The Problem with the Doctrine of Transubstantiation.

[hobie]

Catholics teach the doctrine of transubstantiation (meaning a change of substance) that the bread and wine (at communion) actually become (by the power of the priest!) the body and blood of Christ, which is then worshiped as God Himself! Indeed, the sacrifice of the mass is the central point of Catholic worship, as evidenced by the fact that those abstaining from attending mass are considered to have committed a mortal sin. Of course, the 'Eucharist' also called 'Holy Communion', or the worship of the 'Blessed Sacrament' is not taught in the Bible. The Bible teaches the "Lord's supper" which was simply an ordinance that Christ initiated for believers to do in remembrance of Him, no more. The doctrine of transubstantiation is clearly of paganism mystery's, which pretended, on the pronunciation of a few potent words, to change one substance into another, or by pagan rites, wholly to remove one substance, and to substitute another in its place. From the Council of Trent, the pagan god of flour and water, produced by priestly sorcery, is still worshipped and adored to this day as it was defined. We can find it in the bowing, genuflecting, praying to the "Blessed Sacrament" which may be seen daily in any Catholic church.

So how did it come into the church, well it seems that many corruptions from Greek mythology and Hellenistic philosophy and other non Christian sources were allowed to come into the early church.

Here is from the Vatican Catechism of the Catholic Church:

1378 Worship of the Eucharist. In the liturgy of the Mass we express our faith in the real presence of Christ under the species of bread and wine by, among other ways, genuflecting or bowing deeply as a sign of adoration of the Lord. "The Catholic church has always offered and still offers to the sacrament of the Eucharist the cult of adoration, not only during Mass, but also outside of it, reserving the consecrated host with the utmost care, exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful, and carrying them in procession."
Source: Catechism of the Catholic Church, published by Ligouri Publications, English translation © 1994 by the United States Catholic Conference, Inc.--Libreria Editrice Vaticana, bearing the Imprimi Potest of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, page 347.

We also find that transubstantiation was first practiced by ancient religions which had nothing to do with Christianity. The noted historian Durant said that belief in transubstantiation as practiced by the priests of the Roman Catholic system is "one of the oldest ceremonies of primitive religion." The Story Of Civilization, p. 741. The syncretism and mysticism of the Middle East were great factors in influencing the West, particularly Italy. Roman Society From Nero To Marcus Aurelius, Dill. In Egypt priests would consecrate mest cakes which were supposed to be come the flesh of Osiris. Encyclopedia Of Religions, Vol. 2, p. 76. The idea of transubstantiation was also characteristic of the religion of Mithra. The Mysteries are referenced or eluded to in respect to its various branches throughout ancient history and all of the Mysteries had a single root which appears to have been the Mysteries of Isis in Egypt. At a certain level ( or degree) the initiate was told that he would be part of a brotherhood spanning the entire world, which included the Greek Mysteries, Oriental Mysteries, the Jewish Mysteries (Kaballah) and presumably all other Mysteries so this spanned the known world, so its not picked up from any scripture or Biblical truth, it has its own origin.

The Mass is not from the Bible, it has pagan origins. In the Roman Catholic mass, the Eucharist or 'host' (the round wafer) is a symbol of the sun. and it is held up to be 'venerated' which is for all purposes a deflection to hide what is 'worship'. The round disc in the crescent moon was a symbol of ancient Babylon, and is found in all the ancient religions.

 

[hobie]

Unknown in the early apostolic church, the Mass did not become an official doctrine until pronounced by the Lateran Council of 1215 under the direction of Pope Innocent III, and reaffirmed by the Council of Trent.

There have been three major Roman Catholic Councils: Council of Trent (1545-1563), Vatican I (1869-1870), and Vatican II (1962-1965).
The Council of Trent was held in an attempt to destroy the progress of the Protestant Reformation; it approved many superstitious and unbiblical beliefs (all to be believed under the threat of "anathema"):
(a) Denied every doctrine of the Reformation, from Sola Scriptura to "salvation by grace through faith alone";

(b) Pronounced 125 anathemas (i.e., eternal damnation) upon anyone believing what evangelicals believe and preach today;

(c) Equal value and authority of tradition and Scripture (in actuality, tradition is held above Scripture);

(d) Scriptures for the priesthood only (prohibited to anyone in the laity without written permission from one's superior -- to violate this was [and still is in most "Catholic countries" today] considered a mortal sin);

(e) Seven sacraments;

(f) Communion by eating the bread only (not drinking the wine);

(g) Purgatory;

(h) Indulgences;

(i) The Mass as a propitiatory offering. The last Council, Vatican II, offered no new doctrines nor repudiated any essential teaching of the Roman Church; it referred to Trent dozens and dozens of times, quoted Trent's proclamations as authority, and reaffirmed Trent on every hand.

Some of the Anathemas of Trent:
If any one shall deny that the body and blood together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore entire Christ, are truly, really, and substantially contained in the sacrament of the most holy Eucharist; and shall say that He is only in it as a sign, or in a figure, or virtually -- let him be accursed (Canon 1).

If any one shall say that the substance of the bread and wine remains in the sacrament of the most holy Eucharist, together with the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and shall deny that wonderful and singular conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the blood, the outward forms of the bread and wine still remaining, which conversion the Catholic Church most aptly calls transubstantiation -- let him be accursed (Canon 2).

If any man shall say that Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is not to be adored in the holy sacrament of the Eucharist, even with the open worship of latria, and therefore not to be venerated with any peculiar festal celebrity, nor to be solemnly carried about in processions according to the praiseworthy, and universal rites and customs of the holy Church, and that he is not to be publicly set before the people to be adored, and that his adorers are idolaters -- let him be accursed (Canon 6).

If anyone shall say that the ungodly man is justified by faith only so as to understand that nothing else is required that may cooperate to obtain the grace of justification, and that it is in no wise necessary for him to be prepared and disposed by the motion of his own will ... let him be accursed (Canon 9).

If anyone shall say that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence in the divine mercy pardoning sins for Christ's sake, or that it is that confidence alone by which we are justified ... let him be accursed (Canon 12)'...https://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/trent/thirteenth-session.htm
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