Memorialism

{{Short description|Theological position of certain Christian denominations}} {{Redirect|Memorialist|the author of a memoir|Memoirist}} [[File:Caption- The table is set for communion. All who are in a faith relationship to Jesus Christ are invited. The officiating group is representative of the whole Mennonite faith community- Stephen Ndlovu (7883952982).jpg|thumb|250px|Mennonites, an Anabaptist denomination, celebrating the Lord's Supper]] {{Eucharist}}

'''Memorialism''' is the belief held by some Christian denominations that the elements of bread and wine (or grape juice) in the Eucharist (more often referred to as "the Lord's Supper" by memorialists) are purely symbolic representations of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, the feast being established only or primarily as a commemorative ceremony. The term comes from the Gospel of Luke {{Bibleverse-nb||Luke|22:19|RSV}}: "Do this in remembrance of me", and the attendant interpretation that the Lord's Supper's chief purpose is to help the participant prayerfully ''remember'' Jesus and his sacrifice on the Cross, and symbolically renew commitment.

This viewpoint is commonly held by Unitarians,<ref name="Rees">{{cite book |last1=Rees |first1=Thomas |title=The Racovian Catechism |date=1818 |publisher=Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown |page=264}}</ref> Anabaptists,<ref name="Balmer2002">{{cite book|last1=Balmer|first1=Randall Herbert|last2=Winner|first2=Lauren F.|title=Protestantism in America|url=https://archive.org/details/protestantismame00balm_593|url-access=limited|year=2002|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|isbn=9780231111300|page=[https://archive.org/details/protestantismame00balm_593/page/n42 26]}}</ref> the Plymouth Brethren,<ref name="Balmer2002"/> many Restorationist<ref name="Balmer2002"/> denominations (such as Jehovah's Witnesses),<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=What Does The Bible Really Teach? |orig-year=2005 |year=2014 |chapter=The Lord's Evening Meal: An Observance That Honors God |chapter-url=https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/bible-teach/the-lords-evening-meal/ |publisher=Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania |pages=206–208 |access-date=18 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/lords-supper/ |title=The Lord's Supper: Why Do Jehovah's Witnesses Observe the Lord's Supper Differently From the Way Other Religions Do? |year=2018 |publisher=Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania |website=Watchtower Online Library |access-date=18 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2008249 |title=The Eucharist: The Facts Behind the Ritual |date=1 April 2008 |magazine=The Watchtower |publisher=Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania |pages=26–29 |via=Watchtower Online Library |access-date=18 July 2020}}</ref> some Baptists,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/basicbeliefs.asp|title=Basic Beliefs: Baptism & the Lord's Supper|year=2018|publisher=Southern Baptist Convention|access-date=5 January 2019|quote=The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members [...] memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His Second Coming.|archive-date=12 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130312082918/http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/basicbeliefs.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalbaptist.com/about-us/what-we-believe.html|title=What We Believe: Baptism & the Lord's Supper|year=2018|publisher=National Baptist Convention|access-date=5 January 2019|quote=We believe the Scriptures teach that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer, into the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost; to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem, our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with its effect, in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life; that it is prerequisite [...] to the Lord's Supper, in which the members of the church, by the sacred use of bread and wine, are to commemorate together the dying love of Christ; preceded always by solemn self-examination.|archive-date=7 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190807080614/http://www.nationalbaptist.com/about-us/what-we-believe.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Pentecostals, and most Non-denominational churches,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/restor1.html |title=University of Virginia Library |publisher=Religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu |date=2006-09-07 |access-date=2010-07-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030173358/http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/restor1.html |archive-date=2007-10-30}}</ref> as well as those identifying with liberal Christianity.

