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Sacramental union (Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
, unio sacramentalis; German
German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
, sakramentliche Einigkeit) is the Lutheran
Lutheranism

Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the sixteenth-century Germans Reformer Martin Luther....
 theological
Theology

Theology is the study of the existence or attributes of a deity or gods, or more generally the study of religion or spirituality. It is sometimes contrasted with religious studies: theology is understood as the study of religion from an internal perspective , and religious studies as the study of religion from an external perspective....
 doctrine
Doctrine

Doctrine is a codification of beliefs or "a body of teachers" or "instructions", taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system....
 of the Real Presence
Real Presence

The Real Presence is the term various Christian traditions use to express their belief that, in the Eucharist, Jesus Christ is really present in what was previously just bread and wine, and not merely present in symbol, as a figure of speech , or by his power ....
 of the body and blood of Christ
Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and is revered by most Christian churches as the Son of God and the Incarnation ....
 in the Christian
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
 Eucharist
Eucharist

The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or Lord's Supper and other names, is a Christianity sacrament commemorating, by consecrating bread and wine, the Last Supper, the final meal that Jesus Christ shared with his disciples before his arrest, and eventual crucifixion, when he gave them bread saying, "This is my body", and wine...
.
sacramental union is distinguished from the other "unions" in theology like the "personal union
Hypostatic union

Hypostatic union is a technical term in Christianity theology employed in mainstream Christology to describe the presence of both human and divine natures in Jesus Christ....
" of the two natures in Jesus Christ, the "mystical union" of Christ and his Church
Christian Church

Christian Church and the word church are used to denote both a Christian Groups of people and a Church . The word church is usually, but not exclusively, associated with Christianity....
, and the "natural union" in the human
Human

A human being, also human or man, is a member of a species of bipedalism primates in the family Hominidae . Mitochondrial DNA evidence indicates that modern humans originated in east Africa about 200,000 years ago....
 person of body
Body

With regard to organism, a body is the integral physical material of an individual. "Body" often is used in connection with appearance, health issues and death....
 and soul
Soul

In many religions and parts of philosophy, the soul is the immaterial part of a person. It is usually thought to consist of one's thoughts and Personality psychology, and can be synonymous with the spirit, mind or self....
.






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Sacramental union (Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
, unio sacramentalis; German
German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
, sakramentliche Einigkeit) is the Lutheran
Lutheranism

Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the sixteenth-century Germans Reformer Martin Luther....
 theological
Theology

Theology is the study of the existence or attributes of a deity or gods, or more generally the study of religion or spirituality. It is sometimes contrasted with religious studies: theology is understood as the study of religion from an internal perspective , and religious studies as the study of religion from an external perspective....
 doctrine
Doctrine

Doctrine is a codification of beliefs or "a body of teachers" or "instructions", taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system....
 of the Real Presence
Real Presence

The Real Presence is the term various Christian traditions use to express their belief that, in the Eucharist, Jesus Christ is really present in what was previously just bread and wine, and not merely present in symbol, as a figure of speech , or by his power ....
 of the body and blood of Christ
Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and is revered by most Christian churches as the Son of God and the Incarnation ....
 in the Christian
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
 Eucharist
Eucharist

The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or Lord's Supper and other names, is a Christianity sacrament commemorating, by consecrating bread and wine, the Last Supper, the final meal that Jesus Christ shared with his disciples before his arrest, and eventual crucifixion, when he gave them bread saying, "This is my body", and wine...
.

Type of union

The sacramental union is distinguished from the other "unions" in theology like the "personal union
Hypostatic union

Hypostatic union is a technical term in Christianity theology employed in mainstream Christology to describe the presence of both human and divine natures in Jesus Christ....
" of the two natures in Jesus Christ, the "mystical union" of Christ and his Church
Christian Church

Christian Church and the word church are used to denote both a Christian Groups of people and a Church . The word church is usually, but not exclusively, associated with Christianity....
, and the "natural union" in the human
Human

A human being, also human or man, is a member of a species of bipedalism primates in the family Hominidae . Mitochondrial DNA evidence indicates that modern humans originated in east Africa about 200,000 years ago....
 person of body
Body

With regard to organism, a body is the integral physical material of an individual. "Body" often is used in connection with appearance, health issues and death....
 and soul
Soul

In many religions and parts of philosophy, the soul is the immaterial part of a person. It is usually thought to consist of one's thoughts and Personality psychology, and can be synonymous with the spirit, mind or self....
. It is seen as similar to the personal union in the analogue of the uniting of the two perfect natures in the person of Jesus Christ in which both natures remain distinct: the integrity of the bread and wine remain though united with the body and the blood of Christ.

