The Real Presence

All good Protestants believe in the real presence. Christ is certainly and really present in the Eucharist. He is really there: there is no illusion and no masquerade. When Christ said, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am in the midst of them”, we believe him. We believe therefore that when we gather together in his name, Christ is really present – if he weren’t really present, he wouldn’t be present at all.

What we don’t believe is that this presence is material. We believe that this presence is spiritual, that it is symbolic too.

But even in its symbolic dimension, the presence of Christ in the eucharistic elements is real. When I show someone a photo of myself, I say, “It’s a good likeness of me; it’s really me.” Everyone knows that this photograph is not me: it’s an image on a piece of paper. But when Palestinians burn American flags, it isn’t just a piece of fabric they’re burning: America, all America, all her political life, are present in the object.

In the same way, Protestants believe that the real presence is not intrinsic to the eucharistic elements, but depends on the disposition of the minds of the faithful people who receive them. So there is real presence, but there is not a permanent real presence. The Holy Spirit is called down not on the elements, but on the faithful who receive them as the body and blood of Christ.

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