To chew or not to chew

Lutheran, The, Mar 2005 by Weissenbuehler, Wayne

Reader taught to let the 'body' dissolve

Is it all right to chew the wafer or bread in communion or should I simply let it dissolve in my mouth as I was taught?

Not only is it all right to chew the wafer, in my understanding it is to be preferred. It goes back to an old controversy surrounding the real presence of Christ's body and blood in and with the bread and wine.

The issue was do we really orally receive Christ's body and blood in the elements or not? Lutherans asserted the manducatio oralis, that is, we truly eat and drink Jesus' body and blood in the sacramental union. This is no mere symbolic gesture. In faith and trust, we need to receive into our very bodies and souls the true presence of Jesus in and through the elements of bread and wine.

The Nicene Creed, as printed in the Lutheran Book of Worship, uses a lowercase "v" in "became incarnate from the virgin Mary." In other places you might find the mother of our Lord called the Virgin Mary with a capital "V." Is there any significance to this difference?

In our most recent worship books a lowercase "v" is used in the creeds. In the Service Book and Hymnal, the predecessor to the LBW, a capital "V" was used. This may be nothing more than editorial judgment on the part of the publisher.

However, I suspect that using the lowercase "v" calls attention to the theological significance of Mary's faith and virginity when Jesus was conceived. It does not, however, make any judgment on whether Mary remained a virgin her entire life or had other children.

When she is called the Virgin Mary, virgin (with a captial "v") functions as a title and calls attention to the possibility of her perpetual virginity and to her unique role in the mystery of redemption in her own right.

In the past we equated the use of the lowercase "v" with Lutheran and general Protestant thought and the uppercase with Roman Catholic and Orthodox views of Mary.

In our church today Mary's significance in God's plan of salvation and her role in Christian piety is finding a more prominent place.

In faith and trust, we need to receive into our very bodies and souls the true presence of Jesus in and through the elements of bread and wine

Readers are invited to send questions to "Since You Asked" via e-mail to wayne@bethany-denver. org or to The Lutheran, 8765 W. Higgins Rd., Chicago, IL 60631-4183. Space does not allow publication of all questions, but all receive serious consideration. The volume of letters makes personal replies impossible.

Weissenbuehler is a pastor ofBethany Lutheran Church, Englewood, Cola., and former bishop of the Rocky Mountain Synod.