Westminster Confession on the Lord's Supper
Real but spiritual presence, received by faith
Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of the visible elements in this sacrament, do then also inwardly by faith, really and indeed, yet not carnally and corporally, but spiritually, receive and feed upon Christ crucified, and all benefits of his death: the body and blood of Christ being then not corporally or carnally in, with, or under the bread and wine; yet as really, but spiritually, present to the faith of believers in that ordinance, as the elements themselves are, to their outward senses.
THE POSITION
WCF 29.7 rejects both rival positions inside one sentence. Transubstantiation has already been dismissed in 29.6 as 'repugnant, not to Scripture alone, but even to common sense and reason'; 29.7 then denies the Lutheran formula word for word - the body and blood are 'not corporally or carnally in, with, or under the bread and wine' - while insisting the presence is nonetheless real. The comparison at the end is the load-bearing part: Christ is as really present to faith as the elements are to the senses.
16 Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?
8 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
The confessional standard of English-speaking Presbyterianism, completed by the Westminster Assembly in 1646 and adopted with its Scripture proofs. This entry rests on the 1646 text from the manuscript of Cornelius Burges as edited by S. W. Carruthers (1937) for chapters 1-24, and on the 1647 text for chapters 25-33; the Assembly's own proof texts attached to each paragraph supply every reference below.
Cite this page
"Westminster Confession on the Lord's Supper", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/westminster/lords-supper (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/westminster/lords-supper).