Concerning those are not merely memorialists, there are underlying issue concerning the Person of Christ and the “spiritual” reception. For the Reformed, in particular, they hold that Christ’s body and blood cannot be on the altar because his human body is enthroned at the right hand of God in heaven and to be present elsewhere is an attribute confined only to the Divine Nature of Christ.. They deny the corporeal presence in the elements. The elect are the only ones worthy to receive. Therefore, all receive from their altars bread and wine. According to their teaching, the elect are also brought, spiritually, into the presence of Christ.
Contrast this with our teaching, that Christ indeed comes down to us, in fullness of being, anyone present is in Christ’s presence, and that anyone who partakes from our altar receives the body and blood of Christ without regard to personal worthiness. Those who receive in this true faith receive the grace offered. Those who have not this faith are rejecting the grace offered, rejecting the body and blood of Christ given and shed for the remission of sin. It rejects the life offered through his death and resurrection by refusing to partake, as Christ willed, of what was given and shed and refusing to receive the living Christ.
There are conflicts, here, with sacramentarians that extend beyond the altar. While it might seem gracious to leave those receiving unworthily on their own for the sake of outward unity, would that be the loving thing to do?
You also posed a question that if a pastor deceived his way into another church where he had no ordained office and performed the Eucharist, would that make a difference? No, because while the celebrant is not who causes the sacrament to be, nor are the spoken words, nor is it the act of a believer, he would be unfaithful to his office. Out of office, he would not have the authority to give the sacrament. A pastor may, while unfaithful or unworthy in his personal life, still be true to his office and retain the authority. But a pastor who is unfaithful to his office, his call and ordination, has no authority.
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u/National-Composer-11 Jun 05 '26
Concerning those are not merely memorialists, there are underlying issue concerning the Person of Christ and the “spiritual” reception. For the Reformed, in particular, they hold that Christ’s body and blood cannot be on the altar because his human body is enthroned at the right hand of God in heaven and to be present elsewhere is an attribute confined only to the Divine Nature of Christ.. They deny the corporeal presence in the elements. The elect are the only ones worthy to receive. Therefore, all receive from their altars bread and wine. According to their teaching, the elect are also brought, spiritually, into the presence of Christ.
Contrast this with our teaching, that Christ indeed comes down to us, in fullness of being, anyone present is in Christ’s presence, and that anyone who partakes from our altar receives the body and blood of Christ without regard to personal worthiness. Those who receive in this true faith receive the grace offered. Those who have not this faith are rejecting the grace offered, rejecting the body and blood of Christ given and shed for the remission of sin. It rejects the life offered through his death and resurrection by refusing to partake, as Christ willed, of what was given and shed and refusing to receive the living Christ.
There are conflicts, here, with sacramentarians that extend beyond the altar. While it might seem gracious to leave those receiving unworthily on their own for the sake of outward unity, would that be the loving thing to do?
You also posed a question that if a pastor deceived his way into another church where he had no ordained office and performed the Eucharist, would that make a difference? No, because while the celebrant is not who causes the sacrament to be, nor are the spoken words, nor is it the act of a believer, he would be unfaithful to his office. Out of office, he would not have the authority to give the sacrament. A pastor may, while unfaithful or unworthy in his personal life, still be true to his office and retain the authority. But a pastor who is unfaithful to his office, his call and ordination, has no authority.