Now we come to worship and ministry in the church. This post is written for churches that see oil, baptismal water, and communion elements as strictly symbolic. These elements are ordinary and common objects for eating and other purposes at home. But how do they become sacred for ministry in the church?

I can no longer see the elements as ordinary and merely symbolic. Here’s why.

I.. Imputation

A.. Brief intro.

Let’s do a quick review based on an earlier post on imputation. It is an important theme that appears at key times in Israel’s history, in an individual’s life, and at important turning points in the NT.

B.. Hebrew and Greek

The Hebrew verb ḥāšab and the Greek verb logizomai both have the basic meaning of “thinking” and “considering.” They denote mental activities, but they are verbs nonetheless.

Sometimes in this study, however, we look at the concept behind the verbs even though they do not appear in a passage of Scripture.

C.. Another definition

Another basic definition of the verbs is seen in a business context: credit, reckon, or calculate. However, the main uses are when people think or consider. We will discover the two basic meanings (thinking and commercial crediting) as we go along.

D.. Summary

Therefore, what God thinks matters, as the biblical texts affirm (see below). When God thinks or imputes something, then that matters in his sight (Rom. 2:13; 3:20; 4:17; 1 Cor. 1:29).

⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts […] ⁹ As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Is. 55:8-9)

God thinks the communion elements and baptismal waters are sacred. But when do his thoughts change towards those ordinary elements?

II.. Scripture

A.. Brief intro.

We consider verbs that say God calls something clean or makes them clean. Even the verb “be” is factored in when oil is sacred because instructs Moses to consider it holy. Holy things must be treated as holy. But based on which Scriptures?

B.. Torah

God declared the seventh day to be holy. Therefore it is holy for the people of God (Gen. 2:3). Exodus 20:11, part of the Ten Commandments, affirms the sacred day: “Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Ex. 20:11).

In this long passage, God instructs Moses to set apart oil and consider it holy. God had already considered it holy, so should the ancient Israelites.

²² Then the Lord said to Moses, ²³ “Take the following fine spices:  500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant calamus, ²⁴ 500 shekels of cassia—all according to the sanctuary shekel—and a hin of olive oil. ²⁵ Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil.  ²⁶ Then use it to anoint the tent of meeting, the ark of the covenant law, ²⁷ the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, ²⁸ the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand. ²⁹ You shall consecrate them so they will be most holy, and whatever touches them will be holy.

³⁰ “Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate  them so they may serve me as priests. ³¹ Say to the Israelites, ‘This is to be my sacred anointing oil for the generations to come. ³² Do not pour it on anyone else’s body and do not make any other oil using the same formula. It is sacred, and you are to consider it sacred. ³³ Whoever makes perfume like it and puts it on anyone other than a priest must be cut off from their people.’” (Exodus 30:22-33)

In v. 32 the NIV is being a little generous. I just checked the Hebrew, and it is the future tense of the verb hayah, “to be” or “to become.” God says the oil is holy; therefore it is holy before us. The important point is the oil is common element, but now it is sacred. God says so. Therefore don’t treat it or consider it common any longer. It is sacred.

Exodus 40:9-10 confirms the longer passage:

⁹ “Take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy. ¹⁰ Then anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils; consecrate the altar, and it will be most holy. (Exod. 40:9-10)

When we consecrate the oil for healing, baptismal waters and the communion elements with prayer, I now believe they become holy. Yes, they are still H₂O and whatever grape juice and bread are made of, but they are now sacred, spiritually. A spiritual thing happens to them and are added to them. I may not be able to explain the metaphysics of it, but God considers them to be holy, and so should we.

On the day of atonement, Aaron (or the later high priest) is to keep one goat alive, lay hands on it, confess all the sins of Israel, put their sins on it, and send it into the wilderness under the supervision of someone appointed to the task. Since the goat was leaving or “escaping” from the people, it was called the scapegoat. “²² The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place (Lev. 16:22). The verb “carry” (nāśā’) in Hebrew is not the typical verb for “impute,” but the concept is the same in this context. The goat did not commit the sins of the people. It was not a moral sinner by inner transformation. How could it be? Yet God thinks of the goat as carrying their sins, and therefore it does. Thus, the sins belong to the goat by imputation or reckoning, from God’s point of view.

