The Communion

Sunday, April 19, 2009

History of the Communion

History of the Communion (2nd Century to 20th Century)
by George Battey
1996 Preacher Study Notes
The history of the communion through the Christian Age is an interesting one and covers much more than merely how many cups should be placed on the table. The changes which took place through the years were wrong, but it is easy, after studying church history, to understand why these changes occurred. Once change started, it was difficult to stop that change until the supper was completely unrecognizable from the New Testament pattern.

This study helped me to understand better why we must resist even small changes, no matter how innocent they may seem, for changes in the communion have affected doctrinal beliefs about forgiveness of sin, the destiny of the dead, and the structure of church worship.

The Original Supper
The Lord’s supper, as set forth in the New Testament, was a very simple church ordinance. It contained only three elements:

(a)

Matthew 26:17-26; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17

(b)

Matthew 26:27; Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25

(c)

Matthew 26:17-29

With apostolic approval, the early church observed the communion every first day of the week (Acts 20:7). It was a simple meal designed by the Lord Himself to remind Christians of the tremendous sacrifice made on their behalf.

As simple as this meal was, and as forthright as the Scriptures are about how to observe it, men soon began to tamper with the pattern. The tampering began even in the days of the apostles themselves. Paul had to write to the Corinthian church and correct their abuse and misunderstandings of the supper (1 Corinthians 11). As far as we know, they accepted the correction given by Paul and the communion was observed scripturally once more. Yet, as in the days of the Judges of Israel, “When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10). More changes were to come and more changes continue even to this day. This paper is a brief outline of what occurred from the second century onward.

The second century began with the absence of all apostles. The Didache, or Teaching of the Twelve,[1] was a document written during this time and it states that “on the Lord’s own day [Christians] gather together and break bread and give thanks.”[2] This concurs with Acts 20:7. It also records that only those “baptized in the name of the Lord were to partake.” [3] So far, so good. The communion continues to be observed on the right day and offered only to members of the church.

Justin Martyr,[4] an apologist of the second century, wrote:
“bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons.”[5]

Here is the beginning of transporting the communion to those not assembled. Mosheim concurs that, “A part of the consecrated bread and wine was carried to the sick or absent members of the church, as a testimony of fraternal love, sent to them by the whole society.”[6]

Note Justin’s use of the word “wine.” Evidently “wine” here meant fermented wine, for an early Christian named Titian[7] objected so much to its use that he substituted water for it in the communion. [8] Titian must have been a prohibitionist of the purest type, because the wine being used in those days was already diluted with water.[9] F. W. Mattox speculates, “The wine often was mixed with water, not for ceremonial reasons, but to dilute its strength.”[10] Hippolytus[11] used John 19:34 in an attempt to justify the mixing of water with wine.[12] He also advocated shaping the loaf into an image of the body of Jesus. This watered-down wine, however, was not universally practiced.[13]

Justin concurs with the Didache that communion was to be “closed” to only baptized believers. He writes:
“And this food is called among us Eucharistia [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins.”[14]

The practice of confessing sins before taking communion began. The Didache specifically stated that before the communion, each faithful member must “confess [their] transgressions that our sacrifice may be pure.”[15]

The communion brought Christians of the second century under suspicion. Their secret meetings were believed to be occasions for immorality and they were often accused of cannibalism[16] because they were said to be eating the body and blood of Jesus.

More than one drinking vessel was already in use. Irenaeus,[17] in his writings, Against Heresies, speaks of smaller cups of the supper being filled from the large one.[18] One of the Ante-Nicene Fathers writes, “The priest says the prayer of the Oblation. . . We pray and beseech Thee, 0 Lord, in Thy mercy, to let Thy presence rest upon this bread and these chalices on the all-holy table.”[19]

The practice of fragmenting or “breaking” the bread into several portions was practiced. Mosheim writes: “The wine was mixed with water, and the bread was divided into several portions.”[20]

A heretical group of the second century, called the “Ophites,” a sect of the Gnostics, had an interesting communion service. Although they claimed to be Christians, they had the notion that the God of the OT was really the Devil and the serpent in the Garden of Eden was the true God trying to liberate Adam and Eve who had been imprisoned. The serpent suggested that if they would eat the forbidden fruit, they would be given the knowledge of Gnosis which would free them. They stressed the healing effects of the brass serpent of Moses and they sanctified the communion by having snakes crawl over the bread and into the wine.[21]

The Third Century (A.D. 201-300)
The third century sees the emergence of a practice called the agape,[22] or “love feast.” The majority of historians and Bible commentaries believe that a common meal, known as the agape, was eaten in the Lord’s Day assembly just before the communion. It is believed that 1 Corinthians 11:17-20 and Jude 12 both refer to this meal. [23] It never seems to occur to any of these writers that the very text they use to find Biblical basis for the agape
(1 Corinthians 11), actually teaches against the practice of having a common meal in the assembly — specifically the Lord’s Day assembly!

