📖 Biblical Definition
The popular term for the Lutheran doctrine of the Lord's Supper, though Lutherans themselves reject the term consubstantiation (which they consider an imprecise polemical characterization) and prefer the term sacramental union. The Lutheran position holds that Christ's body and blood are truly and bodily present in, with, and under the bread and wine (the famous Lutheran in-with-and-under formula); the substance of the bread and wine is not converted (against Catholic transubstantiation); the bread and wine are not merely memorial signs (against Zwinglian memorialism); rather, Christ's body and blood are sacramentally united to the bread and wine in such a way that the recipient receives both the bread and the body, both the wine and the blood, in a single sacramental act. The doctrine rests on Luther's substantive insistence on the literal interpretation of this is my body (Matthew 26:26) and on the doctrine of the ubiquity of Christ's body (the substantive Lutheran claim that Christ's glorified body shares in the divine attribute of omnipresence and can therefore be locally present at every celebration of the Supper). The Reformed-confessional rejection of consubstantiation (Westminster XXIX; Heidelberg Q. 78-79) holds that the Lutheran ubiquity-of-Christ's-body doctrine compromises Christ's true humanity (which remains finite and locally embodied in His glorified state); the spiritual-presence position is the substantively-orthodox Reformed alternative. The Marburg Colloquy (1529) between Zwingli and Luther produced agreement on fourteen of fifteen articles but failed to reach agreement on the Lord's Supper; the Reformed-Lutheran division on this question has persisted to the present.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Popular term for Lutheran doctrine of the Lord's Supper (Lutherans prefer sacramental union); Christ's body and blood present in, with, and under bread and wine; rests on Luther's literal interpretation of this is my body and doctrine of ubiquity of Christ's body; rejected by Reformed-confessional tradition.
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CONSUBSTANTIATION, n. (Lutheran sacramentology) Popular term for Lutheran doctrine of Lord's Supper; Lutherans reject the term and prefer sacramental union. Christ's body and blood truly and bodily present in, with, and under the bread and wine (Lutheran in-with-and-under formula). Substance of bread and wine not converted (against Catholic transubstantiation); not merely memorial signs (against Zwinglian memorialism); Christ's body and blood sacramentally united to bread and wine such that recipient receives both bread and body, wine and blood, in single sacramental act. Rests on Luther's literal interpretation of this is my body and doctrine of ubiquity of Christ's body. Reformed-confessional rejection (Westminster XXIX; Heidelberg Q. 78-79): Lutheran ubiquity-of-Christ's-body compromises true humanity. Marburg Colloquy 1529 failed to reach Reformed-Lutheran agreement.
📖 Key Scripture
Matthew 26:26 — "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body."
Acts 3:21 — "Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things."
Philippians 2:7-8 — "But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself."
Hebrews 1:3 — "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Consubstantiation: Lutheran doctrine of Christ's body and blood present in, with, and under the elements; rests on ubiquity-of-Christ's-body doctrine; rejected by Reformed-confessional tradition as compromising Christ's true humanity.
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The Reformed-confessional rejection of Lutheran consubstantiation rests substantively on the doctrine of Christ's true humanity. The Lutheran in-with-and-under formula requires Christ's bodily presence at every Lord's Supper celebrated anywhere in the world simultaneously; this in turn requires the doctrine of the ubiquity of Christ's body (the claim that Christ's glorified body shares in the divine attribute of omnipresence through the communication of attributes between the natures). The Reformed-confessional tradition holds that the communication of attributes operates at the level of the Person (the divine Logos truly suffered on the cross because the Person who suffered was the divine Logos in His incarnate state) but does not transfer the attribute of omnipresence to the human nature itself. Christ's glorified humanity remains finite and locally embodied; it is at the Father's right hand in heaven (Acts 3:21; Hebrews 1:3); it is not ubiquitously present on every Lutheran altar. The Reformed spiritual-presence position resolves the question differently: Christ's bodily presence in heaven and the believer's communion with Him through the Spirit's work at the Table preserves both Christ's true humanity and the substantive real presence at the Supper.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Lutheran doctrine; in-with-and-under; sacramental union; ubiquity of Christ's body; rejected by Reformed-confessional tradition.
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['Latin', '—', 'consubstantiatio', 'with-substance (the Reformed-polemical designation)']
['Latin', '—', 'unio sacramentalis', 'sacramental union (the Lutheran preferred term)']
['Latin', '—', 'in, cum, et sub', 'in, with, and under']
Usage
"Consubstantiation: Lutheran doctrine of Christ's body and blood in, with, and under the elements."
"Rests on ubiquity-of-Christ's-body doctrine."
"Rejected by Reformed-confessional tradition as compromising Christ's true humanity."