Charles Damdson — EiiglisTi Mystery Plays. 137 



II. 



THE DOCTRINE OF TRANSUBSTANTIATION AS A DRAMATIC 



MOTIVE. 



It is probable that from a very early day the church considered 

 the Eucharist as something more than a commemorative breaking of 

 bread. It is certain that within the first centuries the belief that in 

 some mystical, spiritual sense Christ was present in the Lord's 

 Supper was prevalent in the church. But this mysticism, so 

 attractive to the mind of the Oriental, is contrary to the habits of 

 Western thought, which seeks for reality beneath speculation, and 

 for a philosophy that can be mirrored in the life. Therefore we 

 see without surprise as early as the sixth centur}^ signs of approach- 

 irg materialistic views of the Eucharist. St. Gregory's words,^ 

 '' Take this bread and offer it as a sacrifice for my sins," show that 

 the propitiatory idea was superseding the idea of thank-offering. 

 Still it won its way but slowly. It is not found in the Liturgy of 

 St. Gregory, upon which the mediaeval Mass was built, though with 

 many additions.^ 



Not until the ninth century^ did the doctrine of the Sacrament 

 become an object of controversy. The issue was defined when Rad- 

 bertus propounded the doctrine of Transubstantiation, in his treatise 

 addressed to Charles the Bald.* The controversy that immediately 

 arose shows how foreign such views were to the theological thought 

 of the time. Nevertheless, once formulated, the tenet rapidly 

 gained credence, and the treatment which Berengar" received in the 

 eleventh century, because he held that Christ was present in the 

 Eucharist in a spiritual sense only, proves how completely the doc- 

 trine of the Real Presence had gained the day. 



Within these two centuries, from the last half of the ninth to the 

 first half of the eleventh, this most momentous change had taken 

 place in Christian thought. Within these two centuries the dra- 

 matic development of the liturgj'^ began in all countries of the Roman 

 Catholic faith. This is more than coincidence. It is cause and 

 effect. The dramatic element, hitherto lacking in the Christian 

 liturgy, was now present through a belief that aroused the most 

 intense emotions in the worshiper. Day after day the devout among 

 the clergy saw the Son of God offered up, a present sacrifice, for 

 their sins. What act of more awful import could be imagined ! 



1 Burbidp-e, p. 95. a Burbidge, p. 67. » Schaflf, vol. 3, p. 492. 



4 McClintock and Strong, s. v. Lord's Supper. 5 Scbaff, vol. 4, p. 556. 



