26
April 856 A.D. Paschasius Radbertus the Capernaiticist and Transubstantiator
Dies
Christianity.com carries the
story.
A far as history can determine,
the first person to write a book exclusively on the Eucharist was Paschasius
Radbertus in 831. The book was called On the Body and Blood of the Lord.
Although he did not use the term, he taught transubstantiation, the belief that
the substance of the bread and wine really become Christ's body and blood by
faith.
Paschasius took a literal as
opposed to a figurative view of Christ's words, "This is my body broken
for you." Very quickly he made his main point and hammered it home through
many arguments. "Yet these [the bread and wine] must be believed to be
fully, after the consecration, nothing but Christ's flesh and blood." In
Paschasius' view, God miraculously creates the physical, historical body of
Christ in the Eucharist anytime the loaf is consecrated. "That in truth
the body and blood are created by the consecration, no one doubts who believes
the divine words when the Truth says: 'For my flesh is truly food, and my blood
is truly drink.'" If that is so, what does the unbeliever eat, who accepts
the bread without faith? Since he does not discern Christ's body, says
Paschasius (quoting the Apostle Paul), he eats judgment to himself.
Paschasius emphasized mystical
union with Christ. Christ taught that, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks
my blood remains in me and I in him." The Eucharist taken in a worthy
spirit unites the believer with Christ.
Contemporaries criticized the
abbot's view as too crude and materialistic. Most argued for a more symbolic
interpretation of the body and blood. Paschasius defended his views in a famous
letter. Being a well-read scholar, he was capable of putting up a stout
defense. He attempted to show he was in agreement with the writings of the
church fathers.
Berengar of Tours developed
similar concepts in the eleventh century. The word
"transubstantiation" was in widespread use in the West by the later
part of the 12th century. Belief in transubstantiation was defined at the
Lateran Council of 1215. Further formulation awaited Thomas Aquinas and his use
of Aristotelian methods of argument in the 13th century. The Council of Trent
(1545-1563) reaffirmed the doctrine. It was (and is) one of the main issues
that separate Protestants and Catholics.
Paschasius' work might not have
achieved the influence it did but for the fact it was circulated under the name
of St. Augustine of Hippo. This gave it credibility for Augustine was
well-known, whereas Paschasius was an obscure Benedictine monk. He must have
had considerable ability, however, for although he was but a deacon, he was
chosen abbot of Corbie. He sought to reform his abbey, but resigned in 851 when
his changes were rejected. Active in church synods and as a writer, he lived
for some years at St. Riquier after his resignation.
Paschasius died on this date April
26, 856 at Corbie to which he had returned a short time before.
Bibliography:
1. Butler, Alban. Lives of the
Saints. Various Editions.
2. Jameson, Anna. Legends of the
Monastic Orders. London: Longman, Green and co., 1872. Source of the image.
3. "Paschasius Radbertus,
St." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross
and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
4. Pohle, J. "Paschasius
Radbertus, St." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton,
1914.
No comments:
Post a Comment