“What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you” (1 Corinthians 11:22, NKJV).

I suppose commentators and historians believe the answer to Paul’s rhetorical question is, “No, we don’t have houses to eat and drink in.”

In spite of Paul’s clear teachings about common meals in the assembly, the third century church began practicing just that. Congregations would share an ordinary meal together and after the meal they would eat the Lord’s supper. It is said that Ignatius wrote about this feast in the early years of the second century [24] and a passage from the Didache is offered as proof that the second century church practiced this observance,[25] but even Davies, who offers the passage, admits it is inconclusive. The practice was clearly observable during the third century but it was soon separated from the assembly itself. It became more of a private party, but was usually conducted under the supervision of a bishop. [26]

Communion continues to be “closed” to only baptized believers, only now mention is made that those in a “penitential state” are not to be offered the communion either.[27]

Late in the third century, while persecution was raging, Christians continued to meet on the first day of the week, but only under the cover of darkness. Much ceremony and pomp were added to the service and, according to Mattox, gold and silver vessels came into use.[28] Also, the elements of the communion are beginning to be looked upon as having magical powers. Some are calling it the “Medicine of Immorality.”[29]

Persecution (A.D. 64-313)
The great persecution of the second and third centuries was much to blame for the changes in communion. Whether some of the persecuted “Christians” were actually immersed believers according to Acts 2:38, it would be impossible to know for sure, but probably they were. The Catholics and their predecessors were guilty of many things, but they were not guilty of practicing “Baptist baptism.” In fact, as will be noted later, they went to the other extreme of saying baptism was efficacious within itself. These persecuted souls counted themselves as Christians and suffered greatly for what they believed.

Nero (emperor 54-68)[30]
The first to persecute Christians was Nero. His persecution began A.D. 64[31] when a massive fire broke out in Rome. Nero wanted to initiate a massive renovation and building program in Rome, but was unable to get approval for the project. By setting fire to Rome, he cleared the needed space[32] much like Ahab did in his dealings with Naboth
(1 Kings 21).

To escape blame for the fire, Nero accused Christians of setting the fire and a persecution began, but was not world-wide in scope. This persecution was limited in and around the vicinity of Rome. During this time Paul was evidently put to death by beheading.

Trajan (emperor 98-1 17)[33]
Trajan was the first emperor to persecute Christians because they were Christians.[34] This persecution was on a more wide-spread scale than Nero, though not world-wide yet. Trajan inherited a kingdom in which senatorial proconsuls had been trying to outdo each other in building projects. To end this, Trajan issued an edict forbidding all clubs.[35] When he even refused to sanction a fire brigade,[36] it was not expected that he would show much toleration to Christians.

Trajan’s envoy, Pliny, was not prepared to deal with Christians. He sent word to his master asking what course to take and Trajan wrote back:
“No search should be made for these people; but if they are denounced and found guilty, they must be punished; with this proviso, that when the party denies that he is a Christian, and shall give proof that he is not, by worshiping the gods, he shall be pardoned for his penitence, even though he may have formerly incurred suspicion.” [37]

So, accordingly, the practice began of persecuting anyone who would not worship the gods of Rome. Even if a person had been a professing Christian, they could, by bowing to Rome’s idols, be pardoned and they would be spared any punishment.

One important fact to focus upon what the opportunity offered to accused Christians. They were given ample opportunity to reject their faith. When any did recant, it was deliberate. When any stayed faithful, it was after many trials and many bypassed opportunities to escape torture. These faithful brethren had many opportunities to spare themselves torture, but they remained loyal throughout.

Decius (emperor 249-251)[38]
Decius was the first emperor to initiate a persecution throughout the entire Roman Empire.[39] He issued an edict that demanded all citizens sacrifice to the gods of Rome within a specified period. The purpose of this edict was to determine the loyalty of citizens to the emperor. [40] When a citizen appeared to sacrifice to the idols, a certificate was issued to demonstrate compliance.[41] This certificate was much like a passport in that it was necessary to carry it at all times. If stopped by the police without possessing the certificate, one could be arrested on the spot.