It is not held by most branches of Christianity,<ref name="McKim1998">{{cite book |last1=McKim |first1=Donald K. |title=Major Themes in the Reformed Tradition |date=1998 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-57910-104-6 |language=en |quote=The Westminster Confession emphatically declares that Christ is truly present in the elements and is truly received by those partaking, "yet not carnally and corporally, but spiritually" (chap. 31, par. 7). The insistence is that while Christ's presence is not physical in nature it is no less a real and vital presence, as if it were a physical presence. ... Those of us in the Reformed tradition are under strong obligation to honour the notion of the real presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper.}}</ref><ref name="Garvie1920">{{cite book |last1=Garvie |first1=Alfred Ernest |title=The Holy Catholic Church from the Congregational Point of View, namely, the One Church in the Many Churches |date=1920 |publisher=Faith Press |location=London |language=en |quote=He is really present at the Lord's Supper without any such limitation to the element unless we are prepared to maintain that the material is more real than the spiritual. It is the whole Christ who presents Himself to faith, so that the believer has communion with Him.}}</ref><ref name="Rogers1985">{{cite book |last1=Rogers |first1=Jack |title=Presbyterian Creeds: A Guide to the Book of Confessions |date=1985 |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |isbn=978-0-664-25496-4 |page=115 |language=en |quote=As whole persons we encounter the real, spiritual presence of Christ.}}</ref> who affirm various doctrines, generally referred to as real presence.<ref name="Neal2014">{{cite book|last=Neal|first=Gregory S.|title=Sacramental Theology and the Christian Life|date=19 December 2014|publisher=WestBow Press|isbn=9781490860077|page=111|quote=For Anglicans and Methodists the reality of the presence of Jesus as received through the sacramental elements is not in question. Real presence is simply accepted as being true, its mysterious nature being affirmed and even lauded in official statements like ''This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion''.}}</ref><ref name="Losch2002">{{cite book|last=Losch|first=Richard R.|title=A Guide to World Religions and Christian Traditions|date=1 May 2002|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=9780802805218|page=90|quote=In the Roman Catholic Church the official explanation of how Christ is present is called transubstantiation. This is simply an explanation of ''how'', not a statement ''that'', he is present. Anglicans and Orthodox do not attempt to define how, but simply accept the mystery of his presence.}}</ref>

== History == === Early Christianity === While many Church Fathers imply a real presence of Christ in Holy Communion, Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian used the word "symbol" to define the Eucharist: "the Holy Scripture named wine a mystical symbol of the holy blood (Clement of Alexandria)", and interpret John 6:53-56 to be about allegories about faith.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Willis|first=Wendell|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=88zcDQAAQBAJ&dq=symbolic+eucharist+clement+of+alexandria&pg=PA49|title=Eucharist and Ecclesiology: Essays in Honor of Dr. Everett Ferguson|date=2017-01-06|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|isbn=978-1-4982-8292-5|language=en}}</ref> However, it is disputed if Clement held a symbolic view of the Eucharist,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Did Clement Believe in the Real Presence?|url=https://www.catholic.com/qa/did-clement-believe-in-the-real-presence|access-date=2021-12-13|website=Catholic Answers}}</ref> and some have argued that Tertullian held to a view of spiritual presence in the Eucharist.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cjIsAQAAMAAJ&dq=Tertullian+spiritual+presence+Eucharist&pg=PA136 |title=Bibliotheca Sacra and Theological Review |date=1844 |publisher=Allen, Morrill, and Wardwell |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mbBPAAAAMAAJ&dq=Tertullian+spiritually+present+Eucharist&pg=PA525 |title=The British Magazine and Monthly Register of Religious and Ecclesiastical Information, Parochial History, and Documents Respecting the State of the Poor, Progress of Education, Etc |date=1833 |publisher=J. Petheram |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kaye |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SZcZKlLb53AC&dq=Tertullian+spiritually+present+Eucharist&pg=PA154 |title=Works of John Kaye, Bishop of Lincoln: Miscellaneous works with memoir of the author |date=1888 |publisher=Rivingtons |language=en}}</ref>

=== Medieval === Many of the Waldensians rejected a real presence in the Lord's Supper, seeing it as a symbol.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Waldenses {{!}} Description, History, & Beliefs {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Waldenses |access-date=2023-01-22 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> The same view was held by Peter Kániš who held to memorialism, against whom Bishop Nicholas wrote a treatise defending the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist against him.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Atwood |first=Craig D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xwpBfVpG1lsC&dq=Peter+K%C3%A1ni%C5%A1&pg=PA25 |title=The Theology of the Czech Brethren from Hus to Comenius |date=2009 |publisher=Penn State Press |isbn=978-0-271-03532-1 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Enns |first1=Fernando |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2FCUCgAAQBAJ&dq=Petr+Chel%C4%8Dick%C3%BD+believers+baptism&pg=PT280 |title=Mennonites in Dialogue: Official Reports from International and National Ecumenical Encounters, 1975–2012 |last2=Seiling |first2=Jonathan |date=2015-07-06 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-4982-0364-7 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Spinka |first=Matthew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZJMrDgAAQBAJ&dq=Peter+K%C3%A1ni%C5%A1&pg=PA307 |title=John Hus: A Biography |date=2017-03-14 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-8683-8 |language=en}}</ref>

