated by Christian theologians, and continues to have many advocates. To the extent that ?all Western philosophy is a series of footnotes to Plato? (Whitehead), it can make sense of the Eucharistic experience to modern men and women far beyond the bonds of Eastern Orthodoxy. But its dualism of soul and body, and its implicit downgrading of sense-experienced reality in favor of an intangible idea, make it inaccessible to many others. It is important to keep the following disclaimer in mind. These theories (transubstantian, transessentiation,?

memorialism, and others) may be entertained by believers, if they find them helpful. The task of the- ology is to provide just such reasons as aids to faith. Especially in regard to the Eucharist, our church refuses to require its members to believe any particular theory, for all have been tried and found wanting. They easily be- come stumbling blocks to faith and the cause of great dissension (Liturgy for Living, p. 212).

Source: http://trustingintheholyspirit.blogspot.com/2012/08/from-fr-jim-hunter.html

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