[Springfield Reformer]

I proved, -- in fact, it is obvious, -- that in this passage:

 the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And giving thanks, broke, and said: Take ye, and eat: this is my body, which shall be delivered for you: this do for the commemoration of me. In like manner also the chalice, after he had supped, saying: This chalice is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of me. For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord, until he come. Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord. Therefore are there many infirm and weak among you, and many sleep. (1 Cor. 11:23-30)

the "body" and "blood" refers to the consecrated Eucharist because they cite the words of Christ referring to his body and blood at the Last Supper. When Protestants deny that, they look comical and do no favor to their religion. now everyone can see that Protestant theories are not based on the Holy Scripture altogether, but rather on your notions what the Scripture should or should not be saying.

Well, no.  What you've got there falls well short of "proof" of real presence as understood by Aquinas/Trent. For one thing, you have extracted the section reciting the description of the Lord's Supper from its driving context.  We know for a fact what was bothering Paul.  It wasn't that they were not having a proper gnostic epiphany about the true substance of the paschal meal.  Or if they were, please point that out to me because I've had this section in my Bible for many years and never saw any such thing. Most likely because it isn't there.

Instead, what we know is that Paul was rattling their cages over their cold disregard for their brother Christians, pigging out and partying, when the whole purpose of that meal was to draw believers into a deeper relationship with Christ and each other by bringing to mind what Christ did for them on the cross.  Because that is where, if you're ever going to find it, you're going to find the grounds for love of people not like yourself.  We all who name Jesus Christ as our Savior are admitting, by definition, that we are utter failures in righteousness, that we have all had to come crawling, empty-handed, to the cross, the place of His death for us, to seek His forgiveness, reconciliation with the Father, and with our brother and sister Christians.

But when we come to the memory of that sacrifice, and fail to discern what we are doing by partaking of that meal, by being crude and unloving toward the very souls that came to Christ by the same humiliating journey, then we have forgotten who we really are, and have drifted from the message of the cross.  And that is the nail that Paul is driving home hard.  How can you come to this meal as some common pagan food party?  Do you not know of what this meal speaks?  Can you not discern that the body of Christ, though given up on that tree, is all around you right now, in the person of your fellow believers?  And that is why you are wounding Christ again, "guilty of the body and of the blood," when you come with such disregard and lack of love.  You ARE wounding His body, the very one you are supposedly honoring by this meal, by playing the hypocrite toward your brother.

Remember what Jesus said to Paul on the Road to Damascus? Paul, why are you persecuting Me?  What we do to each other as believers really matters.  We really are His body.  Whatever we do to each other we are doing to Him. We dare not take that lightly. And we dare not divert from the truths given to us concerning our love for each other, and exchange those truths for senseless, divisive debates about Aristotelian substance versus accidence.  The irony is absolutely overwhelming at times.

Just think about it.  The reason for the confusion that evolved later over the elements was Greek theurgy, not Biblical theology.  We don't make contact with divine reality through bits of sympathetic materiality.  That idea belongs to the pagans, and they can keep it. The true bridge to God is entirely spiritual, the way of faith in the Son of God. Can a person run the course of his whole life and miss the obvious because it is too easy? Absolutely.  But He is a God of mercy, in which case there is always cause for hope.

Peace,

SR

[aMorePerfectUnion]

“But when we come to the memory of that sacrifice, and fail to discern what we are doing by partaking of that meal, by being crude and unloving toward the very souls that came to Christ by the same humiliating journey, then we have forgotten who we really are, and have drifted from the message of the cross. “

Elegantly put and truthfully presented.

[af_vet_1981]

But when we come to the memory of that sacrifice, and fail to discern what we are doing by partaking of that meal, by being crude and unloving toward the very souls that came to Christ by the same humiliating journey, then we have forgotten who we really are, and have drifted from the message of the cross. And that is the nail that Paul is driving home hard. How can you come to this meal as some common pagan food party? Do you not know of what this meal speaks? Can you not discern that the body of Christ, though given up on that tree, is all around you right now, in the person of your fellow believers? And that is why you are wounding Christ again, "guilty of the body and of the blood," when you come with such disregard and lack of love. You ARE wounding His body, the very one you are supposedly honoring by this meal, by playing the hypocrite toward your brother.

