The Doctrine of the Lord's Supper. As Taught by the Church of England

In Short

This theological address examines the official documents of the Church of England to determine whether they support the doctrine of the Real Presence, adoration, and sacrifice. By carefully analyzing the Thirty-Nine Articles, the Catechism, the Communion Service, and the Homilies, the text argues that the English Reformation established a distinctly spiritual view of the Lord's Supper. Bread and wine remain unchanged elements, while Christ is received solely by faith in a heavenly manner. It has endured as a clear defense of historical Protestant principles against ritualistic innovations.

The Story

The inquiry begins by challenging the common, confident assertions made by contemporary writers who claim the Church of England teaches the Real Presence in the consecrated elements. Noting that these claims often bypass scripture and church documents, the investigation establishes a framework to test them across three major points: the Real Presence, adoration, and sacrifice.

The author turns first to the Articles of Religion, particularly Articles twenty-five through thirty-one. Examining baptism and the Lord's Supper together, the text demonstrates that sacraments serve as visible signs and seals of invisible grace, yet the outward elements—water, bread, and wine—undergo no change in substance. Transubstantiation is explicitly rejected as repugnant to Scripture. Instead, Christ is given and eaten only after a heavenly and spiritual manner, with faith as the sole means of reception. Furthermore, the twenty-ninth Article proves that wicked persons who visually press the bread with their teeth are in no wise partakers of Christ, confirming that the elements are not intrinsically fused with His divine presence.

The investigation next addresses the Catechism, refuting the notion that its brief questions for children contradict the Articles. The Catechism maintains the identical distinction between the outward visible sign and the inward spiritual grace, defining the benefits as the strengthening and refreshing of souls by Christ's body and blood just as bodies are nourished by bread and wine.

Moving to the Communion Service, the text highlights how liturgical revisions, particularly between the prayer books of Edward VI, systematically removed ambiguities to ensure the spiritual grace is never identified with the outward sign. The phrasing directs communicants to eat the bread physically while feeding on Christ in their hearts by faith with thanksgiving. Even a specific citation from the Homilies concerning a marvellous incorporation is shown, when read in full context, to refer to the work of the Holy Ghost within the soul rather than an incorporation of Christ into the bread.

The second main inquiry examines adoration. Protesting against the localizing of Christ within the consecrated elements, the text contrasts this practice with the Church's deliberate removal of all trace of Eucharistic adoration from its worship, citing Dr. Pusey's own admissions regarding the Church's reserve and instructions that sacraments were ordained to be received, not adored.

Finally, the argument confronts the doctrine of a continued or repeated propitiatory sacrifice, often advanced in manuals of devotion. Analyzing Article thirty-one, the text emphasizes the absolute sufficiency and finality of Christ's offering once made, which condemns the sacrifice of masses as blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits. The concluding thanksgiving is shown to be a reasonable, holy, and lively surrender of believers' souls and bodies rather than an expiatory offering. Ultimately, the work reassures troubled Protestants that the Church of England remains firmly aligned with the foundational principles of the Reformation.

How It Unfolds

• Challenging confident assertions

The discussion opens by identifying the widespread reliance on unexamined claims regarding the Real Presence within the Church of England. It urges readers to patiently examine the actual historical documents of the church rather than accepting popular assertions at face value.

• Examining sacramental articles

The text analyzes the Thirty-Nine Articles to demonstrate that baptism and the Lord's Supper keep the outward sign and inward gift strictly distinct. It shows that transubstantiation is explicitly rejected and that faith remains the sole means of spiritual reception.

• Interpreting the catechism

The inquiry turns to the Catechism to prove that its instructional questions harmonize fully with the Articles. It emphasizes that the outward part nourishes the body while the inward grace sustains the soul.

• Reviewing liturgical evolution

The study traces the history of the Communion Service through the prayer books of Edward VI to highlight intentional revisions. These textual changes ensure that communicants feed on Christ spiritually in their hearts rather than consuming a material presence.

• Rejecting localized adoration

The focus shifts to the theological errors of adoration, arguing that the Church of England intentionally excised all such practices from its worship. It notes that the sacraments were ordained by Christ to be received, not adored.

• Disproving continued sacrifice

The final section confronts the assertion of a repeated propitiatory sacrifice in the mass. By examining Article thirty-one, it affirms the finality of Christ's once-made offering and defines the Eucharistic sacrifice strictly as an act of praise and thanksgiving.

The People

The central figures in this theological dialogue are the anonymous contemporary writers and ritualists, Dr. Pusey, Archbishop Longley, and the English Reformers. The ritualists and modern interpreters want to establish that the Church of England teaches the Real Presence, adoration, and a continued propitiatory sacrifice, bridging the gap between English theology and Rome. Standing in their way are the explicit historical documents of the church—the Articles, the Catechism, the Communion Service, and the Homilies—which maintain a purely spiritual interpretation of the sacraments.

Dr. Pusey emerges as a prominent voice representing the opposing view, attempting to reconcile sacramental practices with church documents while admitting that the church maintains reserve regarding adoration and views the Eucharist through specific traditional lenses. Archbishop Longley steps into the discourse by drawing public attention to controversial manuals that promote a substantial sacrifice for the quick and the dead.

The English Reformers act as the historical architects whose clear intentions and deliberate liturgical revisions shape the entire debate. Their goal is to anchor the church firmly in Scriptural truth while avoiding Romish superstitions. Through their careful drafting of the formularies, they ensure that readers end up with a restored confidence in historical Protestant principles, recognizing that the church's official stance rejects both transubstantiation and the sacrifice of the mass.

In Its Own Voice

The text begins by exposing the superficial nature of popular arguments surrounding sacramental theology.

It is a very easy thing to make a confident assertion, and such assertions produce a greater effect on many minds than the most careful and best-established proof.

The author emphasizes that the foundational definition of a sacrament excludes any physical alteration of the elements.

The sign is not described as being changed into the thing signified, but as being accompanied by it, so that when the believer with the hand and lip visibly receives the sign, it pleases God in His own great grace invisibly to feed the soul and confirm the faith.

Addressing the specific manner of reception, the text highlights the exclusive reliance on spiritual feeding.

The body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper only after an heavenly and spiritual manner; and the means whereby the body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper is Faith.

What It's Really About

This work explores the foundational boundaries of Anglican sacramental theology during a time of intense internal division. At its core, the text investigates whether the English Reformation created a genuine doctrinal separation from Rome or whether traditional ritual practices can be accommodated within the national church. It questions how religious authority is established, contrasting unexamined popular assertions with rigorous textual analysis of historical formularies. By dissecting the concepts of the Real Presence, adoration, and sacrifice, the argument probes the relationship between outward material signs and inward spiritual realities. Ultimately, it asks what it truly means to participate in the Lord's Supper, asserting that true communion depends entirely on a spiritual reception through faith rather than any physical localization of the divine.

Why Read It Today

Readers interested in ecclesiastical history, theology, or the mechanics of religious controversy will find this work illuminating and sharply focused. Reading it feels like sitting down with a meticulous scholar who guides you patiently through historical texts with unwavering clarity and conviction. You will appreciate its commitment to primary sources, though modern readers may find the intense nineteenth-century polemical tone and Victorian ecclesiastical debates demanding to navigate. What stays with you is the author's passionate insistence on textual honesty—the reminder that historical documents must be allowed to speak for themselves rather than being bent to fit contemporary preferences. It offers a valuable perspective on how institutions define their identity during periods of profound transition.