When Was The Term “Transubstantiation” First Used In The Catholic Church?
The term “Transubstantiation,” which refers to the Catholic belief that during the celebration of the Eucharist the consecrated host literally becomes the body of Jesus Christ and the wine his blood, first came into use within the context of the Western Church in 1215, at the Fourth Lateran Council. Transubstantiation is a medieval concept which holds that an object may undergo a radical change in content, without necessarily undergoing a change in appearance. Some Evangelical and other Protestant groups have been critical of this belief and observed that it was a creation of the Middle Ages. Catholic theologians and apologists, however, have countered that while the term may be relatively new, the concept of the Real Presence of Christ during the Eucharist dates back to the early days of the Church and was referred to by Ignatius of Antioch in A.D. 110. Catholic apologists also point to chapter 6 of the Book of John, where Christ repeatedly refers to the necessity of eating his flesh
