receptionism

Anglican theologian Claude B. Moss defines receptionism as "the theory that we receive the Body and Blood of Christ when we receive the bread and wine, but they are not identified with the bread and wine which are not changed".Claude B. Moss, The Christian Faith: An Introduction to Dogmatic Theology (London: SPCK 1943), p. 366, cited in [https://books.google.com/books?id=YjY2q6aLaMEC&dq=%22defines+receptionism+as+the+theory%22&pg=PA181 Brian Douglas, A Companion to Anglican Eucharistic Theology (BRILL 2012), vol. 2, p. 181] It teaches that "the sacramental gift is received by faith", but it has often been misunderstood or misrepresented as teaching that "faith creates the sacrament".

The term itself seems not to have appeared before 1867, but the teaching has roots going back to the English Reformation, particularly to the theology of Thomas Cranmer, the guiding figure of theProtestant Reformation in England; Thomas Cranmer aligned himself with the Eucharistic theology of John Calvin, which is reflected in the 28th Article of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England: "the Body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten, in the Supper, only after an heavently and spiritual manner." This view is the real spiritual presence (pneumatic presence) and is held by denominations of the Reformed (Continental Reformed, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, and Reformed Anglican) tradition.{{cite book |last1=Elwell |first1=Walter A. |title=Evangelical Dictionary of Theology |date=May 2001 |publisher=Baker Academic |isbn=978-0-8010-2075-9 |page=990 |language=en}}

{{quotation|It is clear that, in rejecting Roman Catholic doctrine on this point, Cranmer has also rejected Luther's views and adopted Calvin's position. The sacrament is not merely a symbol of what takes place in the heart, but neither is it the physical eating of the body of Christ. This must be so, because the body of Christ is in heaven and therefore our participation in it can only be spiritual. Only the believers are the true partakers of the body and blood of Christ, for the unbelievers eat and drink no more than bread and wine—and condemnation upon themseves, for the profanation of the Lord's Table. These views are reflected in the Thirty-nine articles, of which the twenty-eighth says that "the Body of the Christ is given, taken, and eaten, in the Supper, only after an heavently and spiritual manner. The next article says of the wicked that "in no wise are they partakers of Christ," although "to their condemnation [they] do eat and rink the sign or Sacrament of so great a thing." This marked Calvinistic influence would prove very significant for the history of Christianity in England during the seventeenth century… —Justo L. González{{cite book |last1=González |first1=Justo L. |title=A History of Christian Thought: From the Protestant Reformation to the twentieth century |date=1987 |publisher=Abingdon Press |isbn=978-0-687-17184-2 |language=en}}}}

Scholars such as MacCulloch,{{cite book|last1=MacCulloch|first1=Diarmaid|title=Thomas Cranmer: A Life|date=1998|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven|isbn=9780300074482|page=[https://archive.org/details/thomascranmerlif0000macc/page/467 467]|url=https://archive.org/details/thomascranmerlif0000macc/page/467}} Bates{{cite book |chapter=The Worthy Comminicant |last=Bates |title=Thomas Cranmer, Essays in Commemoration of the 500th Anniversary of his Birth |publisher=Turnstone Ventures |location=Durham |date=1990 |editor-first=Margot |editor-last=Johnson |page=109}} and Beckwith & Tiller{{cite book|editor1-last=Beckwith|editor1-first=R. T.|editor2-last=Tiller|editor2-first=J. E.|title=The Service of Holy Communion and its Revision|date=1972|publisher=Marcham Manor Press|location=Abingdon|isbn=0900531061|page=59}} class it as "receptionism". In describing Cranmer's changes to the communion service in the 1552 Book of Common Prayer, Colin Buchanan writes, "the only 'moment' is reception—and the only point where the bread and wine signify the body and blood is at reception", when the communicants remembered Christ's offering of himself on the cross.{{harvnb| MacCulloch |1998 | p = 507}}

