Do Orthodox Believe In Transubstantiation?
The question of whether the Orthodox Church accepts the doctrine of transubstantiation often arises in ecumenical discussions about the Eucharist. While Orthodox Christians affirm the real presence of Christ in the holy mysteries, they do not employ the Scholastic term “transubstantiation” to explain how that presence occurs. Instead, the Orthodox tradition speaks of the Eucharist as a sacred mystery, emphasizing that the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ in a way that surpasses human reasoning.
Orthodox Teaching on the Eucharist
In the Divine Liturgy, the priest invokes the Holy Spirit to change the offerings: “Make this bread the precious Body of your Christ… and that which is in this cup, the precious Blood of your Christ…” This epiclesis points to a transformative action of the Spirit, but the Church refrains from defining the mechanics of that change in philosophical terms.
Historical Background
Early Christian writers such as St. Ignatius of Antioch (c. 110 AD) and St. Justin Martyr (c. 150 AD) already described the Eucharist as the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. The Byzantine theologian St. John Damascene (8th century) wrote that the elements are “changed” by the Holy Spirit, yet he avoided specifying the nature of that change.
The Synod of Jerusalem (1672), convened by Patriarch Dositheos II of Jerusalem, explicitly addressed Latin Eucharistic theology. Its decree states that the Orthodox Church believes the bread and wine are truly transformed into the body and blood of Christ, but it rejects the Scholastic explanation that relies on the Aristotelian categories of substance and accidents. The Synod’s language reflects a preference for mystery over precise philosophical definition.
