Augustine
I promised you [new Christians], who have now been baptized, a sermon in which I would explain the sacrament of the Lord's table, which you now look upon and of which you last night were made participants. You ought to know that you have received what you are going to receive, and what you ought to receive daily.
That bread which you see on the altar having been sanctified by the word of God is the body of Christ, That chalice, or rather, what is in that chalice, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the blood of Christ (
Sermons 227 [
A.D. 411]).
What you see is the bread and the chalice, that is what your own eyes report to you. But what your
faith obliges you to accept is that the bread is the body of Christ and the chalice is the blood of Christ. This has been said very briefly, which may perhaps be sufficient for faith, yet
faith does not desire instruction (ibid. 272).
I note that you have quoted a few sentences from Augustine’s sermons 227 and 272. I will look more deeply at sermon 272. That sermon is a favorite one of Catholics as they typically rip a sentence out of the first paragraph, assume that sentence must be understood literally, disregard the rest of the sermon and declare their view proven. That sentence is:
What you see is the bread and the chalice; that is what your own eyes report to you. But what your faith obliges you to accept is that THE BREAD IS THE BODY OF CHRIST AND THE CHALICE [WINE] THE BLOOD OF CHRIST." (Sermon 272)
The sermon’s two paragraphs read:
One thing is seen, another is to be understood. What you can see on the altar, you also saw last night; but what it was, what it meant, of what great reality it contained the sacrament, you had not yet heard. So what you can see, then, is bread and a cup; that's what even your eyes tell you; but as for what your faith asks to be instructed about, the bread is the body of Christ, the cup the blood of Christ. It took no time to say that indeed, and that, perhaps, may be enough for faith; but faith desires instruction. The prophet says, you see, Unless you believe, you shall not understand (Is 7:9). I mean, you can now say to me, “You've bidden us believe; now explain, so that we may understand.” Some such thought as this, after all, may cross somebody's mind: “We know where our Lord Jesus Christ took flesh from; from the Virgin Mary. He was suckled as a baby, was reared, grew up, came to man's estate, suffered persecution from the Jews, was hung on the tree, was slain on the tree, was taken down from the tree, was buried; rose again on the third day, on the day he wished ascended into heaven. That's where he lifted his body up to; that's where he's going to come from to judge the living and the dead; that's where he is now, seated on the Father's right. How can bread be his body? And the cup, or what the cup contains, how can it be his blood?” The reason these things, brothers and sisters, are called sacraments is that in them one thing is seen, another is to be understood. What can be seen has a bodily appearance, what is to be understood provides spiritual fruit. So if you want to understand the body of Christ, listen to the apostle telling the faithful, You, though, are the body of Christ and its members (1 Cor 12:27). So if it's you that are the body of Christ and its members, it's the mystery meaning you that has been placed on the Lord's table; what you receive is the mystery that means you. It is to what you are that you reply Amen, and by so replying you express your assent. What you hear, you see, is The body of Christ, and you answer, Amen. So be a member of the body of Christ, in order to make that Amen true.
So why in bread? Let's not bring anything of our own to bear here, let's go on listening to the apostle himself, who said, when speaking of this sacrament, One bread, one body, we being many are (1 Cor 10:17). Understand and rejoice. Unity, truth, piety, love. One bread; what is this one bread? The one body which we, being many, are. Remember that bread is not made from one grain, but from many. When you were being exorcised, it's as though you were being ground. When you were baptized it's as though you were mixed into dough. When you received the fire of the Holy Spirit, it's as though you were baked. Be what you can see, and receive what you are. That's what the apostle said about the bread. He has already shown clearly enough what we should understand about the cup, even if it wasn't said. After all, just as many grains are mixed into one loaf in order to produce the visible appearance of bread, as though what holy scripture says about the faithful were happening: They had one soul and one heart in God (Acts 4:32); so too with the wine. Brothers and sisters, just remind yourselves what wine is made from; many grapes hang in the bunch, but the juice of the grapes is poured together in one vessel. That too is how the Lord Christ signified us, how he wished us to belong to him, how he consecrated the sacrament of our peace and unity on his table. Any who receive the sacrament of unity, and do not hold the bond of peace, do not receive the sacrament for their benefit, but a testimony against themselves. Turning to the Lord, God the Father almighty, with pure hearts let us give him sincere and abundant thanks, as much as we can in our littleness; beseeching him in his singular kindness with our whole soul, graciously to hearken to our prayers in his good pleasure; also by his power to drive out the enemy from our actions and thoughts, to increase our faith, to guide our minds, to grant us spiritual thoughts, and to lead us finally to his bliss; through Jesus Christ his Son. Amen.
