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Church Life: AD 150  /  Communion  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 6
Using the sandstone/core sample illustration, Bercot defends Luther’s idea that bread remains bread while Christ is truly present; what part of that analogy helps you, what part feels forced, and what does your reaction reveal about whether you believe God can be “present” in ordinary created matter without it becoming superstition?
Another way to ask: Bercot uses the sandstone/core sample example to support Luther’s view that the bread stays bread while Christ is truly present. What parts of that example help you or don’t help you, and what does your reaction show about whether God can be present in ordinary matter without it becoming superstition?

Direct Answer

Bercot’s sandstone analogy is meant to help you imagine “two realities” at once: outwardly it remains bread and wine, yet Christ can truly be present in them. If the analogy feels forced, Bercot would likely say the discomfort may reveal a deeper hesitation to believe God works through created matter without slipping into the superstitions he criticizes.

Support from Transcript:

  • Luther’s view (as Bercot presents it): the elements “remain bread and wine,” yet “Christ is present in the bread and in the wine.”
  • Bercot’s core sample: solid sandstone appears to have “no room,” yet under a microscope there is “space between those grains of sand.”
  • He explains a “pool of oil” can exist inside rock: “one reality…hunk of sandstone…another reality…pool of oil…both there together.”
  • He applies this to communion: Christ can be present “alongside the molecules of bread,” just as oil is present among sand grains.
  • He guards against superstition: communion is supernatural “not through some magic,” but “a spiritual reality…beyond our human senses.”
Discussion Follow-ups

Which concerns you more: treating bread and wine as nothing special, or treating them as magical? What would it look like to hold Bercot’s “real presence” idea with reverence but without superstition?

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