The Doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist with special reference to the Doctrine of Transubstantiation

In a Catholic tract of recent date, “The Holy Eucharist Explained” (by Our Sunday Visitor Press, Huntington, Ind.), We read the modest claim that “All Christians for 15 centuries believed the Eucharist to contain the true body and blood, soul and divinity or Jesus Christ, under the appearances or bread and wine” (p. 16); that this is substantiated by the following facts: “In the first place the Greek Church and all the Christian sects or Asia, which are older than Protestantism by 1000 years, believe as we do. Hence such must have been the prevailing belief or Christians during the first centuries. Secondly, writings that come down to us from close successors or the Apostles clearly state the belief of the early Church, and show it to be identical with ours or today