St. Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of the Apostle John, called the Eucharist the “medicine of immortality” (A.D. 110, Letter to the Ephesians 20:2). Concerning “those who hold heretical opinions,” he wrote, “note how contrary they are to the mind of God. … They abstain from the Eucharist and prayer, because they refuse to acknowledge that the Eucharist is the Flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins and which the Father by His goodness raised up” (A.D. 110, Letter to the Smyrneans 6:2-7:1).
St. Cyril of Jerusalem expressed the Eucharistic faith of the early Church in his catechetical lectures: “Therefore, when He has spoken and says about the bread, ‘This is My Body,’ who will have the nerve to doubt any longer? And, when He affirms clearly, ‘This is My Blood,’ who will then doubt, saying that it is not His Blood? Once, by His own will, He changed water into wine at Cana in Galilee; is He not worthy of belief when He changes wine into blood? ... Do not judge the reality by taste but, having full assurance from faith, realize that you have been judged worthy of the Body and Blood of Christ. … Having learned these things, you have complete certitude that the visible bread is not bread, even if it is such to the taste, but the Body of Christ; and the visible wine is not wine, even if taste thinks it such, but the Blood of Christ” (A.D. 350, Mystagogic Catechesis 4:1,2,6,9).
Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My Flesh is real food and My Blood is real drink. Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood remains in Me, and I in him” (John 6:53-56).
The early Christians knew that the Lord was not speaking of a mere symbol.
Ping!
The point about Orthodox moral positions was interesting. I am not sure, but I think the Orthodox churches in the US may differ from their European counterparts in some of these areas. One of the problems was that the US Orthodox churches, wishing to distance themselves from the Catholic Church, fell into the Protestant ambit and I think were rather influenced by it. There were Orthodox churches in the NCC, for example, and a lot of Orthodox felt very comfortable with the Episcopalians. I think this may have changed now that the Episcopalians have so clearly gone off the rails, but in other areas (contraception, divorce, etc.) the Orthodox are probably still close to the Protestants, although I think they uniformly reject abortion.
One thing to bear in mind, however, as the author points out, is that even up to the early part of the 20th century, the Protestant churches had pretty much the same policy as the Catholic Church on moral issues. But once the change came, it was a landslide.
This should be an interesting thread.
1 John 2:19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
Can you offer a timeline for when this article was written?
I am wondering if this artcile is 4-5 years old.
In general conversation Protestants don't sit around and describe themselves as Protestants. We will describe ourselves as Presbyterians, Methodists, etc.
Every church teaches something different. Every pastor interprets the Bible according to his own personal beliefs.
EVERY? She has been to EVERY "Protestant" church???
Sorry. I can't read past these silly generalizations.
IMHO, I don't perceive the article is written by believers seeking to remain in fellowship with God through faith in Christ more than they simply are seeking religious fulfilment of a social institution which offers scarcity of moral dilemmas in a worldly environment.
The answer is much simpler. Simple faith in God thrugh faith in Christ, allowing God's grace to do all the work and remaining obedient to Him in all things, with all our mind, soul and strength and heart, and loving our fellow man as ourselves. Let God the Holy Spirit perform all the work in our thinking regarding our learning in Scripture and stop dwelling on manmade arguments.
Perhaps in His plan they were simply meant to wander between denominations blythely absorbing only tidbits of Scripture and His will so that they might be at the right place at the right time in the future. Then again, maybe they've been chasing after something they seek from their own intent rather than simply resting in faith in Him through Christ, resulting in a merry-go-round worldly life with ups and downs of periodic spirituality.
I rejoice, though, that His providence has prepared places for them in their journey.
The weakening of faith and the collapse of moral values were equally disheartening. Many mainline churches, once stalwart in defense of orthodox Christian doctrine, now watered down fundamental beliefs such as the inerrancy of Scripture, the Virgin Birth, the Bodily Resurrection, and even the Divinity of Christ.
Catholicism is among the most liberal of all the churches and has certainly watered down many "fundamental beliefs," especially "the inerrancy of Scripture." Even well-known "conservative" Catholic apologists like Fr. Peter Stravinskas and Keating reject the total inerrancy of scripture. How in the world can anyone not know this? Am I the only person who has noticed this?
What is wrong with people?
**With that decision made, there was nothing left to stand in my way. On April 22, 2000, at the Easter Vigil – with Kerry’s blessing and my friend Mary as my sponsor – I was welcomed into the arms of Holy Mother Church, and I received the Body and Blood of the Lord in Holy Communion.**
**On June 10th, the eve of Pentecost, in a private Mass at St. Mary’s by the Sea, Kerry was received into the Church, and we shared the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion together for the first time.**
A very moving conversion story for this husband and wife! Thanks, stfassisi!
Gal 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
enmity, from echthra (from the word echthros): hated, odious, hateful, hostile, hating, and opposing another
strife, from eris: contention, strife, wrangling
jealousy, zelos: an envious and contentious rivalry, jealousy
anger, from thumos: passion, angry, heat, anger forthwith boiling up and soon subsiding again
selfishness, from eritheia: partisanship, fractiousness
dissension, from dichostasia: dissension, division
party spirit, from hairesis: dissensions arising from diversity of opinions and aims
envy, from phthonos: envy (from phtheiro, to corrupt, to destroy)
It sounds just like some of the folks around here. If the shoe fits...
The author makes the claim that she couldn't find some of the things Protestants were teaching in the Bible. I wonder where she finds the Assumption of Mary in scripture?
Self ping