Memorialism

Part of a series on the
Eucharist Lord's Supper • Communion
Elements
Bread Wine
Ritual and liturgy
Divine Service Mass Requiem Tridentine Consecration Epiclesis Words of Institution Viaticum
Practice and Customs
Closed and Open Table Communion under both kinds Reserved sacrament Eucharistic adoration Eucharistic discipline First Communion Infant Communion Vessels Paten Chalice
History
Origin of the Eucharist Catholic historical roots
Theology
Sacrament Real presence Consubstantiation Impanation Receptionism Transubstantiation Transignification Sacramental Union Memorialism Ordinance
Important theologians
Paul Luther Calvin Chrysostom Augustine Zwingli Thomas Aquinas Basil of Caesarea
Denominational teachings
Anglican Lutheran Latter-day Saint Roman Catholic
Related articles
Black Mass Christian views on alcohol Host desecration

Memorialism is the belief held by some Protestant denominations that the elements of bread and wine (or juice) in the Eucharist (more often referred to as The Lord's Supper by memorialists) are purely symbolic representations of the body and blood of Jesus, the feast being established only or primarily as a commemorative ceremony. The theory comes largely from the work of the early Reformed theologian Huldrych Zwingli. The term comes from Luke 22:19: "This do in memory of me" and the attendant interpretation that the Lord's Supper's chief purpose is to help the participant remember Jesus and his sacrifice on the Cross.

This viewpoint is commonly held by Anabaptists and some Evangelical churches such as Baptists, many Pentecostals, Plymouth Brethren and segments of the Restoration Movement,^[1] but it is rejected by most branches of Christianity, including the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Church, the Church of the East, Independent Catholic Churches, Lutherans, Presbyterians and other traditional Calvinists, as well as the vast majority of Anglicans and Methodists, who variously affirm the doctrine of the real presence.

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