360. Do Christ's body and blood in the Sacrament replace the bread and the wine, so that the bread and wine only appear to be there?
No. The Scriptures testify that the bread and wine remain in the Sacrament. Communicants eat and drink both bread and wine and the Lord's body and blood in the Lord's Supper.
1 Corinthians 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.
Note: The Roman Catholic Church teaches that Christ's body and blood replace the bread and wine (the theory of transubstantiation). Many Protestant or Evangelical churches teach that the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper are not Christ's true body and blood but only symbols. The Lutheran Church simply accepts what Christ says, that the consecrated bread and wine are His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. "We believe, teach, and confess that in the Holy Supper Christ's body and blood are truly and essentially present, and that they are truly distributed and received with the bread and wine" (FC Ep VII 6).
Eventual commentary
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