tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999044146888823867.post3379069083747325895..comments2023-10-30T08:00:43.585-05:00Comments on Shameless Popery: Can Christ's Glorified Body be in Locked Rooms and in the Eucharist?Joe Heschmeyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06998682878420098470noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999044146888823867.post-67886635733112877562011-05-05T09:44:27.917-05:002011-05-05T09:44:27.917-05:00Andrew,
Good question. Given that Paul describes ...Andrew,<br /><br />Good question. Given that Paul describes Christ as our Sacrificed Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7) and refers to the Eucharistic Wine as the "Cup of Blessing" (1 Cor. 10:16), the parallel between the Eucharist and the Passover was obvious to the earliest Christians. And given that Jesus directly referred to the Last Supper as a Passover meal (Luke 22:15), there's no serious question that the first Eucharist used unleavened Bread. And of course, Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 5:8, "Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with <b>the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.</b>" (See also Galatians 5:7-9). So the West looks at these verses which affirm that the Eucharist is the New Passover, and that we're to flee from the old leaven of sin to the unleavened bread of Truth.<br /><br />The East, in contrast, looks to passages like Lk 13:20-21, in which Jesus says, "Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." So the East (both Catholic and Orthodox) use leaven in their bread as a symbol of (a) our freedom from the Law, (b) Christ's Resurrection, and (c) the Church. The West's is more faithful to the what the Last Supper was actually like, but the East's is theologically rich, and proclaims the Resurrection. Christ has risen, just like the leaven.<br /><br />If I had to choose one, I'd go with the West: Christ said "Do this," so it's probably best to stick to what He did. But frankly, both practices are sound. We're intending to emphasize different things but our messages complement, rather than contradict, the other's. Finally, both the East and West give a nod towards the Resurrection in another Eucharistic practice: placing a bit (or in the case of the East, a lot) of the Eucharistic Bread into the Chalice. Christ's Body and Blood are presented as distinct to remind us of the Cross, in which His Blood flowed from His Body for our redemption. By placing the Bread into the Wine, we acknowledge that He is no longer dead, but risen, and His Body is restored and even glorified.<br /><br />JoeJoe Heschmeyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06998682878420098470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999044146888823867.post-33620984498690054752011-05-05T06:32:49.917-05:002011-05-05T06:32:49.917-05:00"Leavened bread, of the sort Jews usually ate..."Leavened bread, of the sort Jews usually ate, is torn: it's only unleavened bread which is broken."<br /><br />Is this a response to Eastern Catholicism\Orthodoxy? I didn't think you intended it, but it can be taken that way.<br /><br />The theological undertones of leavened vs unleavened is an interesting discussion. It has been debated (a vague statement for a short post), that unleavened bread did not appear in the West (Latin church) until the 6th century, and when it did so, it did with obvious theological intentions that that of the (Oriental Orthodox) Armenian Church's unleavened practice.<br /><br />Anyways, trying to keep the "comment" concise, what is your consideration when viewing the differences in Latin and Greek Eucharist? It could be a good separate post/discussion.Andrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09806970660707449917noreply@blogger.com