Here, with slight editing is how I would describe my understanding of Augustine’s view as demonstrated by sermon 272:
In the first paragraph of the Sermon, Augustine said:
1) the bread IS the body of Christ
2) it’s you (the believers) that ARE the body of Christ
3) it’s you (the believers) that have BEEN placed on the Lord’s table
If one can understand that in saying #2 and #3 that Augustine could have been speaking in a purely figurative manner, then one should be consistent and understand that in saying #1 Augustine could have been speaking in a purely figurative manner. IMHO Augustine is obviously speaking in a figurative manner at #2 and #3 and so a figurative understanding at #1 is also possible.
My complaint is that RCs produce the beginning of this sermon as prima facie evidence of Augustine’s belief in the RC’s doctrine of a Real Bodily Presence as if it that settles the matter.… The balance of the sermon is ignored and it is the balance of the sermon that eliminates (or at least calls into question) the prima facie case.
Further, Augustine first noted that one thing is seen and another is understood. He then asks,
“How can bread be his body?” His answer to that question (which continues to the second paragraph) is not one which points to a bodily presence. Absolutely no transformation of substance is suggested in answer to the “HOW?”. I understand his answer to be:
1) Just as Paul tells the believers at Corinth that they are the body of Christ, Augustine’s congregation are also the body of Christ
2) If one accepts this understanding, then by partaking in the Eucharist one is partaking in the sacrament of peace and unity with one’s fellow believers (who are the members of Christ’s body)
3) A loaf of bread is suitable for this understanding because it is made from many grains (and many believers are united in the body), the grains are ground (believers are exorcised), mixed into dough (believers are baptized) and baked (believers receive the fire of the Holy Spirit).
4) “Be what you can see, and receive what you are. That's what the apostle said about the bread.” This is how Augustine concludes his remarks on the loaf of bread.
In other words, Augustine (IMHO) says that the bread is Christ’s body b/c the bread is also a symbol for the church and the church is, in a figurative sense, the body of Christ. The bread is well suited to be that symbol. Recognize what the bread signifies and participate in the Eucharist so as to enjoy the unity symbolized by the bread. As you can see, I do not see sermon 272 as evidence of Augustine’s belief in a real bodily presence. Instead, I believe sermon 272 is better evidence of Augustine’s figurative understanding.
Sermon 227 is very similar to Sermon 272 and when examined gives the same understanding as I have detailed above. For example, in Sermon 227 one will find:
…It was by means of these things that the Lord Christ wished to present us with his body and blood, which he shed for our sake for the forgiveness of sins. If you receive them well, you are yourselves what you receive. You see, the apostle says, We, being many, are one loaf, one body (1 Cor 10:17). That's how he explained the sacrament of the Lord's table; one loaf, one body, is what we all are, many though we be…..Then, after the consecration of the sacrifice of God, because he wanted us to be ourselves his sacrifice,…
Look, it's received, it's eaten, it's consumed. Is the body of Christ consumed, is the Church of Christ consumed, are the members of Christ consumed? Perish the thought!
So again it is the church that is the body on the altar….and Christ’s body isn’t actually consumed any more than the Church is actually consumed during the Eucharist.
