Why do Christians argue that it's not really the body & blood of Jesus they're eating...?

Question

... and drinking at communion - when historically the pagan rite it came from is based on eating the actual flesh of a slaughtered animal?

In ancient Greece religion, a bull was sacrificed in front of the temple and was eaten afterwards, as a communion meal. If you didn't eat the flesh, there was no communion.

And so Jesus being the sacrifical lamb - for the rite to work, you'd have to actually eat the flesh of the sacrifice, not 'symbolically' as many modern Christians make out, but his actual flesh.

This was the early Christian interpretation until changed sometime later by the Catholic Church. Who no doubt, felt uncomfortable with the close association to cannibalism.

Answer 1

When Jesus introduced the new covenant on the night before he died, he had not yet shed his blood. No sacrifice had taken place when he told his followers to remember him when they ate the bread and drank the wine. The disciples ate bread and drank wine.



Transubstantiation is denounced by Christians of the Protestant persuasion. The Scriptures declare that the Lord's Supper is a memorial to the body and blood of Christ (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25), not the actual consumption of His physical body and blood. When Jesus was speaking in John chapter 6, Jesus had not yet had the Last Supper with His disciples, in which He instituted the Lord’s Supper. To read the Lord’s Supper / Christian Communion back into John chapter 6 is unwarranted. For a more complete discussion of these issues, please read our article on the Holy Eucharist.



The most serious reason transubstantiation should be rejected is that it is viewed by the Roman Catholic Church as a "re-sacrifice" of Jesus Christ for our sins, or as a “re-offering / re-presentation” of His sacrifice. This is directly in contradiction to what Scripture says, that Jesus died "once for all" and does not need to be sacrificed again (Hebrews 10:10; 1 Peter 3:18). Hebrews 7:27 declares, "Unlike the other high priests, He (Jesus) does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins ONCE for all when He offered Himself."



LM

Answer 2

There are two problems with this question.

First it is only most of the protestants who state communion is symbolic- the Catholics did change quite a few things but they never changed their view on Communion being the body and blood of Christ which is the view the Orthodox have as well as the Lutherans and modern Anglicans.

The only difference between the Orthodox view from the Lutheran or Modern Catholic view

is the Orthodox church just says it is so and Catholics and Lutherans have terms like consubstantiation and transubstantiation to argue how it is so.

Second the Jews ate the lambs they sacrificed in the temple so what the Greeks and Romans did was irrelevant.

Answer 3

You are making the common error that similarity equals descended from. In this case there is little similarity and certainly no evidence except one's imagination and perhaps prejudice that the two are related in any way.



Jesus personally commanded that we receive His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist. Early Christians were pejoratively accused of cannibalism but the Eucharist is very different than cannibalism. We see in John 6 that the proto-Protestants left Jesus never to follow Him again because He commanded that we eat His flesh and drink His Blood to abide in Him and He in us. Here is my commentary on John 6 where Jesus made this commandment:



http://fiatvolvntastua.blogspot.com/2009/06/commentary-on-john-6-regarding.html



The practice of the Eucharist has not changed in the Church since the first century.



Here is a collection of my writings and discussions about the Eucharist:



http://fiatvolvntastua.blogspot.com/search/label/Eucharist%20and%20the%20Mass



God bless!



In Christ

Fr. Joseph

Answer 4

Catholic, Orthodox, and many other Christians believe that it is the real Body and Blood of Jesus Christ that we receive in the Eucharist. This is more than three quarters of all Christians in the world.



With love in Christ.

Answer 5

"Who no doubt, felt uncomfortable with the close association to cannibalism"



As the person before me already mentioned, the Catholics believe in transubstantiation so that statement isn't true

Answer 6

Actually, many Christians - Catholics and Lutherans, for example - DO believe they are actually eating Christ's flesh during communion. At least, that's the official church position.

Answer 7

Because it's f*cking wine and crackers, not actual blood and flesh. If you think that f*cking wine and crackers is actual blood and flesh just because a long, long time ago people used to consume actual blood and flesh, then you have some serious issues. When you go to a Civil War reenactment, does someone need to point out to you that you didn't literally travel back in time to the Civil War?

Answer 8

Only the Protestant denominations believe that

The True Church aka the Eastern Orthodox Church believes that it really IS the body & blood of Jesus they're eating..

Answer 9

Probably because they aren't 'really' eating flesh and drinking blood. The "flesh" is 'really' made of flour and the "blood" is 'really' made of grape juice or wine.







Edit: Wow, I'm an atheist, and even I find these types of questions beyond stupid & completely ignorant.

Answer 10

Show anywhere documented proof people at Christ's time or today eat Christ's actual flesh and drink His actual blood, of course it is symbolic meant as a way to be bonded with Christ. At the last supper he gave them bread and wine and told them it was bread to symbolize his flesh and wine to symbolize his blood, there was no cannibalism then, nor in ensuing years nor today, get real.

Answer 11

Because they are eating bread and drinking wine. Most children understand the distinction between foodstuffs before they learn to talk.

Answer 12

And Catholics argue it's literally the flesh and blood of Jesus through the magic of transsubstantiation. So which is it? Christians can't seem to come to an agreement even among themselves.

Answer 13

dude, chill out. Its bread and grape juice. And we aren't doing a pagan rite, we are doing communion.

Answer 14

You got to love the pagans.



If they ever invent time travel - do not tell the locals you find you are a GOD.



Ancient pagans believed if you ATE the god you could gain his powers.



Christianity got bumped on this one, when rome was maxing out their religion they welded it in - so the eating of the wafers and drinking of the wine is really just so the pagans wouldn't reject the religion. (seriously you cant get god like powers through cannibalism, its not even legal in any of the states today.)

Answer 15

Because they don't want to get AIDS.

Answer 16

it should be remember Spiritually and not literal just as Jesus ordained