The Innovations of the Roman Church #4 Transubstantiation

This is extracted, unedited, from “The Innovations of the Roman Church” by Apostolos Makrakis (1831-1905), “Orthodox Fundamentalist”. 

The first paragraph makes a coherent case. The second is superfluous rant. I am not going to distance myself from the main point, which leads to the belief in the power of the words of consecration alone, apart from the overall context and action in which they are spoken. From that view emanates the wider and prevalent one where liturgy can been regarded as a mere trimming. Transubstantiation also spreads over into pious practices such as Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, and Blessed Sacrament processions, condemned in Article 25 of the Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles. The commandment in John 6 is to eat and drink.

The fourth innovation of the Popes is the doctrine that the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the very body and blood of Christ takes place simply through enunciation of the Lord’s words: “Take, eat”; which is an egregious error and heresy and a perversion of the Lord’s words, who first “blessed” the bread and afterwards invited the disciples to partake thereof by saying, “Take, eat.” Likewise, in reference to the cup, He first “gave thanks” and then said, “Drink ye of it all.”

The false doctrine under consideration is due to the Pope’s claim to primacy and infallibility. Once the Papists subscribed to the illogical and diabolical tenet of the Pope’s primacy, it was only natural that they should embrace every other foolish doctrine emanating from his infallible and diabolical head, disregarding the word of the Lord because of their own priggery.