Finished the last video of DT 701 this morning. Then celebrated our daughter’s 25th birthday with family. A good day on both counts.
The final lecture was on the Sacrament of Communion — transubstantiation, consubstantiation, Zwingli’s memorialism, and Cranmer’s ascent view laid out side by side. Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Cranmer each taking a different position, each with serious Christological stakes.
Where does Anglicanism land? Real Presence. It’s a mystery. The Articles reject transubstantiation without rejecting the reality of Christ’s presence. As a friend of mine puts it, it is decidedly not the Real Absence either.
Cranmer’s ascent view is the most distinctly Anglican of the positions — our words and prayers ascend the individual spirit to heaven, where Christ is present in the fullness of both natures. We come to him. He doesn’t come down into the bread. Bishop Sutton hammered this home repeatedly in the Liturgics course with the Sursum Corda — “Lift up your hearts.” The response isn’t incidental. It’s the whole argument.
All 14 videos complete. Now the reading.
Tomorrow: office duty. Reading at lunch if possible.
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