Various human traditions have said that even if the bread and wine are not the actual body and blood of Jesus, there is at least a “real” or “spiritual” presence associated with the items. What this means has never been stated in terms that are intelligible and defensible. The doctrine is nonsense, and represents an incomplete break from the abomination of Catholicism. There is no biblical indication that the body, blood, or presence of Jesus is associated with the elements of bread and wine in any literal, or physical, or spiritual, or mystical, or any special sense. And there is no indication that to participate in the Lord’s Supper is to “feed” on Christ.

John 6 refers to feeding on Christ’s flesh and blood, but there no reference is made to the Lord’s Supper, and there are reasons to exclude the Lord’s Supper from its context. First, Jesus was addressing people who would not have understood a reference to an ordinance that he had not yet instituted. Second, he was talking about salvation. It is impossible that, to attain salvation, Jesus required participation in an ordinance that he had not yet instituted. And in fact, the biblical teaching is that a person attains salvation before he participates in the Lord’s Supper, and not that he attains salvation because he participates in it. Third, the context stresses hearing and believing his words, so that the eating of his flesh and the drinking of his blood are best understood as metaphors for faith and for the acceptance of his doctrines.