Having had occasion to receive from the Bishop of Exeter an
expression of his views on the subjects discussed in pp. 31-37, I
asked and obtained permission to embody it in an Appendix, as his
latest and most matured judgment on the matter to which it relates.
The Bishop says:--"I regard the Grace of the Eucharist as the
Communion of the Death and Sufferings of our Lord. St. Paul (1 Cor.
xi. 24), in his statement of the Revelation made to him from Christ,
sitting at the Right Hand of GOD the Father, seems to me distinctly
to affirm this Truth.
"His words τὸ κλώμενον (they should be rendered "which is _being_
broken"), in their literal and plain signification, show that the
Lord's Death is one continuous Fact, which lasts and will last till
he comes and lays down His Mediatorial Kingdom, subjecting it, and
Himself, its King, to the Father.
"I hold that it is, in short, a Sacrament of that continuous Act
of our Lord's Suffering once for us on the Cross--the punishment
appointed for sin during the days of His Mediation--that our Lord
is, in some ineffable manner, present in the Sacrament of His
Sufferings, thus communicated to us, by which He pays for us the
penalty imposed on our guilt. In such a Presence I do not recognise
anything material or local, though I most thankfully rejoice in it
as _real_."
Next as to the point dwelt upon in pp. 66-70, as seeming to
prescribe, and to render important, the position of the Celebrant
at the Holy Communion: viz. that our Lord's having "given" or
"presented" in a mystery, through the Elements, the Sacrifice of
His Body and Blood, is the whole secret of their consecration to
_be_ that which they represent: and that we, too, must "give,"
"present," or "offer," the Elements with the same intention, if we
would effectually plead the Sacrifice, and receive the Sacrament:--
The Bishop of Exeter, still commenting on 1 Cor. xi. 24, compared
with St. Luke xxii. 19, speaks as follows:--
"The use of the present participle in these cases, seems to me to
show, that the words ought to be rendered 'which is _being_ given,'
and 'which is being broken,' and must be referred to the Act of
Crucifixion. The words, thus understood, seem to me to illustrate
and to be illustrated by Gal. ii. 20. 'I am crucified with
Christ [lit., I have been, and continue to be, crucified with
Him--συνεσταύρωμαι], and the life which I now live, I live by the
faith of the Son of God, who loved me, _and gave Himself for me_.'
[Comp. 'This is my Body which is _being given for you_.']
"And again, Gal. iii. 1, 'Before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been
evidently set forth crucified among you.' I know not where it is
said or implied that we are crucified together with Christ, unless
in thus feeding on, and receiving, and partaking of the Dying of
Christ, and the showing forth of His Death, as oft as we eat and
drink the Body _being_ broken and the Blood _being_ shed."
Again the Bishop, as regards the Roman Doctrines of
Transubstantiation and Concomitancy, quotes, as in entire accordance
with his own, the following sentiments of the Rev. C. Smith, Rector
of Newton, Suffolk, and author of the valuable work, 'An Enquiry
into Catholick Truths, hidden under certain Articles of the Creed
of the Church of Rome:'--"This is a great mystery; but we must
not forget that it is the Lord; and, instead of pretending to
explain _how_ it is our Lord feeds us on this most real Sacrifice,
and _how_ He can give us, now he is glorified, His own Body and
Blood separately, let us rejoice that he nourishes and cherishes
His purchased Church by the 'still unconsumed sacrifice (as St.
Chrysostom calls it) of Himself.' How mean and impertinent are
Transubstantiation and Concomitancy, and the Impanation and
Invination of Rome and her followers!"