Communion

[Guest]

Thomas,

You said:

Paul is obviosly talking about real flesh sacrifices that are being offered to idols. It seems to me more likely , especially in verse 21 , that he would be refering to actual flesh in both cases rather than mixing the actual with the metaphorical.

But the flesh sacrifices are not the idols, it is just meat. Isn't that the point Paul makes in 1 Cor. 8, that the meat offered to idols has meaning only to the extent that you attribute meaning to it in your heart? Likewise, the bread and wine?

Blessings, Homer

[Guest]

Hola Homer:

Yes I think that that is what Paul is talking about.

When he says "discerning the Lord’s body" he is saying that the partaker must discern the divine presence within the bread and wine.The pagans would have percieved a sacrifice as having obtained a sacred status , which of course it doesen't. For the Christian , the bread and wine do obtain a sacred status , they contain Christ. That is why he can compare them together in 1 Cor. 10. He is saying that a person can not have it both ways , that one is sacred and the other not.

I believe that Paul is saying that a believer must hold that Christ is contained within the bread and wine. In this manner communion becoms an action whereby we actualy bring the divine within us to become joined together with Christ in fact as well as faith. As a Lutheran I believe it is the actual body and blood of Christ. Personally I'm not concercerned whether others percieve this as being physical or purely spiritual as long as the perception of divinity is there.

Lutherans such as myself , still retain some of the mysticism that seems to have been lost in modern times. For example , in the service there is a joining together of Heaven and earth , that is , not only is Christ among us but we are also gathered before Him in Heaven.
For us , the central part and focus of the worship service is communion. It's certainly not the sermon since Lutheran pastors are , on the whole , the poorest preachers in Christiandom.(great teachers though). My church has communion at every service (about 60 times a year) most others at least twice a month.You can tell how catholic or protestant a Lutheran church is by the frequency of it's communion , but like I said I'm a reformed catholic type Lutheran.

That's also why , to an outsider , our services come across as grossly boring. They are. You just have to get into the meaning behind it all.

Thomas

[Guest]

I think he was simply saying every time you eat or drink, think of me and what I have done. as always there is no short way to convey this. But to eat ones flesh and drink ones blood meant to take in, believe what they are saying. It doesn't really make any sense that he abolished all the outward rituals and laws, then established another. We still use this figure of speech today 'soaking in' what someone is saying.


I am confused about what many churches call “Holy Communion.” Why is there so much discrepancy in how different churches do it? Some use bread, others use wafers; some use wine, others use grape juice; some do it daily, others do it weekly, yearly, etc. What does the Bible say about it?

What does the Bible say about “Holy Communion”?

http://www.truthortradition.com/modules ... le&sid=119