Br Max,
wld it make you happier if i told you that in my non-denom church, we dont take the communion elements as merely 'symbolic' but do consume them IN FAITH as being the blood and body of the Lord.
the only thing is that we dont believe like the RCs that thru some qualified official RC priest and correct RC ritual, Jesus literally becomes the bread and the wine literally becomes His blood, like as though Jesus in heaven zapped himself into the bread and wine.
there are many protestant churches that do not view the elements merely as symbols. they are somewhere in between symbolic and trans.....(whatever the term is called).
we discern the blood and the body -- ie know what they represent, know their significance, benefits etc and then when we eat, we receive by faith these benefits into our bodies, into our lives.
eg -- the blood is for our constant cleansing, forgiveness, protection.
the bread -- is for our health.
so in my church, when we take the communion, it's never like a ritual. there's always a fresh perspective on it, albeit centred around those benefits mentioned. there's no fixed passage to read out or fixed verses to recite, or fixed procedure. It's entirely Holy Spirit led. So its always fresh.
The good thing abt the protestant view on communion also is that the ordinary Christian can always take communion on his own at home. eg: the head of the household is the priest and he can administer communion to his family members. of cse, the RCs wld consider this sacrilegious but its sad if u can only have communion in church and if it can only be done by a certain person in a certain fashion.
wld it make you happier if i told you that in my non-denom church, we dont take the communion elements as merely 'symbolic' but do consume them IN FAITH as being the blood and body of the Lord.
the only thing is that we dont believe like the RCs that thru some qualified official RC priest and correct RC ritual, Jesus literally becomes the bread and the wine literally becomes His blood, like as though Jesus in heaven zapped himself into the bread and wine.
there are many protestant churches that do not view the elements merely as symbols. they are somewhere in between symbolic and trans.....(whatever the term is called).
we discern the blood and the body -- ie know what they represent, know their significance, benefits etc and then when we eat, we receive by faith these benefits into our bodies, into our lives.
eg -- the blood is for our constant cleansing, forgiveness, protection.
the bread -- is for our health.
so in my church, when we take the communion, it's never like a ritual. there's always a fresh perspective on it, albeit centred around those benefits mentioned. there's no fixed passage to read out or fixed verses to recite, or fixed procedure. It's entirely Holy Spirit led. So its always fresh.
The good thing abt the protestant view on communion also is that the ordinary Christian can always take communion on his own at home. eg: the head of the household is the priest and he can administer communion to his family members. of cse, the RCs wld consider this sacrilegious but its sad if u can only have communion in church and if it can only be done by a certain person in a certain fashion.
Upvote
0
