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To: Steve_Seattle

All I am saying is that the teaching of the “sacrifice of the Mass” really muddies the waters...

...thanks for the input, Martin Luther...

This suggests that it is one of those theological accretions common in religion and PERHAPS straying somewhat from the simplicity and concreteness of the original belief...

...ah yes, those darn ‘theological accretions’ again...how dare they get in the way of our being nothing more than 1st century Galilean peasant...


36 posted on 08/05/2013 11:46:04 AM PDT by IrishBrigade
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To: IrishBrigade
"...ah yes, those darn ‘theological accretions’ again...how dare they get in the way of our being nothing more than 1st century Galilean peasant..."

That is what most of Jesus's early followers were. As for the Eucharist, here is an early Eucharistic prayer from The Didache:

First, concerning the cup: We give you thanks, our Father, for the holy vine of your servant David, which you revealed to us through your servant Jesus. To you is the glory forever.

And concerning the broken loaf: We give you thanks, our Father, for the life and knowledge which you revealed to us through your servant Jesus. To you is the glory forever. Just as the broken loaf was scattered over the hills as grain, and having been gathered together, became one; in like manner may your church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom. Because yours is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ forever."

That is believed to be from an early Jewish-Christian community, circa 90-120 AD, and not a Gnostic sect. It predates Martin Luther by well over a millennia, yet has a simplicity and transparency I find appealing. There is no mention of body and blood, re-enactment of sacrifices, transubstantiation, or any of the complex rationalizing that is offered in support of the Mass. (By the way, I am not "anti-Mass" - I do not think it is an idolatrous, evil, or crazy thing, as many Protestants and skeptics do. But I do believe the theology behind it is very complex and that it is only one option among many for the form of Christian worship.)
42 posted on 08/05/2013 12:18:56 PM PDT by Steve_Seattle
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