If you’re disagreeing with me, which I’m not clear about, it’s probably going to be too much for this forum.
Here I’ll just loosely say that I dont think Paul means that the “pneumatikon” body is somehow less than the the “psychikon” body. As you say the risen Christ is palpable and able to eat.
If you’re disagreeing with me, which I’m not clear about, it’s probably going to be too much for this forum. Here I’ll just loosely say that I dont think Paul means that the “pneumatikon” body is somehow less than the the “psychikon” body. As you say the risen Christ is palpable and able to eat.
Less? "palpable" A piece of non-existent bread that only behaves and tests as bread is certainly "less" than every palpable manifestation of Christ in Scripture. As said, Nowhere was Christ present as an inanimate object or like a phantom" and the Scripture emphasizes the manifest physicality of the true incarnated Christ in His body that was "broken" and His sinless blood poured out. Thus if taken literally, the "This" in "take, eat, this is my body" would mean that the bread actually manifestly became the physical bloody body of Christ, versus an inanimate object that requires metaphysical gymnastics to try to justify as being the body of Christ with its organs, etc.
In addition, as said, nowhere is literally physically eating anything material the mean of obtaining spiritual life (versus as a memorial), nor anywhere interpretive of John 6 (Acts thru Rev.) is the Lord's supper actually referred to as spiritual food versus the word of God which uniquely called "milk" and "meat" (1Co. 3:2; Heb. 5:13; 1Pt. 2:2) by which believers are "nourished" (1Tim. 4:6) and built up. (Acts 20:32)
And in the light of the many uses of metaphorical language in John, and in Scripture, including as regards eating and drinking, even to drinking water being plainly called "blood" and poured out unto the Lord since the men who obtained it risked their own lives in so doing, then only the metaphorical understanding easily easily conflates with Scripture.
And considering the importance Catholics ascribe to their Eucharist, “the medicine of immortality, the antidote for death, and the food that makes us live for ever in Jesus Christ," (CCC 1415) etc. this would surely see Paul listing this as a primary function of pastors and explaining this change as he does justification , but instead the body of Christ and its handling that Paul expounds on and cares for the handling is that of the spiritual body of Christ, the church, the "one bread" that the Lord bought by His sinless shed blood. The union of which with Christ and each other is what the "feast of Charity" (Jude 1:12) is supposed to manifest, thereby declaring His death which effected this, and showing that we remember this. (1 Cor. 10,11)