Transignification

The transsignification is a theological explanatory model of the transformation of the forms of bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ during the celebration of the Eucharist .

The doctrine of transignification

In the theological discussion before and after the Second Vatican Council about the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharistic figures , some theologians tried to find new explanatory models for the doctrine of transubstantiation of the Roman Catholic Church . Above all, an alternative to the term substance should be developed. The works on the subject of Jean de Baciocchi and later by Edward Schillebeeckx and Piet Schoonenberg point in the discussion about the concept of substance to the changing meaning of the Eucharistic figures in the Eucharist and describe this with transignification . The transsignification is based on a change in the meaning of the figures of bread and wine, which affects the identity of the figures themselves.

The criticism of the Roman Catholic Magisterium against such an interpretation of the doctrine of transubstantiation refers to the unexplained or still discussed ontological dimension of this change. A mere subjective change of meaning by the communicating party is not sufficient, rather it is a matter of an objective change in essence. This criticism was attempted to refute it by pointing out that changing the identity of the res would also change its “substance”.

literature

• Joseph M. Powers: Eucharist in a New View ("Eucharistic Theology"). Herder Verlag, Freiburg / B. 1968.
• Edward Schillebeeckx : The Eucharistic Presence. For discussion of the real presence ("Christ 'tegenwoordigheid in de Eucharist"). 2nd ed. Patmos Verlag, Düsseldorf 1968 (Theological Perspectives).
• Notger Slenczka : Real Presence and Ontology. Investigation of the ontological foundations of the doctrine of transignification . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1993, ISBN 3-525-56273-X (also dissertation, University of Göttingen 1990).