This plan was painful enough for the church, but could have been worse, for the following year, Decius died and the persecution was dropped. However, two years following his death, Valerian ascended the throne and resumed the policies of Decius.[42]

Diocletian (emperor 284-305)[43]
Diocletian launched the most brutal and far-reaching persecution which the Christian Age ever saw. In March 303, the decree was issued that Christians could no longer hold meetings, their buildings were to be destroyed, their leaders were to be imprisoned, all “lay members” were to sacrifice to the idols, and all copies of the Scriptures were to be turned in to be burned.[44] Eusebius described the torture which followed:
“Christians were caused to suffer in every conceivable way. The prisons ran over, and slave labor camps were set up in which Christians were worked to death in the mines.” [45]

“In January 304, the magistrates of North Africa arrested forty nine men, women, and children as they were assembled for the Lord’s supper in a friend’s house. They were transferred to Carthage and on February 12 were brought before the proconsul and charged 'as Christians who, contrary to the decisions of the Augusti and Caesars, had frequented the Lord’s assembly.'”[46] Each person was asked separately why they had been present at an unlawful church assembly and each replied in the same words, "As if a Christian could exist without the Lord’s Supper, or the Lord’s Supper without a Christian!”[47] They were condemned to death and executed immediately.[48]

In contrast to the above story, some Christians weakened under the pressure and sacrificed to the idols. Others obtained forged copies of certificates to present to police as evidence they had sacrificed to the gods.

CONSTANTINE (emperor 306-337)[49]
Constantine I, after much struggle, emerged the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. His mother was a Christian and, after supposedly having a dream in which he saw soldiers carrying shields emblazoned with the sign of the cross, he became a lifelong friend of Christians. In 313 he issued the famous “Edict of Milan” in which Christianity became a legal religion.[50] Not only did this legalize Christianity, but it even encouraged the spread of Christianity. Constantine declared:

“We therefore, announce that, notwithstanding any provisions concerning the Christians in our former instructions, all who choose that religion are to be permitted to continue therein, without any let or hindrance, and are not to be in any way troubled or molested Moreover, concerning the Christians, we before gave orders with respect to the places set apart for their worship. It is now our pleasure that all who have bought such places should restore them to the Christians, without any demand for payment."[51]

Post-Persecution Developments
(A.D. 313-1517)
This ending of persecution was most abrupt. Instantly Christians received relief from the most bitter persecution they had ever known. Now the church was free to grow without governmental interference . . . or so it seemed. Perhaps a better way to word this is to say Christianity was free to grow without governmental molestation, because the church and state would certainly mingle and interfere with one another in days to come.

Fifty-five years prior to Constantine,[52] a doctrine had been advocated by Cyprian, bishop of Carthage,[53] that men inherit the original sin of Adam. Along with this theory was the doctrine of “baptismal regeneration” was developing, to coincide with the doctrine of original sin. “Baptismal regeneration” grew out of the Biblical teaching that baptism was for the remission of sins, but it went further and included the idea that baptism itself was efficacious and would bring the desired results even if the candidate was unaware of what was happening. Baptism was viewed as having mystical powers of its own which, if performed by a properly ordained clergyman, saying the correct formula, the sins of an individual would be remitted.[54] These beliefs were the soil out of which grew the practice of infant baptism.

There was a doctrine working against the practice of infant baptism. Tertullian [55] was an outspoken advocate that baptism was for the remission of past sins, but he argued there was no remedy for sins committed after baptism and furthermore, baptism could not be repeated. [56] Consequently, many put off baptism until old age. Constantine himself is a classic example, for he delayed baptism until shortly before his death hoping it would cover all his sins.

When Constantine brought the persecution to an end, many of the Christians who had forsaken Christianity came wanting admission back into the church. Some had sacrificed to the idols, some had turned in Scriptures to be burned, and still others had obtained forged certificates. Though it was not right, many who had lived through the persecution and remained faithful, were reluctant to accept these traitors back into the church. They had suffered the loss of property, family members, and had suffered through torture, and they were not inclined to look favorably upon traitors who had forsaken the faith.

In 311 Donatus began to teach that these traitors had committed an unpardonable sin and could not be restored to the church. Christians in general did not accept this view. A synod at Rome decided against the Donatist position and later councils upheld this decision.[57]

The official position of the church was to allow the backsliders back, but there was a need for the backslider to show genuine proof of sorrow for his sin. This gave rise to penance, or the performance of rigorous, tedious works to demonstrate genuine sorrow. Again, this is not scriptural, but it is easy to see how the conditions of the time brought about these doctrines and beliefs. The communion was offered to those who (a) confessed their sins and (b) did penance to demonstrate true sorrow.[58] The Didache says:

“Thou shalt confess thy transgressions in church, and shalt not come to thy prayer in an evil conscience,” therefore, before the Eucharist, the faithful must “confess your transgressions that our sacrifice may be pure” [emph. mine, gb]. [59]

In this way, worshippers were “worthy” to partake of the communion — an assumption based upon a faulty understanding of 1 Corinthians 11:27-28.

