Representation

Abstract

Chapter 6 presents the motif of representation: the idea that the eucharistic bread and wine are symbols (or signs, figures, antitypes, etc.) of the body and blood of Christ. Using a definition of symbol as a blend involving a “material anchor” (Edwin Hutchins), the author argues that “The bread is the symbol of the body of Christ” is not, as some Swiss Reformers believed, a literal equivalent for the figurative “The bread is the body of Christ.” Rather, it is a prompt for a more complex (“Y-squared”) blending network. In this blend a vital relation of Representation is created between bread and the body of Christ. The Representation relation can coexist with Identity, Change, and other vital relations. Thus, the identity and representation motifs are not mutually exclusive but complementary.