[dollars_for_dogma]

I should have been more specific....how does a bible Christian interpret John 6:53-57?

v53 "...Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

v54 "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

v55 "For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed."

v56 "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.

v57 "As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me."

(These verses were skipped over in your explanation)

[ScubieNuc]

Verses 53-57 don't exist in a vacuum. They must be examined by what comes before and after it. Plus what do the other Gospels say about it, and how do other Scriptures talk about it. I addressed all of that.

Jhn 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

Jhn 6:48 I am that bread of life.

Jhn 6:49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.

Jhn 6:50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.

Jhn 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

Jhn 6:52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us [his] flesh to eat?

Jhn 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

Jhn 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

Jhn 6:55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

Jhn 6:56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

Jhn 6:57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

Jhn 6:58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

Verse 47 says (like alot of John) that belief in Jesus gives you everlasting life. Then in verse 58 Jesus reiterates that by one "eating of" Jesus, which is not the same as the eating of manna, one shall live forever.

Only if you wish to analyze these verses in a vacuum can you possibly come to the idea that Jesus is instituting cannibalism. That would violate these scriptures....

"But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat." Genesis 9:4

"... No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood." Leviticus 17:12

You choose to put your faith in the teachings of the Catholic Church, while I put my faith in the teachings of the Bible.

Sincerely