Communion Viewed as Efficacious
Just as baptism was viewed as efficacious, the communion likewise began to be viewed as having mystical powers within itself to bestow blessings upon worshippers. Over and over in the writings of “early church fathers” John 6 is appealed to as proof that there is something more to the communion than simple remembrance.

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day’” (John 6:53-54, NKJV).

Though this passage has nothing to do with the communion,[60] yet it was and is appealed to over and over again to demonstrate there is something mysterious and mystical about the communion service. Eusebius,[61] the “father of church history,” was one of the few early writers who understood that John 6 had nothing to do with communion.[62]

Early on, writers began to view the communion as being mystically efficacious. Irenaeus[63] speaks of eating “unto the remission of sins.”[64]

Cyprian believed spiritual life itself came from the communion and without it, one would die spiritually. He used the passage in the Lord’s prayer about “daily bread” to justify eating the Lord’s supper every day.[65] He believed the communion was so worthy that penalties would ensue the irreverent — “penalties such as choking, strange fires, the hands scorched to cinders, and assaults by evil spirits and even insanity.”[66]

About ninety years after the death of Cyprian, Cyril [67] of Jerusalem was consecrated. He is noted for using the Lavabo, i.e. the ritual cleansing of the hands before communion.[68] He stressed John 6 to the point that if any Christian did not assemble for communion, he would forfeit salvation. He taught that the communion was depicted in the marriage in Cana. There the water was literally changed into wine, and in like manner the communion wine is literally changed into the blood of Christ. [69] Cyril was also the first to clearly advocate the idea that the communion had power to help the dead.[70]

The efficacious communion began to be celebrated at the tombs of martyrs and at funerals.[71] The bread and wine would be held high into the air by the bishop so all the assembly could see the miracle of the transformation of ordinary bread and wine into the actual body and blood of the Lord.[72] It was believed that prayer offered in the presence of the bread and wine would be more effective than in their absence.[73] Thus, before communion, many prayers and lengthy prayers were added to the service — for the whole earth and for the living and the dead.

Though long in coming, the doctrine of transubstantiation was officially recognized as a dogma of the Catholic (Western) church during the Fourth Lateran Council (1215).[74]

Eucharistic Sacrifice
Cyprian’s theory that men inherited Adam’s sin was a persistent doctrine which would not die. Augustine[75] popularized this theory and taught that baptism should be administered as soon after birth as possible, for without it, even infants could not enter heaven, but would be consigned eternally to a place called “limbo.”

Baptism took care of inherited sin, but beyond this, something must be done about sins committed by each man himself, or “actual sin” as it was called. It was believed that some men led such good lives that their good works would cancel out their “actual sins,” and at death these rare individuals could enter heaven immediately. But what about everyone else? Everyone else, it turned out, must pay for their sins before they could obtain bliss in heaven. Hence, the idea of purgatory — a place of “purgation” where men make up for the sins they committed after baptism.

The pictures of the tortures and agonies in purgatory became more and more vivid and anxiety increased as this doctrine was emphasized. It became natural for people to want some way of shortening their stay in purgatory. Various ways were devised, and one of those ways has a direct bearing on the communion. One disastrous idea was that the Lord’s Supper was a propitiatory sacrifice — i.e. an actual sacrifice offered to God which satisfies His wrath toward sin. This sacrifice (communion), when offered in the name of a Christian in purgatory, would reduce the time he would be confined there and would hasten his entry into heaven.

The idea of the communion becoming an efficacious sacrifice was a natural conclusion for men to make once they have accepted the doctrine of transubstantiation. If the bread becomes the actual body of Christ and the wine His. actual blood, then, when the bread is broken and the wine is poured out on an altar, the events of Calvary are actually being re-enacted and have as much merit as the historical crucifixion itself. If the historical crucifixion of Jesus carries enough merit to counteract inherited sin, then surely this re-enactment of the crucifixion could counteract “actual sin.” This, then, is the beginning of the “Sacrifice of the Mass”[76] — the idea that Christ is sacrificed every time communion was administered. In 1562 the Council of Trent declared:

“In this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the mass, that same Christ is contained and sacrificed in a unbloody manner, who once offered himself in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross . . . The victim is one and the same, the same now offering by the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross, the manner alone of offering being different . . . If anyone says that the sacrifice of the mass is only a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving . . . but not a propitiatory sacrifice . . . let him be anathema” [emph. mine, gb]. [77]

This reasoning provided an appealing way for men to shorten their agonies in purgatory. Each Mass offered in one’s name after death would reduce one’s time of suffering in purgatory. But these Masses were not free — a price had to be paid. Here was a perfect solution to Medieval society. The church was anxious about how to raise money and men were anxious about spending time in purgatory. Money for Masses solved the worries of both. Wealthy people were doubly privileged, for they could not only arrange for Masses to be done perpetually in their own names, but in the names of their family members as well. Extremely wealthy people could arrange for Masses to be offered for themselves daily.

