Defenders Podcast

Dr. William Lane Craig evaluates competing views of the Lord's Supper — transubstantiation, consubstantiation, and the Reformed spiritual-presence view — before defending his own position that the Lord's Supper is a memorial ordinance rather than a sacrament. He argues transubstantiation lacks scriptural support, showing that Jesus' words of institution and the "bread of life" discourse in John 6 use the same kind of symbolic, Semitic imagery found elsewhere in Paul (the rock as Christ, Hagar and Sarah as the two covenants) and throughout John's Gospel (new birth, living water, spiritual food), where literalistic readings are consistently shown to be misunderstandings. He also contends that a literal eating of Christ's body confuses the nature of his physical, humanoid resurrection body. He extends similar objections to consubstantiation, adding that it improperly mixes Christ's human and divine natures in violation of Chalcedonian Christology. Turning to the Reformed view, he argues that Christ's spiritual presence in the Supper is real but no different from his presence in prayer, worship, or fellowship generally, concluding that the Supper is best understood as a memorial in which believers remember Christ's death, examine themselves, confess sin, and commune with him spiritually.

Having examined the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation in previous episodes, Dr. Craig now turns to three more views of the Lord's Supper. He explains the Lutheran doctrine of consubstantiation — where Christ's body and blood are present alongside the bread and wine, grounded in Luther's doctrine of the communication of attributes (communicatio idiomatum). He then contrasts this with Calvin's Reformed view of a spiritual presence and communion with Christ, and finally with Zwingli's view of the Supper as a memorial ordinance rather than a sacrament. Next time: an assessment of these four competing views.

Dr. William Lane Craig continues his examination of the Lord's Supper with a deep dive into the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist as a sacrifice. Beyond transubstantiation, Catholics hold that the Mass is a propitiatory offering to God for the sins of both the living and the dead. Dr. Craig traces this doctrine from Irenaeus's early view of the Eucharist as a thank offering, through its codification at the Council of Trent, to its further development at Vatican II — exploring what it means for Christ to be "re-presented" to God in each celebration of the Mass.

Defenders: Doctrine of the Church (Part 9): Transubstantiation

Defenders: Doctrine of the Church (Part 8): The Lord's Supper

Defenders: Doctrine of the Church (Part 7): Believer's Baptism

Defenders: Doctrine of the Church (Part 6): Infant Baptism

Defenders: Doctrine of the Church (Part 5): Baptism as an Ordinance - Continued

Defenders: Doctrine of the Church (Part 4): Baptism as an Ordinance

Defenders: Doctrine of the Church (Part 3): Baptism as a Sacrament

Defenders: Doctrine of the Church (Part 2): Baptism

Doctrine of the Church (Part 1): Introduction

Defenders: Doctrine of Salvation (Part 21)

Defenders: Doctrine of Salvation (Part 20): Warnings Against Apostasy

Defenders: Doctrine of Salvation (Part 19): Perseverance of the Saints - Arminianism

Defenders: Doctrine of Salvation (Part 18): Perseverance of the Saints - Calvinism

Defenders: Doctrine of Salvation (Part 17): The Grounds, Means, and Results of Justification

Defenders: Doctrine of Salvation (Part 16): Imputed Righteousness

Defenders: Doctrine of Salvation (Part 15): New Perspective on Paul Continued

Defenders: Doctrine of Salvation (Part 14): The New Perspective on Paul

Defenders: Doctrine of Salvation (Part 13): Assessment of Competing Views of Justification

Defenders: Doctrine of Salvation (Part 12): Different Views of Justification

Defenders: Doctrine of Salvation (Part 11): How Regeneration Occurs

Defenders: Doctrine of Salvation (Part 10): Regeneration / New Birth

Defenders: Doctrine of Salvation (Part 9): Application of Mystical Union to Our Lives

Defenders: Doctrine of Salvation (Part 8): Metaphors for Mystical Union

Defenders: Doctrine of Salvation (Part 7): The Mystical Union with Christ - Continued

Defenders: Doctrine of Salvation (Part 6): The Mystical Union of the Believer with Christ

Defenders: Doctrine of Salvation (Part 5): Evaluation of Calvinism and Arminianism

Defenders: Doctrine of Salvation (Part 4): Arminianism Continued

Defenders: Doctrine of Salvation (Part 3): Regeneration and Arminianism

Defenders: Doctrine of Salvation (Part 2): Election and Calvinism Continued

Defenders: Doctrine of Salvation (Part 1): The Doctrine of Election

Defenders: Doctrine of Man (Part 28): Freedom of the Will and Romans 10

Defenders: Doctrine of Man (Part 27): The Catholic View of Freedom of the Will

Defenders: Doctrine of Man (Part 26): Freedom of the Will

Defenders: Doctrine of Man (Part 25): A Continued Evaluation of Original Sin

Defenders: Doctrine of Man (Part 24): Evaluating the Doctrine of Original Sin

Defenders: Doctrine of Man (Part 23): Original Sin: Semi-Pelagianism, Reformation, Enlightenment, Modern Era

Defenders: Doctrine of Man (Part 22): Original Sin

Defenders: Doctrine of Man (Part 21): Evaluating the Nature of Sin

Defenders: Doctrine of Man (Part 20): The Fall of Man and the Nature of Sin

Defenders: Doctrine of Man (Part 19): Man as Sinner

Defenders: Doctrine of Man (Part 18): Putting It All Together

Defenders: Doctrine of Man (Part 17): Genetic Challenges to Adam and Eve

Defenders: Doctrine of Man (Part 16): Locating the Historical Adam

Defenders: Doctrine of Man (Part 15): Were Neanderthals Humans?

Defenders: Doctrine of Man (Part 14): When Did Adam Live?

https://www.reasonablefaith.org/podcasts/defenders-podcast-series-3/s3-doctrine-of-man/doctrine-of-man-part-13

Defenders: Doctrine of Man (Part 12): The Origin of the Soul

Defenders: Doctrine of Man (Part 11): A Challenge to Dualism-Interactionism – The Libet Experiments