It was also held in some form by Richard Hooker.{{cite encyclopedia|editor1-last=Cross|editor1-first=F. L.|encyclopedia=The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church|date=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-280290-3|edition=3rd|title=Hooker}} According to him, the bread is unchanged at the blessing of the priest, but becomes an effectual spiritual sign when received by someone in faith.{{cite book|last1=Hooker|first1=Richard|authorlink1=Richard Hooker|editor1-last=Bayne|editor1-first=Ronald|title=Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity|date=1902|orig-year=1597|publisher=Macmillan|location=New York|pages=375–378|url=https://archive.org/stream/oflawsofeccles00hook#page/374/mode/2up}} V.lxvii.5–7

This Eucharistic teaching was commonly held by 16th and 17th-century Anglican theologians. It was characteristic of 17th century thought to "insist on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but to profess agnosticism concerning the manner of the presence ..." It remained "the dominant theological position in the Church of England until the Oxford Movement in the early nineteenth century, with varying degrees of emphasis". It is important to remember that it is "a doctrine of the real presence" but one which "relates the presence primarily to the worthy receiver rather than to the elements of bread and wine".{{cite book|last1=Crockett|first1=William R.|editor1-last=Sykes|editor1-first=Stephen|editor2-last=Booty|editor2-first=John|title=The Study of Anglicanism|date=1988|publisher=SPCK/Fortress Press|location=Philadelphia|isbn=9780800620875|page=275|chapter=Holy Communion}}

Receptionism rules out the practice of Eucharistic adoration, a practice that in any case most Protestants reject as unscriptural.{{cn|date=July 2019}}

The Twenty-five Articles of Religion of Methodism inherited "Of the Lord’s Supper" from the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion of Anglicanism:{{cite book|last=Melton|first=J. Gordon|title=Encyclopedia of Protestantism|date=1 January 2005|publisher=Infobase Publishing|language=en |isbn=9780816069835|page=48|quote=Among the items deleted by Wesley as unnecessary for Methodists were articles on Of Works Before Justification, which in Calvinism are largely discounted, but in Methodism lauded; Of Predestination and Election, which Wesley felt would be understood in a Calvinist manner that the Methodists rejected; and Of the Traditions of the Church, which Wesley felt to be no longer at issue }}

{{quotation|The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to have among themselves one to another, but rather is a sacrament of our redemption by Christ’s death; insomuch that, to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith receive the same, the bread which we break is a partaking of the body of Christ; and likewise the cup of blessing is a partaking of the blood of Christ. Transubstantiation, or the change of the substance of bread and wine in the Supper of our Lord, cannot be proved by Holy Writ, but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions. The body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper, only after a heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper is faith. The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was not by Christ’s ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshiped.{{cite web |title=Book of Doctrines & Discipline |url=https://globalmethodist.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/2024-GMC-BOOK-OF-DOCTRINES-FINAL.pdf |publisher=Global Methodist Church |access-date=12 June 2025 |page=13 |date=15 November 2024}}}}