What you wrote does not make sense to me for these reasons
1. The preceding part of the scroll, which a Catholic labeled the tenth chapter, is talking about the cup of blessing, which is the communion of the blood of Messiah, and the breaking of the bread, which is the communion of the body of Messiah in contrast to the Gentile feasts associated with idolatry and fornication (Corinth was notorious). Not only that, there is a clear reference to the altar of sacrifice with respect to the communion.
2. The Apostle to the Gentiles clearly indicates in the next chapter that there are divisions, as in heresies, among the church at Corinth and focuses on the Lord's Supper and the manner in which they are doing it. He reminds then of what he already taught them in person, orally, not in writing. He must have shown them how to do it correctly. How does your assembly do it ? How often ?
3. Your explanation about discerning the Lord's body in poorer brethren, though well intentioned, does not fit. One who sins in unworthy communion is also guilty of the blood of the Lord, as well as the body. Surely you don't mean to imply the local church is the blood of Christ, or do you ?

[annalex]

You ARE wounding His body, the very one you are supposedly honoring by this meal, by playing the hypocrite toward your brother.

Yes, I agree that this is the overall sense of the chapter. But please realize that the body the Corinthians were eating unworthily could not be their own bodies as assembly of believers. The focus in the outlines passage is the literal body of Christ present at their meal.

That the Catholic Church is the Mystical Body of Christ I don't dispute. But the passage in 1 Cor. 11 speaks not of that but of the personal, physical, literal body and blood of Christ, for reasons indicated. Anything else is another attempt to fast-forward through the parts of the Holy Scripture that destroys Protestant theological fantasies.

[daniel1212]

And that is why you are wounding Christ again, "guilty of the body and of the blood," when you come with such disregard and lack of love. You ARE wounding His body, the very one you are supposedly honoring by this meal, by playing the hypocrite toward your brother.

Indeed, for as Paul elsewhere stated,

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. (Acts 20:28)

Paul, who was charged with persecuting Christ because he was persecuting the church, "For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones," (Ephesians 5:30) is very conscious of the identification of Christ with the church, "which is His body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." (Ephesians 1:23)

And as the Corinthians were sppsd to be coming together to declare the Lord's death for them all, and their union with this sacrificial Lamb, by this unselfish communal sharing described in 1Cor. 11:17-34 , thus Paul says they were actually were not doing do due to then going ahead and eating independently and selfishly, shaming them that have not.

Some were thus bloated, and others for whom Christ shed His sinless blood, were hungry, being treated as if they were not part of the body of Christ who were "bought with a price," as Paul also elsewhere says.

Thus there were acting contrary to the very unselfish sacrificial act of Christ and their union with Him which they were sppsd to be showing, and thus were effectually not.

And thus they were guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, as He died for those whom they effectively despised and did not recognize as being part of that body.

Likewise David called the water which was obtained at the risk of the blood of his mighty men as being blood. (2 Samuel 23:15-17)

And we are given the warning of impenitently sinning willfully after having received the knowledge of the truth,

Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:29)

As said, even the NAB notes get this "discerning the Lord;s body right, apart from it being a sacrifice for sins:

Examine himself: the Greek word is similar to that for “approved” in 1 Cor 11:19, which means “having been tested and found true.” The self-testing required for proper eating involves discerning the body (1 Cor 11:29), which, from the context, must mean understanding the sense of Jesus’ death (1 Cor 11:26), perceiving the imperative to unity that follows from the fact that Jesus gives himself to all and requires us to repeat his sacrifice in the same spirit. - http://www.usccb.org/bible/1cor/11:28#54011028-1

But all Caths typical evidence they see is "this is My body" as teaching a basically literal (fully would mean actual vs. trans...) nature of the body and blood, and thus so focus on the wafer that they could just as well "take communion" (not take part in it) independently of others. And being thus conditioned some even rush out after they have done so. Yet many Prot. churches are not much better, missing the communal union with Christ and each other.