This “carrying” or “bearing” is exactly what Jesus did. The same verb nāśā’ is in italics font: “Surely he took up our infirmities” […] (Is. 53:4). “For he bore the sin of many […] (Is. 53:12; see 1 Peter 2:24). Jesus did not actually commit our sins, and he did not actually have our infirmities. He had none at all. He was not a moral sinner by inner transformation or by being infused with a sin nature. While on the cross, he did not get the flu or cancer. Yet he carries and takes up our sin and infirmity. How? Because God thinks of Jesus, who became the once-and-for-all sacrifice, as carrying and taking them up them and therefore he does in God’s sight or opinion. Thus Jesus carries or bears them only by imputation or reckoning. He carried our sins and diseases vicariously or representatively.

In Leviticus 11:44ab-45, we read:

⁴⁴ I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. […] ⁴⁵ I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy. (Ex. 11:44ab-45)

When we consecrate ourselves to God, we become holy. As I will show below, from Scriptures about the healing oil, communion elements, and baptismal waters, they too become holy when we consecrate them to God.

Numbers 18:20, 25-27, 31 say that the priests and Levites were not to have the share of the land; that is, they were not farmers (Num. 18:20). They were not to sow the crops or plant the vineyards; they were not to harvest the grain or pick the grapes from the vine. They were not to thresh the grains or press the grapes into wine. Instead, their sustenance was to come from the offerings that the Israelites gave them. However, when the crops were offered to the priests and Levites, the people were to give a tenth as the Lord’s offering. That tenth was then to be given as the Lord’s offering. Then this offering was credited or counted or reckoned to the priests and Levites as grains from the threshing floor and juice from the winepress.

²⁵ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁶ “Speak to the Levites and say to them: ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must present a tenth of that tithe as the Lord’s offering. ²⁷ Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress. … ³⁰ “Say to the Levites: ‘When you present the best part, it will be reckoned to you as the product of the threshing floor or the winepress.”  (Num. 18:25-27, 30)

Thus, this context is a business calculation. The priests and Levites get credit for the grain and juice. This reckoning or imputation does not come from any practical act that the priests and Levites did. They did not actually thresh the grains or press the grapes into juice. But the fruit of the land is counted or imputed as theirs, “as the product of the threshing floor or the winepress.”

But let’s not overlook the basic meaning of thinking, either. In God’s mind the work it took to get the finished product and the product itself (threshed grain and pressed juice) are considered as belonging to the priests and Levites, and therefore the labor and finished product do belong to them. They present it as an offering to God. But this physical example should not be taken too far.

C.. Psalms

In Psalm 32:1-2, David had a sense of sin, but he said it was blessed when anyone was forgiven. “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. ² Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him” (Ps. 32:1-2).

The sin and transgression are not counted or imputed or charged against the person; therefore, forgiveness belongs to him. God thinks of us as forgiven as well. He imputes forgiveness to us through Christ, and therefore it belongs to us. But David kept on sinning in his life, and so do we. But he was forgiven, and so are we.

D.. New Testament

Romans 2:26 is conditional (if). “If those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised?” (Rom. 2:26). Hypothetically, if someone could keep the law, then he would be regarded or considered or thought of as circumcised in God’s thoughts and sight, and circumcision would belong to the person. But now it is those who are circumcised in the heart who belong to God, Paul goes on to say (vv. 28-29; cf. Deut. 10:16; 30:6). This is spiritual circumcision, and it carries within it the same and better results as physical circumcision. The interaction between the physical and spiritual is a mystery (to me at least), but maybe it can be explained in God thinking and considering and declaring the physical to be spiritual and sacred.

Now we come closer to the elements of bread and grape juice and water. In the context of food, Paul writes: “As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean (Rom 14:14). This is a clear verse about logizomai and imputing. This quality of uncleanness belongs to the food in an imputed sense according to the point of view of the person who imputes. But food is actually morally neutral in its physical makeup: “No food is unclean in itself” (food is a pile of chemicals and cells). But the opposite can be true,. Unclean or common food can be declared uncommon or holy, as seen next.

The best example of how food is not clean or unclean is seen in Acts 10:9-23. Peter believed (a mental term) that the animals on the gigantic sheet coming from heaven were unclean or unkosher, and this belief was based on Leviticus, but God now called them clean. “The voice spoke to him a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’” (Acts 10:15) Rendering unclean food clean was a decree flowing from God’s thoughts. God declares them to be holy because he thought them to be such. They are now considered clean by God. Indeed, he has made them clean. God’s thoughts are just that powerful for humans who seek and follow him.

