Martin Luther, the founder of Protestantism, believed in the Real Presence. He didn’t want to speculate about metaphysics and how the bread and wine became the Body and Blood of Christ, but simply believed in the miracle of the literal presence of Jesus’ Body and Blood “alongside” the bread and wine (consubstantiation). Luther wrote:

“Sooner than have mere wine with the fanatics, I would agree with the pope that there is only blood. (Confession Concerning Christ’s Supper, 1528)

He rebuked the symbolic view of the Eucharist, held by the majority of Protestants today:

“[S]ince we are confronted by God’s words, ‘This is my body’ – distinct, clear, common, definite words, which certainly are no trope, either in Scripture or in any language — we must embrace them with faith ... not as hairsplitting sophistry dictates but as God says them for us, we must repeat these words after him and hold to them” (Ibid.).

Preaching on John 6, Luther stated:

“All right! There we have it! This is clear, plain, and unconcealed: ‘I am speaking of My flesh and blood.’ ... There we have the flat statement which cannot be interpreted in any other way than that there is no life, but death alone, apart from His flesh and blood if these are neglected or despised. How is it possible to distort this text? ... You must note these words and this text with the utmost diligence ... It can neither speciously be interpreted nor avoided and evaded (Sermons on the Gospel of St. John: Chapters 6-8, 1532).”

Luther felt that he was compelled by 1 Corinthians 10:16 (“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?”) to accept the straightforward meaning of the Real Presence:

“I confess that if Karlstadt, or anyone else, could have convinced me five years ago that only bread and wine were in the sacrament he would have done me a great service. At that time I suffered such severe conflicts and inner strife and torment that I would gladly have been delivered from them. I realized that at this point I could best resist the papacy ... But I am a captive and cannot free myself. The text is too powerfully present, and will not allow itself to be torn from its meaning by mere verbiage (Letter to the Christians at Strassburg in Opposition to the Fanatic Spirit, 1524).

He continues:

“Even if we had no other passage than this we could sufficiently strengthen all consciences and sufficiently overcome all adversaries ...

“... The bread which is broken or distributed piece by piece is the participation in the body of Christ. It is, it is, it is, he says, the participation in the body of Christ. Wherein does the participation in the body of Christ consist? It cannot be anything else than that as each takes a part of the broken bread he takes therewith the body of Christ ...

“He could not have spoken more clearly and strongly ...” (Against the Heavenly Prophets in the Matter of Images and Sacraments, 1525).

He took the same view as regards another Pauline eucharistic passage:

1 Corinthians 11:27-30 (RSV): “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.”

He interpreted it as follows:

“It is not sound reasoning arbitrarily to associate the sin which St. Paul attributes to eating with remembrance of Christ, of which Paul does not speak. For he does not say, ‘Who unworthily holds the Lord in remembrance,’ but ‘Who unworthily eats and drinks’” (Ibid.).

Protestants would benefit from reconsidering this “nearly Catholic” outlook of Luther.

Dave Armstrong has been a published Catholic apologist since 1993. Dave has written or edited 48 books on apologetics, including several bestsellers. If you’d like to help keep his influential teaching apostolate going as a much-needed monthly supporter, write to Dave at [email protected].