The real presence in the Lord’s Supper
The Augsburg Confession, Article10, states that Lutherans believe in the real presence. How do the body and blood of Christ become present in the Eucharist according to WELS Lutherans? Do you believe that the Eucharist of other Lutheran denominations (such as LCMS) is validly consecrated? What about other denominations who believe in the Real Presence like Anglicans?
This We Believe, a statement of belief of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, states: “We believe that all who join in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper receive the true body and blood of Christ in, with, and under the bread and wine (1 Corinthians 10:16). This is true because, when the Lord instituted this sacrament, he said, ‘This is my body. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins’ (Matthew 26:26,28). We believe that Christ’s words of institution cause the real presence—not any human action.
“We reject any attempt to set the precise moment within the celebration of the Lord’s Supper when the body and blood of Christ become present. We therefore reject the view that one must believe that Christ’s body and blood are present as soon as the words of consecration have been spoken and the view that one must believe that Christ’s body and blood become present only at the moment of eating and drinking.”
The Lutheran Confessions address this subject in more detail in Article VII of the Formula of Concord.
There is a valid consecration in other Lutheran churches, since they use the word of God by which Jesus instituted the sacrament and the earthly elements designated by the Lord.
While using the Lord’s words and the earthly elements designated by the Lord, the Church of England teaches that only believers receive the body and blood of the Lord, and they receive that only by faith. While that is the official teaching, the wording of the Holy Eucharist liturgy in The Book of Common Prayer has been purposely ambiguous over the years to accommodate a wide variety of belief: real presence, representation and transubstantiation. The intent to create a “big tent” for diversity of beliefs—in regard to the Lord’s Supper and other doctrinal matters—finds its origin in the Elizabethan Settlement of 1559.