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PROGRESSIVIST DOCUMENT OF THE WEEK
Archbishop Müller Denies Transubstantiation
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In 2002, then Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller published the book The Mass, Source of Christian Life (Die Messe, Quelle Christlichen Lebens) in which he speaks about transubstantiation.
Rather than the bread and wine being really transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ, Muller affirms they become symbols of the presence of Christ. At right, the cover of the book by Bishop Gerhard Muller; bottom, photocopies of excerpts on pp. 139-140; below in blue, the translation of the texts highlighted in yellow. “In reality, body and blood of Christ does not signify the physical parts of the man Jesus during his life or in his glorified body. Body and blood here signifies specifically the presence of Christ in the symbolism of bread and wine. … “We now have communion with Jesus Christ, through the eating and drinking of the bread and wine. Just as in an interpersonal relationship, a letter can show the friendship between persons and illustrate the affection of the sender for the recipient.” ... “The nature of these gifts can be clarified only in their relation to man. The essence of the bread and the wine, therefore, must be defined in an anthropological way. The natural character of these offerings [bread and wine] as a fruit of the earth and the work of human hands, as units of natural and cultural products, is to strengthen and nourish man and the human community in the character of a common meal. … This natural essence of the bread and wine is transformed by God in the sense that this nature of bread and wine now shows and achieves salvific communion with God.” (G. L. Müller, Die Messe, Quelle Christlichen Lebens. Augsburg: Sankt Ulrich Verlag, 2002, pp. 139-140) |
  
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Posted on February 23, 2013
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