E.. Summary

The same is true of the oil, baptismal waters and communion elements after we consecrate them to God with our prayers over them. Before their consecration, they are common and ordinary; we can use them for food and drink in our homes. After their consecration, they become holy and extraordinary. Don’t treat them as unholy and profane. The new priests–God’s New Covenant people, his Son’s church (1 Peter 2:9; Rev. 1:6; 5:10; 20:6). God considers them. Therefore they are sacred, by his imputation and reckoning. There is a mystery happening here–a sacred mystery.

III.. Oil

A.. Various uses of oil in OT

The OT has these uses for oil: lighting (Exod. 25:6 and 27:20, for the lampstand); cooking (Exod. 29:2); offering with grain (Num. 7:49); trade and prosperity (Deut. 7:13); lubricating weapons, like shields (2 Sam. 1:21; Is. 21:5); metaphorical imagery (Ps. 45:7; 55:21; 141:5; Is. 61:3 [oil of joy]); refreshment (Ps. 23:5; 92:10: 104:5),

The most important uses for us is as follows: ordaining priests (Exod. 29:7; 30:30; Lev. 8:12); anointing kings (1 Sam. 10:1; 16:1, 13); anointing the tabernacle (Exod. 30:22-24); anointing other objects like a stone or pillar (Gen. 28:18; 35:4); health and healing (Is. 1:6). We can focus on the sacredness of the oil for healing alone.

B.. Various uses in the NT

Lighting (Matt. 5:15; 25:1-13; Luke 8:16; 11:33; 12:35; Acts 20:8); trade (Luke 16:8; Rev. 6:6; 16:13); metaphorical image (Heb. 1:9 [oil of joy]); refreshment (Luke 7:46; Matt. 6:17). And for our purpose in this post: natural healing (Luke 10:34); supernatural healing (Mark 6:13; James 5:14).

More specifically, Mark 6:13 reads, concerning the apostles: “They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.” And James 6:14 says: “Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.” These contexts speak of a use for oil that goes beyond a natural purpose, because anointing people is different than merely applying oil for physical relief, outside of the context of a mission for healing and demon expulsion, as Jesus sent out the apostles. Therefore God thinks of and imputes sacredness to the oil as sacred for the purpose of healing.

C.. Summary

Olive oil was used for ordinary purposes, as listed above. However, we can turn its ordinary uses into an extraordinary use when we pray over the oil and consecrate to God for the specific purpose of healing supernaturally.

IV.. Baptismal Waters

A.. Brief intro.

Let’s provide Scriptures that support the notion that baptismal waters become sacred.

B.. Scriptures

First the foundation. We follow Jesus who was water-baptized by John the Baptist. As he came up out of the water, the Spirit came on him, not to seal or be a sign of new birth or to forgive sins, but he did this to “fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15). This means: (1) to be consecrated and anointed for ministry, (2) to be an example to all of us, (3) to endorse John’s ministry, yet take the ministry of God further, (4) to humble himself before his kinsman John. Before God exalted his Son after his incarnation, the Son had to humble himself here on earth.

John 3:5-6 connects water and the Spirit: “Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit’: (John 3:5-6). Commentaries are divided over what the water means, but I interpret it as baptismal waters. I cannot sort out how the Spirit and water are connected in the details, but they are connected, and spiritually connected.

The water becomes sacred in Romans 6:3-4, even if the sacredness is symbolic. Call it a sacred symbol:

³ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.  (Rom. 6:3-4)

Next, Peter writes that at the very least baptismal water is sacred enough to enhance salvation: “and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:21). He dedicates and considers the water to be special, used for a sacred purpose, for salvation.

In the next verse Peter connects repentance, water baptism, the name of Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sins and receiving the Holy Spirit. “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’ (Acts 2:38).

In both verses in Peter’s theology I cannot absolutely affirm that the water causes salvation, but the water is sacred after it is dedicated by prayer for a sacred purpose, namely, baptism of believers. The consecrated water participates in our salvation by helping us conform to Christ. It enhances our sanctification, and sanctification comes under the big umbrella called salvation. God considers the water itself as sacred. So should we. I for one can no longer treat it or consider it as common. I now think of the water as holy, set apart for a holy purpose. Surely a holy thing does something holy in the believer.

C.. Summary

It is difficult to sort out what a pledge means and how the resurrection of Christ is related, unless it is the same idea we saw in Romans 6:3-4. Baptism symbolizes the resurrection. But we do not have to solve the interpretive puzzle. For our limited purpose in this post the water is sacred because it moves from the ordinary purpose (to drink and cook in the household and nature) to the extraordinary purpose of salvation and a spiritual resurrection of the ones being baptized. Call it a sacred symbol with some sort of added spiritual power, which comes from imputation. God thinks of and sees and credits the water as sacred when we consecrated it for this purpose, through prayer.