In the sacramental union the consecrated bread of the Eucharist
Eucharist

The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or Lord's Supper and other names, is a Christianity sacrament commemorating, by consecrating bread and wine, the Last Supper, the final meal that Jesus Christ shared with his disciples before his arrest, and eventual crucifixion, when he gave them bread saying, "This is my body", and wine...
 is united with the body of Christ and the consecrated wine of the Eucharist
Eucharist

The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or Lord's Supper and other names, is a Christianity sacrament commemorating, by consecrating bread and wine, the Last Supper, the final meal that Jesus Christ shared with his disciples before his arrest, and eventual crucifixion, when he gave them bread saying, "This is my body", and wine...
 is united with the blood of Christ by virtue of Christ's original institution with the result that anyone eating and drinking these "elements"—the consecrated bread and wine—really eat and drink the physical body and blood of Christ as well. Lutherans maintain that what they believe to be the biblical doctrine of the manducatio indignorum ("eating of the unworthy") that even unbelievers eating and drinking in the Eucharist
Eucharist

The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or Lord's Supper and other names, is a Christianity sacrament commemorating, by consecrating bread and wine, the Last Supper, the final meal that Jesus Christ shared with his disciples before his arrest, and eventual crucifixion, when he gave them bread saying, "This is my body", and wine...
 really eat and drink the body and blood of Christ sustains this doctrine as well as any other doctrine affirming the Real Presence
Real Presence

The Real Presence is the term various Christian traditions use to express their belief that, in the Eucharist, Jesus Christ is really present in what was previously just bread and wine, and not merely present in symbol, as a figure of speech , or by his power ....
. This view was put forward by Martin Luther
Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a Germans monk, theology, university professor, priest, father of Protestantism, and Protestant Reformers whose ideas started the Protestant Reformation and changed the course of Western culture....
 in his 1528 Confession Concerning Christ's Supper
Confession Concerning Christ's Supper

Confession Concerning Christ's Supper is a theological treatise written by Martin Luther affirming the Real Presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, defining Luther's position as the Sacramental union....
:

It is asserted in the Wittenberg Concord
Wittenberg Concord

Wittenberg Concord , is a religious concordat signed by Reformed churches and Lutheranism theologians and churchmen on May 29, 1536 as an attempted resolution of their differences with respect to the Real Presence of Christ's body and blood in the Eucharist....
 of 1536 and in the Formula of Concord
Formula of Concord

Formula of Concord is an authoritative Lutheran statement of faith that, in its two parts , makes up the final section of the Lutheran Corpus Doctrinae or Body of Doctrine, known as the Book of Concord ....
. The Formula of Concord
Formula of Concord

Formula of Concord is an authoritative Lutheran statement of faith that, in its two parts , makes up the final section of the Lutheran Corpus Doctrinae or Body of Doctrine, known as the Book of Concord ....
 couples the term with the circumlocution ("in, with, and under the forms of bread and wine") used among Lutherans
Lutheranism

Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the sixteenth-century Germans Reformer Martin Luther....
 to further define their view:

Words of Institution

Lutherans believe that the words spoken by Jesus Christ at his Last Supper
Last Supper

In the Christian Gospels, the Last Supper was the last meal Jesus shared with his Twelve Apostles and Disciple before Crucifixion of Jesus. The Last Supper has been the subject of many paintings, perhaps The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci....
, the Words of Institution, bring about the sacramental union then and at all times whenever the Christian eucharist is celebrated according to his mandate and institution.

Distinction from other doctrines of the Real Presence
Real Presence

The Real Presence is the term various Christian traditions use to express their belief that, in the Eucharist, Jesus Christ is really present in what was previously just bread and wine, and not merely present in symbol, as a figure of speech , or by his power ....
 

