Eucharystia a Kościół z perspektywy Kościołów luterańskich
The Eucharist and the Church from the Perspective of Lutheran Churches

Summary/Abstract: Considering the Lutheran definition of the Church and the Sacrament of the Altar, we can answer positively the programmatic question on the church-generating role of the Eucharist, asked by the organizers of the conference. I present five arguments confirming the perspective of the Church as built by performing and partaking in the Eucharist, i.e. in the visible Word of God, in which salvation from the cross of Golgotha is fulfilled and offered to the sinner: – the Eucharist builds the Church, because it constitutes partaking in the one body of the Crucified and risen Christ, which makes believers into one body. This supports the argument for the universal unity of the Church; – drinking from one cup constitutes participating in the community of giving and receiving. The participants, while drinking from the cup given them by the crucified Christ, remain in unity with the Lord, creating in this way the community of the new covenant; – the Eucharist, as the visible Word, plays a missionary role, building the Church gathered around the table of the Word of God; – the Eucharist brings the salutary benefit of the communion of entire Christianity as the communio sanctorum; – the Lutheran definition of the Church as completely dependent on the Word of God, preached and dispensed as a sacrament, leads to the conclusion that the Church is also built owing to the visible form of the Word.

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