The "Non-Literal Language" Argument for Transubstantiation

One of the worst arguments for transubstantiation is the argument promoted by certain Roman Catholic apologists that because Jesus uses an allegedly vivid Greek verb (τρώγω, trogo) to describe eating his flesh in John 6, that this must be taken literally and cannot be understood figuratively or metaphorically.

It is true that Jesus uses the verb trogo four times in John 6:54-58.  It's also true that the word may have originally meant (in Classical Greek, hundreds of years before the New Testament was written and when applied to animals) a particular kind of chewing of food (i.e., to "gnaw" or the like).  

However, the word trogo came to mean just "eat."  Thus, the modern Greek term for "I eat" is τρώω, which is derived directly from τρώγω (see here for example).  The idea that trogo is some kind of special and unique vocabulary is just fantasy.

That's why the Liddel, Scott, Jones Lexicon (link to LSJ Lexicon entry) just says that when this verb refers to humans, it means "to eat," without requiring any connotation of a specific kind of chewing or the like.  That's why most English translations of the vss. 6:54-58 simply translate the verb by "eat," "feed," "consume," or the like, without any conveying anything more vivid as to the manner of chewing.

 

(source)

The image above is from an 1882 (8th) edition of the Liddel-Scott Lexicon.   The LSJ Lexicon has come to include more data (as can be seen at the link above) and includes the line: "Com. metaph., “γνώμας τ. Πανδελετείους” Ar.Nu.924 (anap.)"

What does this refer to?  It refers to Aristophanes, Clouds, line 924.  The relevant section is this:

Δίκαιος Λόγος

σὺ δέ γ᾽ εὖ πράττεις.

καίτοι πρότερόν γ᾽ ἐπτώχευες,

Τήλεφος εἶναι Μυσὸς φάσκων,

ἐκ πηριδίου

γνώμας τρώγων Πανδελετείους.

Which means:

Just Argument: [One of two speakers in Aristophanes' dialog, the other being "Unjust Argument"]

“But you are doing well—

although formerly you were poor,

claiming to be Telephus the Mysian,

gnawing, from a little pouch,

at the maxims of Pandeletus.”

Alternative translation (from here)

JUST DISCOURSE

And you, you prosper. Yet you were poor when you said, "I am the Mysian Telephus," and used to stuff your wallet with maxims of Pandeletus to nibble at.

Another Alternative translation (from here)

Just And you are prosperous. And yet formerly you were a beggar saying that you were the Mysian Telephus, and gnawing the maxims of Pandeletus out of your little wallet.

Notice how Aristophanes (450 B.C. to 388 B.C.), writing hundreds of years before the New Testament, uses the word vividly, but still uses it metaphorically.  

However, by the time of Christ, the Greek language had shifted.  The word trogo could simply be used to refer to people eating, which is exactly how it is used in John 6.  Like any other word for eating, the word can be used figuratively or metaphorically.  In fact, of course, this is simply the nature of language, that words with a literal meaning can be used figuratively or metaphorically, even if they are extremely vivid.  To take an example, "sarcasm" comes from the idea of stripping off flesh (link to etymology) like wild dogs do.

Ultimately, while this Roman Catholic argument has glimmers of truth in it, it's riddled with flaws from beginning to end, and it cannot support a Roman Catholic argument for transubstiation.  There is no special vocabulary that guarantees a given word is to be taken literally rather than figuratively.  Instead, it is the context that governs.  In the case of John 6, the relevant context includes these clues:

John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

John 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

With these clues, we can discern whether Jesus meant the word trogo figuratively or literally, and we can conclude that the "eating his flesh" he has in mind in this text is believing on Him for everlasting life.