The Reformed theology of receptionism, or the real spiritual presence, is the view held by Methodists "and is well presented in the Holy Communion hymns of Charles Wesley."{{cite book |last1=Douglas |first1=J. D. |last2=Toon |first2=Peter |title=The Concise Dictionary of the Christian Tradition: Doctrine, Liturgy, History |date=5 September 2023 |publisher=Zondervan |isbn=978-0-310-15734-2 |page=318 |language=en|quote=Receptionism: The teaching that while the bread and wine remain unchanged after consecration, the faithful communicant receives with them Christ's spiritual body and blood. This is the most widely held view in the Anglican and Methodist churches of the Real Presence of Christ and is well presented in the Holy Communion hymns of Charles Wesley (1707-1788).}}{{cite web |last1=Mahoney |first1=James |title=The Methodist’s Duty: Wesley’s “Constant Communion” and the 21st Century Methodist |url=https://firebrandmag.com/articles/the-methodists-duty-wesleys-constant-communion-and-the-21st-century-methodist |publisher=Firebrand Magazine |access-date=4 April 2025 |language=English |date=9 July 2024 |quote=Methodists say with Wesley that Holy Communion is a sacrament, and though we choose not to define our understanding along the lines of transubstantiation or consubstantiation (Methodist Articles of Religion, Art. XVIII), we do nonetheless believe in the Real Presence (that Jesus is present “after a spiritual manner,” Art. XVIII) and that this sacrament is both medicine and food.}}{{cite web |last1=Collins |first1=Kenneth J. |title=Worship and the Sacraments (Part 2)|url=https://www.biblicaltraining.org/learn/institute/th511-wesleyan-theology-ii/th511-17-worship-and-the-sacraments-part-2 |publisher=Biblical Training |access-date=4 April 2025 |language=en |date=2025 |quote=Wesley says that there is a spiritual presence of Jesus in the Lord’s Supper.}}

The Roman Catholic and Lutheran traditions of Christianity reject the doctrine of receptionism as both denominations teach a corporeal presence of Christ in the Eucharist.{{cite web |last1=Pattison |first1=Mark |title=How Catholic-Lutheran ecumenical efforts have borne fruit in past 50 years |url=https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/09/18/how-catholic-lutheran-ecumenical-efforts-have-borne-fruit-past-50-years |publisher=America Magazine |access-date=15 May 2020 |language=en |date=18 September 2017}}

The 16th-century Council of Trent condemned this teaching, declaring that "if any one saith, that, after the consecration is completed, the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ are not in the admirable sacrament of the Eucharist, but (are there) only during the use, whilst it is being taken, and not either before or after; and that, in the hosts, or consecrated particles, which are reserved or which remain after communion, the true Body of the Lord remaineth not; let him be anathema".{{cite web |url=http://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/ct13.html |title=Council of Trent, Session 13 (11 October 1551), canon IV| website=Hanover Historical Texts Project}}

The Catholic Church's rejection of receptionism was reaffirmed by Pope Paul VI in his papal encyclical Mysterium fidei of 3 September 1965. Citing Origen, Hippolytus of Rome, Novatian and Cyril of Alexandria, he stated: "The Catholic Church has always displayed and still displays this latria that ought to be paid to the Sacrament of the Eucharist, both during Mass and outside of it, by taking the greatest possible care of consecrated Hosts, by exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful, and by carrying them about in processions to the joy of great numbers of the people."{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_03091965_mysterium_en.html |title=Mysterium fidei |website=The Holy See |publisher=Vatican}} paragraphs 56–61

The position regarding the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist in Lutheranism is the sacramental union: the consecrated bread is united with the body of Christ and the consecrated wine is united with the blood of Christ by virtue of Christ's original institution with the result that anyone eating and drinking these "elements"—the consecrated bread and wine—really eats and drinks the physical body and blood of Christ as well.{{cite book |last1=Mattox |first1=Mickey L. |last2=Roeber |first2=A. G. |title=Changing Churches: An Orthodox, Catholic, and Lutheran Theological Conversation |date=27 February 2012 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-0-8028-6694-3 |page=54 |language=en |quote=In this "sacramental union," Lutherans taught, the body and blood of Christ are so truly united to the bread and wine of the Holy Communion so that the two may be identified. They are at the same time body and blood, bread and wine. This divine food is given, more-over, not just for the strengthening of faith, nor only as a sign of our unity in faith, nor merely as an assurance of the forgiveness of sin. Even more, in this sacrament the Lutheran Christian receives the very body and blood of Christ for the strengthening of the union of faith. The "real presence" of Christ in the Holy Sacrament is the means by which the union of faith, effected by God's Word and the sacrament of baptism, is strengthened and maintained.}}

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Category:Anglican Eucharistic theology

Category:Eucharist