Are Lutherans Cannibals?

It was brought to my attention by some of my members that on Sunday a local pastor whose sermons are broadcast on the radio made the claim that Lutherans must be cannibals because we believe that in the Lord's Supper a person actually receives the body and blood of Jesus.

So, is it true? Nope.

We do believe, teach, and confess that in the Lord's Supper we truly receive the body and blood of Jesus.  However our confessions (confessions are statements of what we confess to be true) absolutely reject what this pastor was accusing us of.

The funny thing is, this is hardly the first time that someone has accused Christians of cannibalism, but it used to always be from outside of the church that the charge came.  In the early days of Christianity it was common for Christians to be accused of cannibalism and of sexual deviancy..
It was apparently common knowledge that Christians drank wine when they met together, and that men kissed men and women kissed women in their gatherings.  Therefore, Christians were accused of having homosexual drunken orgies.  Since those outside the church knew that they shared in eating "the body of Christ" they were thought to be a cannibalistic cult.  It was rumored of the Christians that at their meeting "they ate the flesh and drank the blood of babies."  
-"Take Eat, Take Drink" by Ernest Bartels p. 73

So, what do Lutherans believe concerning what you receive in the Lord's Supper?  We believe that you do indeed receive the body and blood of Jesus, in, with, and under the bread and wine.  But we reject the idea that Christ is only "spiritually" present while at the same time rejecting the idea that the bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Jesus.

We simply hold to what Scripture teaches.  St. Paul speaks both of the bread and the cup (wine) being present, but also of the body and blood of Jesus.

and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.  (1Corinthians 11:24-29)

This is, of course, on top of the words of Jesus as recorded in the gospels, in which He says "This is my body" and "this is my blood."

The body and blood are truly present in, with, and under the bread and the wine.  They are not transformed from bread and wine into the body and blood, but by the power of God's Word and promise, the body and blood are truly present and orally received.

But do we believe that we are participating in cannibalism?  Absolutely not.  Here is how the Epitome of the Formula of Concord, one of our church's confessions, says it.

We believe, teach, and confess that Christ's body and blood are received with the bread and wine, not only spiritually through faith, but also orally. Yet not in a "Capernaitic" way, but in a supernatural, heavenly way, because of the sacramental union. Christ's word's clearly show this, when Christ gives direction to take, eat, and drink, as was done also by the apostles.  For it is written in Mark 14:23, "And they all drank of it."  St. Paul likewise says in 1 Corinthians 10:16, "The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?" That is to say: He who eats this bread eats Christ's body, which also the chief ancient teachers of the Church --Chrysostom, Cyprian, Leo I, Gregory, Ambrose, Augustine --unanimously testified.                                                    (Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, A Reader's Edition of the Book of Concord)

 Note that the word "Capernaitic" essentially means "cannibalistic." 

So in the Lord's Supper you do indeed eat bread and wine AND the body and blood of Jesus, but not in a cannibalistic way, but according to His word and promise.

We hesitate to explain any further than this, because it leads us into speculation rather than simple trust of God's Word.  We allow the mystery of exactly how the body and blood of Jesus are present to remain in the same way that we confess but do not always fully understand how Christ is fully God and fully man, how God is three yet one, and other paradoxes of the the faith.

But we hold fast to the Word and promises of God, even when we cannot rationally explain it, because it is His Word.

If you want to learn more, I suggest reading the Epitome of the Formula of Concord, which you can find here.