The first great church council seen in Acts 15 addressed this pagan foolery directly, contrasting it with the Laws of Moses as seen in Leviticus. Lev 3:17 says to not consume the blood of the creature because the life of the creature is in the blood. The letter James authorized also said not to eat the food sacrificed to idols because that too was a pagan cannibalistic form of worship.
The letter from James to the newborns from above specified the very things to be avoided, yet Catholics have incorporated these very pagan practices as their Mass! This blasphemy is so blatant and yet the blind see it not because they have not the spiritual eyes to see nor the spiritual ears to hear The Truth of what The Word of God declares.
God's Spirit will not always strive with man/woman. He has a limit to His patience with those who insist on pagan idolatry.
No, once again you're saying stuff that isn't there, and falsely attributing it to St. James. St. James never used the word "cannibalism" or even alluded to the concept of "cannibalism."
But you're calling eating the meat of animals "cannibalism" if it has blood in it? That's your term, not St. James's.
Do you keep kosher?
Do you think Jesus' blood is unclean?
Hebrews 10:29
"How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?
"Unless you eat My Flesh and drink My Blood, you shall not have life within you." - John 6:53
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Tagline from Hebrews 10:29
There is no inherent paganism in the ‘worship methodology’. The paganism is in the object of worship. Pagans prayed to their gods also, but praying to the true God is not pagan just because it was a method used by the pagans.
When Jesus taught his ‘hard’ teachings, this was exactly his point. Things that were forbidden to do for false Gods were required to do for Him. By eating His flesh and drinking his blood we become part of Him, we receive some of His Graces. His is the only flesh and blood that is not forbidden, because He is the true God.
I understand that you do not believe in the real presence, but to say it is impossible because it is a mirror of pagan practices is false logic. Jesus himself went to temple, prayed, participated in holy days, processions...all things that were previously and currently used by pagans.
The real presence argument comes down to whether one believes that Jesus spoke literally or figuratively when he referred to eating his flesh and blood. We know that at least some of the people took Him literally, because some said this was ‘too hard’ and left Him. That Jesus would let people who believed in Him leave over a misunderstanding seems unlikely to me, but if you believe that is true, then at least that is an argument that is logical.
We also know that some people took Him literally and stayed, since this tradition was carried down and believed widely in the original Church long before and even after the schism. It also seems unlikely to me that Jesus would let people stay with Him who misunderstood Him on such a profound subject, but again, you might disagree.
My interpretation is that Jesus was speaking literally. The paganism argument is not a logical way of disputing this.
Love,
O2