Jesse Sharpe PhD thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText ...

Introduction 23
transubstantiation they do recognise that there is a presence in the bread and the wine.
Christ is present in the meal, but it is not defined exactly how this works. The recognition
of the sacrament as both a memorial and a partaking of the presence of Jesus allows
devotional poets a wide range of literary terminology in which to express and meditate
upon the sacrament that celebrates the Incarnation, and through the presence of Jesus, in
one form or another, it is in and of itself an incarnational act. Poets then may use
terminology and imagery that would speak of sign or real presence without moving beyond
the bonds of the ‘39 Articles’.
In contemplating the Lord’s Supper writers are presented with a meal, a necessity
of life, and in partaking it they eat, an act common to all humanity. This meal of
remembrance (in which Christ is present) is another sign of the Incarnational paradox
because God can be found in bread and wine which will be ingested by the believers, and
through this meal, the believers will be fed physically and spiritually. Moreover, there is a
celebratory element in members of a church coming together and sharing in a meal to
remember when God became human in order to save humans from their sins. The
celebratory nature of this has been nicely captured by MacCulloch when he states,
From the Church’s earliest days it has been a way to break down the barrier
between the physical and the spiritual, between earth and heaven, death and life. It
involves objects made by human beings and therefore part of everyday society:
bread and wine, food and drink, which bring earthly joy, and which are fraught
with danger because they can be enjoyed too much. That is what makes the
Eucharist such a potent symbol of offering what human beings bring to God. Yet it
is also associated with what Christ offers to humanity through his unique, costly,