V.. Bread and Wine

A.. Brief intro.

Most churches use grape juice because alcohol in the fermented wine may trigger recovering addicts. For this post I use the term wine, but grape juice is a good substitute.

B.. Scriptures

First, we have to go back to the OT. This verse concerns the bread of presence, indicating the presence of God is in the tabernacle.

⁷ “Over the table of the Presence they are to spread a blue cloth and put on it the plates, dishes and bowls, and the jars for drink offerings; the bread that is continually there is to remain on it” […]. (Num. 4:7)

So being consecrated or set apart for a sacred purpose, the bread itself is sacred inside the tabernacle; otherwise, it is just bread.

Next, manna was sent by God himself (Exod. 16). Jesus takes over this historical fact and spiritualizes it, to teach that he is the bread of heaven:

⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” (John 7:57-58)

So bread is a small but important theme, in significant passages in the OT to the words of Jesus. He is the true bread or manna from heaven. He makes it sacred.

Jesus consecrated the bread and wine:

¹⁹ And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁰ In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you (Luke 22:19-20)

He declared the bread and wine to be sacred and therefore those common things became sacred. Now we too must follow his example and present the bread and grape juice (or wine) as holy before the people during our communion services. Therefore, the bread and wine and baptismal waters are no longer ordinary, common, or profane, but extraordinary, uncommon, and sacred when they are used for a sacred purpose. God revealed this to us two thousand years ago. We had better follow his lead, or we run the risk of bringing judgment on us, which may manifest in sickness and even premature death (1 Cor. 11:27-32).

John 6:51, 53-56, 62 is mysterious, but something spiritual is happening:

⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” […] ⁵³ Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink ⁵⁶ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. […] ⁶³ The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. (John 6:51, 53-56, 62)

Somehow, mysteriously, the body and blood of Jesus can be partaken of, for the words describe two physical things, yet they become spiritual also. They empower his disciples to remain in him and he in them. This teaches me that the bread and grape juice have effectiveness in them that enhances our discipleship and moves us forward in eternal life. They enhance our sanctification (process of making us holy).

C.. Summary

The only way that I can resolve the mystery in the connection between physical things and the Spirit in John 6 is through imputation. God considers and thinks of and reckons and credits the physical things with a spiritual quality and virtue; therefore they are spiritual and virtuous. Jesus himself consecrated them for a holy purpose; therefore God imputes holiness to them. Therefore they become holy. Therefore we should consecrate them too.

VI.. Questions and Replies

A.. Do you mean to tell us that the Jordan River where John baptized and Jesus’s disciples also baptized was sacred?

Yes, but only when it was consecrated for this sacred purpose; then it became sacred. When John or the disciples were not baptizing, then it was just the ordinary river water.

B.. Do you mean the water in the specific location, like a watery circle around John and Jesus’ disciples, was sacred? How far was the circumference surrounding the baptizers and the baptized?

I cannot give you a lesson in geometry. All I know is that the water that touched Jesus and the multitudes was sacred to God because it was consecrated for a special purpose, even if the Bible does not say John or the disciples prayed over it.

Also, water is used for one sacred purpose: baptism. Therefore, I would not go beyond this purpose and call the H₂O “holy water,” for other purposes. But I do not wish to quarrel about it, if people wish to sprinkle their house, for example, to consecrate it to God. But oil is used for this purpose in the OT. And here I say that each believer should follow his church’s teaching.

C.. Do you mean the bread, grape juice, and water can save people?

Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and some Protestants believe this. My answer is much narrower than that question. My point in this post is that the elements become sacred when they are used for a sacred purpose and after we consecrate them with prayer. God thinks them to be sacred and declares them to be holy. I believe certain churches where I have attended over the years have treated the elements too casually (myself included). No. They are sacred and holy when they are set apart as the Scriptures instruct us. Holiness means “set apart.”

D.. Is healing oil a means of grace?

Recall from the post on grace that the means of grace can be defined as the spiritual, biblical activities, ceremonies, functions, and disciplines by which God gives us additional grace to deepen our relationship with him and grow closer to him, within the church. Examples: hearing the word preached, personal Scripture reading and study, regular communion, church attendance, prayer for one another, personal ministry to individuals. Healing oil in the NT has one purpose: healing the sick. So it can come under the doctrine of the means of grace because when we pray for a sick person, he receives more grace. So, yes, praying with oil is a mean of grace. The OT teaches me that it is also sacred because it is set apart for a sacred purpose.