Pico della Mirandola argued that Christ is not literally present in the Eucharist but instead it is symbolic of the blood and body of Christ. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Philip Schaff: History of the Christian Church, Volume VI: The Middle Ages. A.D. 1294-1517 - Christian Classics Ethereal Library |url=https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc6.all.html |access-date=2021-12-23 |website=www.ccel.org}}</ref>

=== Huldrych Zwingli === {{main|Theology of Huldrych Zwingli}} The theology of Huldrych Zwingli, a Protestant Reformer of Switzerland, is commonly associated with memorialism.<ref name="Riggs">{{cite book |last=Riggs |first=John |year=2015 |title=The Lord's Supper in the Reformed Tradition |location=Louisville, KY |publisher=Westminster John Knox |isbn=978-0-664-26019-4}}</ref>{{rp|56}} Zwingli, who was a former Roman Catholic priest, affirmed that Christ is truly (though not naturally) present to the believer in the sacrament or amid a Christian congregation that remembers with strong intensity the events of the Last Supper through the power of God.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Liturgy for Living|last1=Price|first1=Charles|last2=Weil|first2=Louis|date=2000|publisher=Morehouse Publishing|isbn=0819218626|location=Harrisburg, PA|pages=152}}</ref> However, the sacrament - for Zwingli - is not used instrumentally to communicate with Christ, as John Calvin taught.<ref name="Riggs" />{{rp|74}}

Zwingli argued that the Eucharist is more about the presence of Christ in the minds of people instead of his presence in the elements.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=An Incarnational Model of the Eucharist|last=Arcadi|first=James M.|date=2018|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781108425896|location=Cambridge|pages=22}}</ref> This indicates that, although its liturgies remain an important aspect of being a Christian, its potential benefits are not found in any metaphysical interpretation related to the bread and wine used in the ritual.<ref name=":0" />

In addition, unlike Lutheran theology that upholds a sacramental union, Zwingli maintained that the Scripture and the creeds support the idea that Christ sits at the right hand of God the Father in heaven.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Eucharist: Christ's Feast with the Church|last=Stookey|first=Laurence Hull|publisher=Abingdon Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0687120178|location=Nashville, TN|page=54}}</ref>

=== Anabaptism === {{further|Anabaptist theology#Lord's Supper}} Anabaptists (inclusive of Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites, Bruderhof, Schwarzenau Brethren, River Brethren and Apostolic Christians) affirm memorialism and locate the presence of Jesus not in the eucharistic elements themselves, but teach that the "mystery of communion with the living Christ in his Supper comes into being by the power of the Spirit, dwelling in and working through the collected members of Christ’s Body".<ref name="Snyder2006">{{cite web |last1=Snyder |first1=Arnold |title=Was the Bread Only Bread, and the Wine Only Wine? Sacramental Theology in Five Anabaptist Hymns |url=https://uwaterloo.ca/grebel/publications/conrad-grebel-review/issues/fall-2006/was-bread-only-bread-and-wine-only-wine-sacramental-theology |publisher=Conrad Grebel University College |access-date=28 April 2022 |language=English |date=2006}}</ref> As such, in celebrations of Holy Communion, "Anabaptist congregations looked to the living Christ in their hearts and in their midst, who transformed members and elements together into a mysterious communion, creating his Body in many members, ground like grains and crushed like grapes, into one bread and one drink."<ref name="Snyder2006"/>

=== Unitarianism === The Racovian Catechism, which explicates the Unitarian Christian faith from a Socinian perspective, declares of the Lord's Supper that "this rite is to be observed for the purpose of commemorating or showing forth the kindness manifested by Christ towards us, and no other end besides this is intimated by Christ"<ref name="Rees1818">{{cite book |last1=Rees |first1=Thomas |title=The Racovian Catechism: With Notes and Illustrations, Translated from the Latin; to which is Prefixed a Sketch of the History of Unitarianism in Poland and the Adjacent Countries |date=1818 |publisher=Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown |page=264 |language=en}}</ref>.

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Real presence}}

Category:Protestant theology Category:Seventh-day Adventist theology Category:Eucharist