Lord's Supper & eating of the unworthy,impious, or unbeliever

A_JAY

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I came from a non-Lutheran background so my evangeical background would not assume a Real Prescence in the Lord's Supper. (I am attending a Lutheran Church with Open Communion)

"Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. " 1 Corinthians 11:27-29

We felt this was significant and self-examination was encouraged. If we felt that if we might eat and drink unworthily then sometimes people might not partake in Communion until the believer sought forgiveness. Probably was a rare occurrence! I did , however, think that communion was more than something symbolic. Or else why the admonition to eat and drink unworthily?

That was presented to give some context to my question below.

In Lutheran churches, what is the effect of an unworthy believer (or non-believer who manages to take communion) taking communion?

This is not a request for debate.

Thank you.
 
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HereIStand

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My sense is that the partaking in "an unworthy manner" pertains to a lack of reverence, instead of a failure to recognize the real presence. A person's theological understanding of communion does not prevent him from receiving the blessings therein.
 
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A_JAY

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My sense is that the partaking in "an unworthy manner" pertains to a lack of reverence, instead of a failure to recognize the real presence. A person's theological understanding of communion does not prevent him from receiving the blessings therein.

Thank you for that insight. That certainly clarifies my situation , maybe (1) & (2) below.

So I guess there are several levels: 1. Those who are unprepared (unworthy?) 2. Those believers who take it lightly (unworthy?) 3. Those who just plain don't believe it. 4. Non-believers (Different than unbelievers) 5. Those who are "scoffers" and unbelievers.

Martin Luther in the Large Catechism talks of the benefits of Holy Communion to believers. He talks about it having no effect in certain situations (possibly in those things I listed previously.)

In Lutheran docrtrine there is the benefit of Lord's Supper to believers. But is there a curse also??
 
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HereIStand

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As I understand it, Lutherans would view non-Lutheran communion (Presbyterian, Baptist) as having no (or little) benefit, but not having a curse. The guilty of the body of the Lord section of Scripture would probably be used more to ground the Lutheran understanding of the real presence, then it would be to place a curse on those who partake without having that understanding. This is a good Lutheran reference.
 
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A_JAY

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As I understand it, Lutherans would view non-Lutheran communion (Presbyterian, Baptist) as having no (or little) benefit, but not having a curse. The guilty of the body of the Lord section of Scripture would probably be used more to ground the Lutheran understanding of the real presence, then it would be to place a curse on those who partake without having that understanding. This is a good Lutheran reference.

Another helpful observation. In some respects the RCC view of Communion would be similar to the Lutheran view. Except RCC basically "forbids" attending Communion in Lutheran, Baptist, Presbyterian, or Methodist Churches.

I did a google search on "Can Lutheran's attend non-Lutheran communion services" No responses. I suspect that they don't encourage it. Lutheran's probably are officially silent on this, but I suspect your view is correct.
 
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AMM

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Confessional Lutheran here.

Lutheran teaching forbids those who have not been previously examined and absolved (i.e., confession and absolution) from partaking of the Sacrament. This is because, as noted in Paul, those who eat and drink unworthily bring judgment upon themselves. "Do not give what is Holy to dogs" applies, as we understand it, to those who are baptized or unbaptized. The Baptized are made holy by faith, into the spiritual stones of the Holy Church, and are permitted to commune if they repent of their sins and receive the Holy Absolution.

Additionally, because we view the Eucharist as joining us together in one communion, we do not permit those who are not in doctrinal agreement with us (i.e. non-Lutherans) nor do we allow Lutherans to partake of the mass at other communions (i.e. a Presbyterian or Roman congregation).

In summary, this is considered "closed communion" and, unfortunately, has fallen out of practice amongst many Lutherans. However, it is the official teaching of the Lutheran Symbols (the Book of Concord) and thus embraced on paper by the confessional denominations: WELS, ELS, LCMS, AALC, etc.

EDIT: To clarify -- yes, this is also the same position held by the Roman Church and the Eastern Orthodox churches. They have essentially equivalent views of who can partake of their sacraments and at what other denominations their members can commune.
 
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HereIStand

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Confessional Lutheran here.

Lutheran teaching forbids those who have not been previously examined and absolved (i.e., confession and absolution) from partaking of the Sacrament. This is because, as noted in Paul, those who eat and drink unworthily bring judgment upon themselves. "Do not give what is Holy to dogs" applies, as we understand it, to those who are baptized or unbaptized. The Baptized are made holy by faith, into the spiritual stones of the Holy Church, and are permitted to commune if they repent of their sins and receive the Holy Absolution.

Additionally, because we view the Eucharist as joining us together in one communion, we do not permit those who are not in doctrinal agreement with us (i.e. non-Lutherans) nor do we allow Lutherans to partake of the mass at other communions (i.e. a Presbyterian or Roman congregation).

In summary, this is considered "closed communion" and, unfortunately, has fallen out of practice amongst many Lutherans. However, it is the official teaching of the Lutheran Symbols (the Book of Concord) and thus embraced on paper by the confessional denominations: WELS, ELS, LCMS, AALC, etc.

EDIT: To clarify -- yes, this is also the same position held by the Roman Church and the Eastern Orthodox churches. They have essentially equivalent views of who can partake of their sacraments and at what other denominations their members can commune.
Do not some Lutherans, such as WELS, also exclude fellow Lutherans, such as those in the LCMS?
 
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tampasteve

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Do not some Lutherans, such as WELS, also exclude fellow Lutherans, such as those in the LCMS?
Yes, as well as ELCA are excluded from the other Lutheran Synods.
 
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AMM

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Do not some Lutherans, such as WELS, also exclude fellow Lutherans, such as those in the LCMS?
Correct. It goes the other way, too - LCMS excludes WELS folks as well.

Sadly, a lot of these confessional groups are not in "altar and pulpit fellowship" with each other, because of slight doctrinal differences (such as the office of the ministry or other types of fellowship, such as prayer, etc.). At that point, things get much more complicated, far more than I understand. I believe none of WELS, LCMS, and ELS (the 4 largest Lutheran denominations in the US, I'm pretty sure) are in full fellowship with each other, so they do not allow their members to commune at/with other branches.

ELCA has an open communion policy where they permit anyone to commune and allow their members to commune anywhere (at which point it becomes a matter for the "other" denomination to permit/exclude).
 
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