VII.. Application

A.. Short review

The verbs in Hebrew and Greek meaning “thinking,” “considering,” “reckoning” and even “carrying” are typically used for God counting us righteous through our faith in Christ. But in this post I see a connection between God thinking and reckoning and considering on the one side and objects like sacrificial animals or grain or oil or water and bread and grape juice, on the other. God imputes sacredness to these ordinary elements?

B.. How imputation is done

We must follow his instructions about the elements in healing oil, communion and baptism. When we consecrate them with prayer, we follow God’s command. His command comes first, and our consecrating prayers over the bread and grape juice and water come second.

As usual, everything starts with God, and we follow him. I may not be able to explain the metaphysics of this imputation, but Scripture affirms it; therefore so do I. I follow him.

C.. Contrasting other beliefs

I cannot go as far as Roman Catholicism or high church Protestantism (e.g. Anglican or Lutheranism) in their theology on communion or water baptism. I’m not sure I can go as far as the Reformed tradition, either, though I see its point. Nonetheless, I respect all of them because they treat the elements as sacred and holy. I cannot contradict this belief. Nor do I wish to quarrel about them, either.

D. Solitary communion and anointing oil

Whenever communion is discussed in Scripture, it is always in community. And the same is true for anointing oil, when praying for the sick. Call the elders (plural). But can an individual take communion by himself or pray for himself with oil.

The answer depends on one’s interpretation of Scripture. A restrictive interpretation says no. Do those things in community only. After all, you should not baptize yourself alone, in your swimming pool.

The other interpretation is less restrictive. It says that if solitary communion and self-anointing is not clearly prohibited in Scripture, and it benefits the individual, then he can do it. As for solitary baptism, Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch were alone. So a two-member community is stretching the meaning of community.

So I would say that solitary baptism is to be avoided. But if your saved friend wants to baptize you, a recent convert, in your own pool, then you two should do it. Solitary communion and self-anointing, though not ideal, can be done, especially when you are confessing your sins and praying for your soul and body to be healed.

E.. Summary

Healing oil, waters of baptism, and the elements in communion are sacred and holy to God Almighty himself, because in the OT and NT he commanded us to treat them as holy and sacred. We must pray over them and consecrate them to him. When this is done, they are no longer ordinary or common or profane, but extraordinary, uncommon, and sacred. Recall the warning in 1 Corinthians 11:27-32 about bringing judgement on ourselves if we partake unworthily. To avoid it, let’s consider the communion elements as God does, though I cannot affirm that treating healing oil and baptismal waters as common are on the same level as the communion elements, which would bring the same judgment. But we are missing the blessings from baptismal waters and healing oil, when we see them as common.

God commanding an imputation of holiness and sacredness to the physical things explains why we too must consider them holy and sacred and never treat them as common or run-of-the-mill. By analogy, when we consecrate our lives and our bodies to God, he considers and calls them holy. He imputes holiness to them. We too should consider our bodies to be holy. “Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God” (Lev. 20:7).

Holy things are to be treated as holy because God calls them holy. He is the source and basis of their holiness.

F.. Bottom line

Just to be clear and in closing: Let’s pray over the baptismal waters before we go in. Let’s pray over the communion elements before we partake. And let’s pray over the healing oil before we apply it. Let’s consecrate all of these elements to God in front of the people and proclaim before the church that the water and bread and wine and oil are holy in his sight and therefore should be holy in our sight too. He thinks of them as holy, and so should we. They are no longer ordinary things. Something spiritual and wonderful and miraculous will happen to us when we enter and go under the waters, and when we eat the consecrated bread and drink the consecrated grape juice and apply the oil. But the elements don’t hold magical, miraculous power in themselves. Rather, God himself by the Spirit performs the miracles through these elements because we finally understand and respect them as he does.

Jesus said about a gathering:

“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matt. 18:20)

When we take communion or practice water baptism and apply the anointing oil, Christ’s personal presence is with us, and I see no reason not to believe his presence includes the bread and wine and water and oil. That is, his spiritual presence does include the four elements.

As for the communion elements, his presence is not corporal or carnal (fleshly) but personal. He is there with us and blesses the two elements with his presence, spiritually, just as he promised in Matthew 18:20.

But I cannot (yet) reach the conclusion that his body and blood in somehow present in, with, and under the two elements. Transubstantiation is much too far.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Works Cited