Posted on 12/27/2008 2:48:02 PM PST by NYer
Q. Why can’t Protestants receive communion at the Catholic Church?
A. To protect them from Judgment.
1 Corinthians 11: 27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be
guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
Since, Protestants do not believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist as we do, they do not discern or recognize that Jesus’ body is present under the appearance of bread and wine. We would be allowing them to eat and drink judgment upon themselves. The prohibtion is actually very charitable but, unfortunately, it is usually seen as a rejection.
Evidence of this interpretation of this passage is supported by St. Justin the Martyr :
“We call this food Eucharist; and no one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teaching to be true…”
-Justin Martyr -FIRST APOLOGY, 66,20–(150 A.D.)
Q. Why do we call the bread “The Host”?
A. Our use of this term, to refer to the consecrated bread, comes from the Latin word hostia, which means ‘victim’. We believe that Jesus Christ is really present in the consecrated bread and wine on our altars. The mass is a re-presentation of the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross. Therefore, Jesus is the victim of sacrifice and we call the bread the host/victim to help us remember that it is no longer bread but the Real Presence of our Lord Jesus Christ given to us to strengthen and keep us on the journey to Heaven.
Verse 29 use the word diakrinoon which means to discern to be reflective it does not mean as you have tried to twist into recognize that the bread and the wine is the body and blood of Christ.
You wouldn't mean like the discord being sown on this very thread, would you?? :~/ In the past, I've only lurked on this type thread. I don't think I'll visit these threads to attempt to have civil conversation anymore. They always seem to get ugly and turn into a brouhaha. Differences of opinion and experience are taken as lies, etc. Our real differences are with non-Christians, are they not?
This must be that Free Republic "Catholic Bashing" I hear so much about.
No, not in London, Everett, Washington. One of my daughters was stationed there, so half my heart was there for a while! :~) My other twin daughter is stationed here in Everett, hence the name “London-Everett”.
Ummm, the verses having to do with sin and Satan have been excised out, I hate to say. A lot of times, I go to my Douhay-Rheims to see the difference in the translation and there's little tidbits surgically missing.
However, you mentioned that you attend a Baptist church, and without any "bashing" I can simply say that I view the traditional Baptist version of "communion" to be a relatively meaningless ritual. By their own admission, they're just drinking grape juice and chewing on bread, and advising members to think about Jesus' death when they do it. As I noted in another thread, that is about as useful as having a Hindu thinking about Jesus while eating bread and juice. It has nothing to do with the ceremony Jesus instituted in the New Testament, and is certainly NOT "following the Bible and Jesus' word" (despite how Baptists claim to hold "The Bible" in greater reverence than Catholics, they conveniently ignore what Jesus actually SAID at the last supper) and by itself, it will do nothing to bring you closer to Jesus. And since it indeed is only "symbolic" to Baptists, that's why everyone is invited to participate. An atheist could show up for the ritual too and chew on some bread while thinking about how Jesus died.
If I've mistaken and this is not the Baptist belief, please feel free to correct me.
That’s Beautiful.(((((((Hugs))))))))Fatima
Just a minor correction. We (Baptists), during the moments before and during communion, meditate on Christ's death on the cross, the enormity of the sacrifice it represents, and how undeserving we truly are except for God's grace.
Well, prior to Pope Pius X in 1908 (I think?) you had to be confirmed prior to first communion. He’s the one who changed it. Why? Was it in error the first 1900 years of the Church?
I know you have to have gone to confession prior to communion - that’s drilled into you as a Catholic from the time you can walk. But the fundamental order of the catechism has changed, such that now you can have first communion when you feel it is appropriate, and 100 years ago it was different.
I was speaking only to the issue of the sacrament/ordinance of communion/last supper. Although, on reflection, they both go for dunking.
We (Catholics) do the same thing many times during the year, whether or not we're in a church building eating bread. In esssence, I had the exact same experience sitting at home viewing "The Passion of the Christ", and I didn't need to go to a church and have "The Lord's Supper" to do it.
So from a Catholic POV, since I contemplate all that without "symbolic" bread and grape juice, to attend your ritual would be meaningless.
And without any bashing I can honestly state that I believe that confession and the concept of transubstantiation are not Biblical.
My pastor gave a very interesting sermon on Jesus' last supper and the communion articles (the bread and wine).
He gave an in depth explanation concerning the spiritual aspect of communion.
So, if you were to test your cup, what blood type do you believe the wine transsubtantiate into? AB POS? O NEG?
As I said, at this time in history. I don’t know why it was changed. My historical focus has been in other points of Church history, but I have my arguments that we Confirm too early now. Even the age restriction on marriage has changed.
It is nice to pray and commit to prayer.I respect prayer and join hands in all faiths in prayer.I don’t post these words but live them in our community hand out in thrift.
By their own admission??? You know nothing...
The congregants are instructed by the pastor to turn to the appropiate scripture in their bibles...The scripture is then read that comfirms that the breaking of bread represents the broken body of Jesus on the Cross who died for our salvation...
The Pastor as well as the scriptures then instruct the people to 'examine yourselves' prior to communion...Do not partake of communion without examining yourself and coming clean before God...Examine your heart, be certain you have accepted Jesus as your Saviour. And THEN, partake of communion...
You can make a good case that the whole written Catholic doctrines of "transubstantiation" and "confession" are not found in the bible. "Transubstantiation" is particular is a very lengthy piece specifically authorized by Catholic councils after spending monthes trying to explain phyiscally what exactly happens during communion.
I can also make an excellence case that "drinking grape juice as a symbol of Jesus' sacrifice" is ENTIRELY unbiblical. If Jesus wanted to do that, he would have said so. Nowhere in the bible does Jesus tell his disciples "A few times a year, drink some grape juice as a symbol of my love and sacrifice to you". He makes it very clear exactly what he believes (much to the horror of the apostles who are freaked out by the whole idea) and confirms that is indeed what he meant.
I, for one, cannot understand how Baptists can argue that their church follows the exactly WORD in the bible strictly, and that Catholics don't, but when it comes to the last supper, the Catholic church is the one following exactly what the bible says and the Baptists are the ones going "no no no, ignore what Jesus actually says here, this is all symbolism"
By following the teachings of the bible, there can be no doubt that wine and bread literally BECOME the body and blood of Jesus. Many, many Christian churches teach that, certainly not just Catholics. HOW bread and wine become the body and blood of Jesus is a mystery. The Catholic church says it happens by "transubstantiation". Others disagree and say it happens by other means.
But those churches who accept Jesus is LITERALLY present inside us at communion are following the BIBICAL version of events.
Thanks. Your first verse is the one I always think of in Corinthians.
I was Protestant my whole life and very anti-Catholic until my wife and I were BOTH brought back to the True Faith.
There were many things that contributed to this but two of the main things were history and the history of the Bible.
I used to like to go to church at FreeRepublic but this thread and many others like it often bring that verse to mind.
No striving for unity. No humility. Posters either puffing themselves up on how much they think they know or looking for any chink in the others armor to drive in the death blow.
Im left just shaking my head and saying a prayer.
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