Distinction From Other Doctrines of The Real Presence
This view is sometimes identified as consubstantiation in that it asserts the simultaneous presence of four essences in the Eucharist: that of the consecrated bread, the body of Christ, the consecrated wine, and the blood of Christ; but it differs in that it does not assert a "local" (three dimensional, circumscribed) presence of the body and blood in the sacramental bread and wine respectively, which is rejected as "gross, carnal, and Capernaitic" in the Formula of Concord. The term "consubstantiation" has been associated with such a "local" inclusion of the Body and Blood of Christ in the sacramental bread and wine as has the term "impanation." Lutherans have also rejected the designation of their position as consubstantiation because they believe it, like transubstantiation, is a philosophical explanation of the Real Presence, whereas the Sacramental Union is a description of the doctrine.
Martin Luther distinguished this doctrine from that of transubstantiation and impanation in this way:
| “ |
... we do not make Christ's body out of the bread ... Nor do we say that his body comes into existence out of the bread . We say that his body, which long ago was made and came into existence, is present when we say, "This is my body." For Christ commands us to say not, "Let this become my body," or, "Make my body there," but, "This is my body." |
” |
Lutheran sacramental union is also distinct from the Reformed view. The Calvinistic view of Christ's presence at Lord's Supper (real, spiritual presence) is that Christ is truly present at the meal, though not substantially and particularly joined to the elements. Lutherans, on the other hand, describe a union in which the divine and the human natures share their predicates more fully. Lutheran scholastics described the Reformed christological position which leads to this doctrine as the extra calvinisticum, or "Calvinistic extra," because the Logos is thought to be outside or beyond the body of Christ.