virtualistn.
/ˈvəːtʃʊəlɪst/, /ˈvəːtʃᵿlɪst/, /ˈvəːtʃl̩ɪst/, /ˈvəːtjʊəlɪst/, /ˈvəːtjᵿlɪst/, U.S. /ˈvərtʃ(əw)ələst/ Theology.
A believer in the doctrine of virtualism (virtualism n. 2).
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > sacrament > communion > eucharistic doctrines > presence of Christ in communion > [noun] > virtual > person holding
virtualist1867
1867 G. F. Cobb Kiss of Peace ii. i. 71 Those who, like the Virtualist, maintain that it is merely a Presence in ‘effect’, and not ‘in fact’.
1897 Month Sept. 331 The attempt to prove that St. Thomas was a Virtualist.
1908 Sat. Rev. 12 Sept. 322/2 Our countrymen..knowing their Church Catechism, are neither Zwinglians nor Virtualists.
1987 Texas Stud. Lit. & Lang. 29 96 The virtualists could still believe in the healing power of Christ's actual body and blood but could avoid the controversial issue of transformation of the eucharistic elements to body and blood.
1993 C. J. Cocksworth Evangelical Eucharistic Thought in Church of Eng. 230 Nevertheless, it would be wrong to label Calvin as a virtualist.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1867