Is it too far the other way from being literal body and blood?
2007-07-08 04:06:59 · 8 answers · asked by ccrider 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
"The Lord's supper (communion) is a New Testament sacrament, wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine according to Christ's appointment, his death is showed forth; and the worthy receivers are, not after a corporal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of his body and blood, with all his benefits, to their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace."
Roman Catholicism teaches that the body and blood of Christ are present not only in heaven, but also in the bread and wine in a physical manner. This view is known as "transubstantiation."
Lutherans, rejecting Rome's identification of the bread and wine as the corporal body and blood of the Lord, teach that Christ is physically present "in, with, and under" the bread and wine. The Lutheran doctrine is commonly called "consubstantiation."
Neither of these can be found in the Bible. Christ does not come down to us in his body and blood. Instead, we are lifted up to him by the Holy Spirit. By taking the bread and wine in memory of His death, the very words of Jesus, "Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you," means that we are blessed by the Holy Spirit in our hearts when we take the supper in remembrance of Him. He is there spiritually by the Holy Spirit whom He sent to the church on Pentecost to take His place on earth while He lives and reigns in heaven.
2007-07-08 12:19:03 · answer #1 · answered by Steve 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Communion in the PROTESTANT denominations is only a symbol, because when the protestants broke away from the Catholic church, they were unable to take the God-given authority to administer the sacraments with them.
As a result, protestants must settle for a type of SPIRITUAL communion, which occurs whenever two or more are gathered together in the name of Jesus Christ.
In the protestant faith tradition, the matter (bread, crackers, juice, wine) used for communion is indeed only a symbol of what is (hopefully) a spiritual reality.
In the Catholic and Orthodox churches, bread and wine is transformed into the real and substantial body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit, through the actions of the priest, on the altar at Mass.
Once present on the altar, Jesus serves as High Priest and Mediator, where he approaches God the Father with the prayers and petitions of the whole church.
Moments later at communion time, Jesus personally provides his own risen body and blood, real and substantial, alive and glorious ... not symbolic ... along with all of God's grace and blessings, to be worthily received by the faithful.
Why wait until Judgment Day to meet Jesus, when you can personally receive him ... body, blood, soul, and divinity ... twice a day ... 24/7 & 365 ... at any Catholic church, anywhere in the world?
John 14:18-20 I will not leave you orphans: I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world seeth me no more. But you see me: because I live, and you shall live. In that day you shall know that I am in my Father: and you in me, and I in you.
2007-07-08 04:57:17 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Communion is a symbol. It is not a snack. Christ said"Do this in remembrance of me", The Wine, or grape juice as we use in our church is a symbol of the blood of Christ, shed to cleanse us of sin. The bread or cracker is a symbol of His Body broken for us on the cross. This is just a symbol. There is at least one body of believers, who believe that the wine actually becomes His blood and the bread, becomes His body. This is never implied in the Bible. When Christ gave the first communion at the Last Supper, the liquid was wine and th bread was bread. Nothing changed.
2007-07-08 04:15:43 · answer #3 · answered by loufedalis 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm wondering which Bible translation speaks of "dishonoring the Lord's table"? Is Christ's body a table now? Or a memory? I don't think even the KJV says that: 1 Cor. 11:27-29: Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. Edited to add: Consistency in interpretation seems to be lacking here ... which is precisely the point, isn't it? The mind boggles at the convolutions involved in freelance interpretation of Scripture.
2016-05-21 04:27:57 · answer #4 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I like the "snack" analogy. I never could convince myself it was literally body and blood. Actually, I think it's a commemoration of an event.
2007-07-08 04:11:13 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, those who say it is merely symbolic are being very disrespectful to Jesus and what He said. He said "This is my Body and this is my Blood". To state that the Eucharist is merely symbolic is making His words empty.
2007-07-08 04:34:35 · answer #6 · answered by Sldgman 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
NO NO NO!!! You truly have to believe that you are consuming his body and blood instead of flat bread and grape juice. Then you have to believe that this is not, in fact, cannibalism. THEN you justify it by being "symbolic of his sacrifice to us".
Then, go out and burn a witch, because we actually hold life sacred.
2007-07-08 04:11:08 · answer #7 · answered by mikalina 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
We have communion in the remembrance of what Jesus did on the cross.
2007-07-08 04:15:32 · answer #8 · answered by Nina, BaC 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