Noah Hahn (Fordham University): Publications

Bedford Park, New York, United States of America

Areas of Interest

A Lutheran Objection to Thomistic Transubstantiation
In Gyula Klima (ed.), The Metaphysics and Theology of the Eucharist: A Historical-Analytical Survey of the Problems of the Sacrament, Springer Verlag. pp. 347-381. 2023.

Thomistic transubstantiation attempts to explain how Jesus’ body and blood come to be present on the altar after the Sacramental bread and wine are consecrated. Although Aquinas’s argument for this theory is stronger than his critics give him credit for, the argument ultimately fails. Examining two of Aquinas’s premises that have gone relatively unnoticed in the literature, I argue that Aquinas does not, and probably cannot, define the terms presence in a place and local motion with sufficient u…Read more
Thomistic transubstantiation attempts to explain how Jesus’ body and blood come to be present on the altar after the Sacramental bread and wine are consecrated. Although Aquinas’s argument for this theory is stronger than his critics give him credit for, the argument ultimately fails. Examining two of Aquinas’s premises that have gone relatively unnoticed in the literature, I argue that Aquinas does not, and probably cannot, define the terms presence in a place and local motion with sufficient univocity to preserve the integrity of his argument. I then present the Lutheran view of Sacramental presence, which avoids the difficulties that face the Thomistic view.

Noah Hahn