John 6:53-56 reads "Jesus said to them, 'I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him." These words are reminescent of Matthew 26:26, and parallels, "This is my body." There is an obvious reference here to Holy Communion.

Since the Reformation in the 16th century, Christians have debated what this means. In what sense is the bread of Holy Communion Christ's body? And the fruit of the vine His blood? These are not unimportant questions.

Four positions are sketched by Ted A. Campbell in his book Methodist Doctrine: The Essentials. Those four are laid out below:

* MEMORIAL: "Some churches maintain that the Lord's Supper is merely a memorial or reminder of Christ's sacrifice and a sign of Christian fellowship. Many Evangelical churches and a minority of Reformed churches have maintained this Zwinglian understanding of the Supper." (Ulrich Zwingli, who lived from 1484-1531, was a Swiss theologian who was an early leader in the Protestant Reformation. He and Martin Luther, while agreeing on many things vs. the Roman Catholic Church, never could agree on how Christ was present in Communion.) This view takes its weight from Luke 22:18-20: "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."

* VIRTUALISM: "Historic Reformed churches maintain that although Christ's body ascended to heaven, the Supper of the Lord, when received with true faith, conveys a unique spiritual power. Because the Latin term for this spiritual power is virtus, this perspective is sometimes described as 'virtualism.'" This position is very similar to that which the Anglican Church calls the "real" presence of Christ. Christ is present not in bodily form, but in a real spiritual presence.

* CONSUBSTANTIATION: "Lutheran churches maintain that Christ's true, human body is present with the elements of bread and wine in the celebration of the Supper. This perspective is described as belief in the 'corporeal' (bodily) present of Christ." Contrary to Roman Catholic belief (see below), the bread and wine are not CHANGED into Christ's body and blood. They continue to be bread and wine. But somehow, in a mystery too deep for words, Christ's body also becomes present.

*TRANSUBSTANTIATION: "Historic Roman Catholic teaching maintains not only that Christ's human body is present, but that the essence of bread and wine are changed, with only their physical visible reality persisting. This perspective is historically described as 'transubstantiation.'"

The United Methodist position is definitely not #1, and definitely not #4 (a view which is specifically condemned in the Methodist Article of Religion no. 18.) Our position, while not doctrinely specified, is somewhere between #2-3.

Which view do you subscribe to? Here's how you can tell... The closer your beliefs are to #4, the more you believe that Christ is physically and spiritually present in Communion, the more often you will want to receive it. Catholics celebrate Mass daily because they believe Christ is physically present. Baptists, who view the Lord's Supper as a memorial, celebrate it maybe twice a year, which is enough to remember. How often do you desire to celebrate Holy Communion?