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NASB | 1 Corinthians 11:29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Corinthians 11:29 For anyone who eats and drinks [without solemn reverence and heartfelt gratitude for the sacrifice of Christ], eats and drinks a judgment on himself if he does not recognize the body [of Christ]. |
Bible Question: You mention "recognizing the body of the Lord". This sounds like we should take note of the real presence of the Lord's body and blood. Also, you say that "examine himself" means to confess. In the broader context, isn't this scripture about heresy and idol worship? It seems to me that the purpose of this is to tell us we should NOT view the elements in any other way than as the true blood and body of Christ. If we do we eat and drink judgement on ourselves. |
Bible Answer: The widely held view among Protestants is that the elements of communion, the bread and the cup, are symbols of Christ's body and blood, thus the view that neither the Corinthian passagenor any other Scripture supports the literal-body view. The dogma known as transubstantation, endemic to Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox communions, teaches that the eucharistic elements at their consecration become the body and blood of Christ while keeping only the appearance of bread and wine. A strong argument for the Protestant point of view is given by Christ Himself at His institution of the Lord's Supper. The account recorded in Matthew 26:26-29 with parallel passages in the other two synopic gospels.Verse 26 reads as follows: "While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat, this is My body." He did the same thing with the cup, calling it His blood. The evidence is overwhelming that the disciples ate bread and drank the fruit of the vine. They did not physically partake of His body nor drink any of His blood. The view that virtually all Protestant faiths have taken for centuries is that this is symbolism and nothing else. A reading of the entire 1 Corinthian letter, by the way, may lead one to interpret this passage on the Lord's Supper in the light that some members of the Corinthian church were profaning the sanctity of the church by holding secular feasts and exhibiting behavior unbecoming to believers. Some New Testament scholars, by the way, see "body" in your reference as being the church, the body of Christ. Hank |