Thursday, May 24, 2007

transubstantiation


transubstantiation - n - The changing of one substance into another; the changing of the elements of the bread and wine, when they are consecrated in the Eucharist, into the body and blood of Christ (a doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church).

I can't believe this hasn't already been used. The Catholic doctrine in question has been controversial since before the Reformation. John Wycliffe, to mention a prominent example, denied the real prescence of Christ in the bread and wine. In the 17th Century, Thomas Hobbes derided "transubstantiation" as a nonsense word promulgated by "deceived and deceiving Schoolmen." The Catholics, Orthodox, and some Protestant denominations maintain the doctrine today.

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