This view is sometimes identified as consubstantiation
Consubstantiation

Consubstantiation is a theological doctrine that attempts to describe the nature of the Christianity Eucharist in concrete metaphysics terms. It holds that during the sacrament the fundamental "Substance theory" of the body and blood of Christ are present alongside the substance of the bread and wine, which remain present....
 in that it asserts the simultaneous presence of four essences in the Eucharist
Eucharist

The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or Lord's Supper and other names, is a Christianity sacrament commemorating, by consecrating bread and wine, the Last Supper, the final meal that Jesus Christ shared with his disciples before his arrest, and eventual crucifixion, when he gave them bread saying, "This is my body", and wine...
: 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
Formula of Concord

Formula of Concord is an authoritative Lutheran statement of faith that, in its two parts , makes up the final section of the Lutheran Corpus Doctrinae or Body of Doctrine, known as the Book of Concord ....
. The term "consubstantiation
Consubstantiation

Consubstantiation is a theological doctrine that attempts to describe the nature of the Christianity Eucharist in concrete metaphysics terms. It holds that during the sacrament the fundamental "Substance theory" of the body and blood of Christ are present alongside the substance of the bread and wine, which remain present....
" 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
Impanation

Impanation is a name employed to denote the union of the body of Christ with the bread of the Eucharist. This view, patterned on the analogy of Christ's hypostatic union: God made flesh in the Person of Jesus Christ, asserts that "God is made bread" in the Eucharist....
." Lutherans have also rejected the designation of their position as consubstantiation
Consubstantiation

Consubstantiation is a theological doctrine that attempts to describe the nature of the Christianity Eucharist in concrete metaphysics terms. It holds that during the sacrament the fundamental "Substance theory" of the body and blood of Christ are present alongside the substance of the bread and wine, which remain present....
 because they believe it, like transubstantiation
Transubstantiation

In Roman Catholic theology, transubstantiation is the change of the Substance theory of Host and Sacramental wine into the Body of Christ and Blood of Christ occurring in the Eucharist while all that is accessible to the senses remain as before....
, is a philosophical explanation of the Real Presence
Real Presence

The Real Presence is the term various Christian traditions use to express their belief that, in the Eucharist, Jesus Christ is really present in what was previously just bread and wine, and not merely present in symbol, as a figure of speech , or by his power ....
, whereas the Sacramental Union is a description of the doctrine.

Martin Luther distinguished this doctrine from that of transubstantiation
Transubstantiation

In Roman Catholic theology, transubstantiation is the change of the Substance theory of Host and Sacramental wine into the Body of Christ and Blood of Christ occurring in the Eucharist while all that is accessible to the senses remain as before....
 and impanation
Impanation

Impanation is a name employed to denote the union of the body of Christ with the bread of the Eucharist. This view, patterned on the analogy of Christ's hypostatic union: God made flesh in the Person of Jesus Christ, asserts that "God is made bread" in the Eucharist....
 in this way:

See also

  • Confession Concerning Christ's Supper
    Confession Concerning Christ's Supper

    Confession Concerning Christ's Supper is a theological treatise written by Martin Luther affirming the Real Presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, defining Luther's position as the Sacramental union....
  • Crypto-Calvinism
    Crypto-Calvinism

    Crypto-Calvinism is a term for Calvinist influence in the Lutheran Church during the decades just after the death of Martin Luther . It denotes what was seen as a hidden ...
  • Eucharistic theologies contrasted
    Eucharistic theologies contrasted

    Churches and Ecclesial Communities contrasted in relation to Eucharist:...
  • Marburg Colloquy
    Marburg Colloquy

    The Marburg Colloquy was a meeting at Marburg Castle, Marburg, Hesse, Germany which attempted to solve a dispute between Martin Luther and Huldrych Zwingli over the Real Presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper....
  • Martin Luther
    Martin Luther

    Martin Luther was a Germans monk, theology, university professor, priest, father of Protestantism, and Protestant Reformers whose ideas started the Protestant Reformation and changed the course of Western culture....
  • Real Presence
    Real Presence

    The Real Presence is the term various Christian traditions use to express their belief that, in the Eucharist, Jesus Christ is really present in what was previously just bread and wine, and not merely present in symbol, as a figure of speech , or by his power ....


Bibliography

  • Luther, Martin. D. Martin Luthers Werke, Kritische Gesamtausgabe. 65 vols. Weimar: Verlag Hermann Böhlaus Nochfolger, 1883- (The comprehensive Weimar Edition of Luther's works in German and Latin).
  • _____. Luther's Works: American Edition. Jaroslav Jan. Pelikan, and Helmut T. Lehmann, gen. eds. 55 vols. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1955-86.
  • (An English translation of the Book of Concord
    Book of Concord

    The Book of Concord or Concordia is the historic doctrine standard of the Lutheranism, consisting of ten creed documents recognized as authoritative in Lutheranism since the 16th century....
    ).