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Dec 29th, 2019
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Dear Friends,
I've come across an Orthodox couple who are wondering if the act of receiving Holy Communion is "cannibalism?" The idea is ludicrous but they have some sort of hangup about this.
How could one explain things to them (in an obviously better way than I have . . .).
Alex
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This is the oldest misconception of the Eucharist, going back all the way to the crowds in John chapter 6 who went away when they heard Jesus talk of eating His flesh and drinking His blood. It also was an accusation from the Roman pagans against Christians, again from Protestants, and persists to today.
The key I think is recognizing that communion with dead flesh provides death, but eating the Eucharist is communion with Life, and provides life. This is not the eating and drinking of dead human flesh or part of a mere body--it is the eating and drinking of the entire living, life-creating body and blood of Christ, who is Life. It is theosis in a real, almost visceral sense, as through it we become more like Christ. Feurbach's counter to religion was "Man is what he eats", thinking that he had destroyed concepts of religion. But as Fr Schmemann put it in For the Life of the World (which might be the best book for modern minds covering this idea), this is actually the fundamental Christian claim, and one that we make every time we eat and drink the Eucharist.
Last edited by JosephS; 02/11/23 08:22 AM.
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Excellent Sir!
The person in question is still not convinced and it is perhaps a personal hangup or something.
Certainly, the Lord transforms or transubstantiates bread and wine into His Life-giving Body and Blood and this is both Real and Spiritual - do I have that right?
Alex
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Christ is in our midst!! Alex, I am attaching a portion of an explanation from a commentary I have. The books are hard to find--I bought the four Gospels about 16 years ago in hard bound form, but they may be out of print today. Blessed Theophylact of Ohrid, The Explanation of the Holy Gospel According to John, translated from the original Greek by Fr. Christopher Shade, Vol IV in the series: Blessed Theophylact’s Explanation of the New Testament, Chrysostom Press, P O Box 536, House Springs, MO, 2007.
Page 110
Note carefully that the bread which we eat in the sacrament of Communion is neither figure nor symbol of the Lord’s flesh. It is the Lord’s flesh. Christ did not say, “The bread that I will give is a figure of My Flesh,”** but “is My Flesh.”** In a manner beyond explanation, through the mystical blessing and the descent of the Holy Spirit, the bread is changed into the flesh of the Lord. Let no one doubt that ordinary bread becomes Christ’s flesh. When the Lord walked upon the earth as a man, He received nourishment by eating bread, which was changed into His body, becoming like unto His holy flesh, and serving for His growth and sustenance as a man. So it is now that bread is changed into the flesh of the Lord. But why, one might ask, does it not appear to us as flesh, but as bread? So that we would not feel revulsion when we partake of it. The Lord condescends to our human weakness and causes the mystical food to appear in a form acceptable to us.
**(emphasis in the original)
Blessed Theophylact was sent from Constantinople about 1090 as Archbishop of the Bulgarian Church. Ohrid, the capital of the Bulgarian Kingdom, was the place from which he wrote the commentary. According to the introduction, his commentary was the standard used by the Orthodox Church from the time of St. John Chrysostom and was the consensus of the Greek Fathers.
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Dear Bob,
Thank you for this and I will pass this on to my acquaintance. Cheers! Alex
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Just an FYI regarding Bob's mention of the Explanation of the Gospels by Bl. Theophylact--For anyone interested in obtaining them, you can purchase new, paperback copies from St. Herman of Alaska Press. Here's the link: https://www.sainthermanmonastery.com/category-s/1896.htm It looks like the Gospel of John is hardbound. You can also get them from Not Of This World Icons and Books: https://notofthisworldiconsandbooks.com/search?q=Blessed+Theophylact . Also, there appear to be some copies available on Amazon. Well worth the investment if you can afford them, imo. (I guess this could properly go in "Books" but since it was mentioned in this thread....)
Last edited by J Michael; 02/13/23 03:27 PM.
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Christ is in our midst!!
J Michael,
I was not aware that these books were available. I bought the complete 4 volume set of the Gospels quite awhile ago in hardbound format--one of the best investments I have ever made. When I went back to the website to find out if some of the Epistles were available, I found that I could not purchase any. I had hoped to buy copies for my son, but that was not to be. Thanks for this further link.
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Christ is in our midst!!
J Michael,
I was not aware that these books were available. I bought the complete 4 volume set of the Gospels quite awhile ago in hardbound format--one of the best investments I have ever made. When I went back to the website to find out if some of the Epistles were available, I found that I could not purchase any. I had hoped to buy copies for my son, but that was not to be. Thanks for this further link. My pleasure, Bob!
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Christ is in our midst!!
J Michael,
I see that both sites offer the six books available when I bought my Gospel set. However, I was hoping that more of the Epistles would be available. Not so. (Sad)
Bob
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Christ is in our midst!!
I see that both sites offer the six books available when I bought my Gospel set. However, I was hoping that more of the Epistles would be available. Not so. (Sad) Yeah...hopefully one day St. Herman's will get around to making those available.
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Christ is in our midst!!
The problem is not so much making additional volumes available that are already in print but that the person who was doing the translating appears to no longer be making the effort. Not enough sales of the volumes already done means that it may not be worth his time to continue. I remember a request for donations toward the effort to continue that translation of additional books, but apparently there were not enough received. That was after I had purchased my Gospels.
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