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To: imardmd1

If the Eucharist is what Eastern Orthodox say it is, is it then spiritual or physical or both?


315 posted on 04/15/2017 7:50:59 AM PDT by vladimir998 (Apparently I'm still living in your head rent free. At least now it isn't empty.)
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To: vladimir998
If the Eucharist is what Eastern Orthodox say it is, is it then spiritual or physical or both?

I don't really know what the Eastern Orthodoxen say that the elements of the Remembrance Supper are, or what the ordained partaking of them represents.

I don't think that the common doctrine of that group determines what the significance of the ordinance is. Rather, the significance is defined by the Word of God, and ought to determine the doctrine of any assembly of professing believers concerning the breaking of bread together in remembrance of the love and obedience of Christ, themselves imitating the role of the original partakers.

What is physical and what is spiritual is obvious in the Scripture passages describing the event and its later rehearsals. Like a staged play, the tokens of His Body and Blood can be compared to stage props, without which the scenario cannot proceed. A single bread-loaf and the blood of the cluster (and a cup or cups into which the whole is apportioned) are indubitably physical in nature, as are the participants and the private place of assembly.

It is the acting out of the breaking of the bread-loaf and the sharing of the wine by Spirit-born believers under the supervision of the very real presence of the Holy Ghost representing the Master and drawing attention to Him, with a sober attitude and unity of purpose, that is spiritual.

319 posted on 04/15/2017 10:28:11 AM PDT by imardmd1 (Fiat Lux)
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