Soon the demand for Masses far outnumbered the priests available to offer them. Furthermore, a priest is restricted to one full Mass and personal communion per day. This problem gave rise to an abuse known as “the dry Mass.” Laurence Stookey writes:

“The priest needed to offer, let us say, eight propitiatory Masses on a given mourning. Seven times he read his way through the formulary right up to the point of consecrating the bread and wine, then backed up and started over; only the eighth time did he complete the rite. Furthermore, all of this the priest had to do on a fasting stomach — that is, before breakfast (hence our word for the meal that “breaks the fast”). The rate at which the hungry priest worked his way through seven “dry” Masses on his was to the full Mass is not difficult to imagine.” [78]

There was a mental exercise in which worshipers could engage in, known as the “Allegorical Mass.” Here, every action taken by the priest is allegorical of something which occurred at Calvary. For example, when the priest ascends the altar stairs, the worshipers were to imagine Jesus ascending the staircase of Pontius Pilate to face judgment and sentencing. [79]

The belief that the bread and wine actually became the body and blood of Jesus presented the problem of what to do with the remaining elements when Mass is over. It was decided at the close of Mass, the priest must drink all the wine and then cleanse the chalice carefully lest any trace remain. If any wine is spilled, special, ceremonial rites were developed for its removal. Because the wine could spill so easily and readily when offering it to the worshipers, it became the practice that only the officiating priest could drink the wine.[80] This practice of withholding the cup was called “receiving communion in one kind,” because the worshipers were receiving only one element of the communion. All others could receive only the bread, but it was argued that after the “miracle of the Mass” had occurred and the bread was changed into the actual body of Jesus, it contained enough of the blood within it to suffice for communion. [81]

Even when the laity received the bread, great care must be taken lest it be dropped. It became the practice for the priest to place the bread directly upon the tongue of the communicant while an assistant held a tray under the worshiper’s chin in case the wafer should be dropped or ejected. The people were taught to swallow the bread whole, lest by chewing they mutilate the body of Christ in an impious manner.[82] There was another reason why the wafer was placed directly upon the tongue of the worshipers. In the past, some unsophisticated members would take the wafer handed to them and slip it into their pockets, taking it home for other uses — as medicine during some grave illness, or rubbing it like a “lucky rabbit’s foot.” [83]

Bread which was not eaten was saved for a variety of purposes: to be taken to the sick and dying and, interestingly, if more communicants appeared for communion than there was consecrated bread available, rather than repeat the act of consecration, the priest could simply use this bread which had been reserved, for, after all, it was sanctified bread.[84] Because consecrated bread would often be reserved for long periods of time, it was unsuitable to continue using ordinary bread, though it was used in olden days and is still used in Eastern Orthodoxy. Hence, unleavened wafers were used because they took up less space and could be stored longer.[85]

The Reformers (A.D 1517-1775)
When we examine the abuses and superstitions which existed during medieval times, it is no wonder that the Reformers were moved to action. That action came when the Renaissance[86] brought men to the point of re-examining long held religious positions. Men began to read the Bible for themselves and they awoke to the novel idea that religious authority resided within Scripture, not within the decisions of councils.

The communion was one of the major focal points upon which the Reformation was ignited, being outweighed only by the question of papal authority and the infamous “sale of indulgences.” Passages, which had previously been unheard of, were being read by religious thinkers with honest hearts and were creating doubt that the communion was an efficacious sacrifice after all. Nine passages in particular caused great concern: [87]

“who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself . . . not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another; He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”[emph. mine, gb] (Hebrew 7:27; 9:25-28, NKJV).

“By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. . . But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.. . For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified . . . Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.” [emph. mine, gb] (Hebrews 10:10, 12, 14, 18).

How could it be argued that Christ was being actually sacrificed each time Mass occurred when these passages declare plainly that Jesus was sacrificed “once for all”?

Wycliffe
John Wycliffe,[88] who pre-dated the Reformation by one hundred thirty years, became outspoken in rejecting the doctrine of transubstantiation. He was at that time the professor of theology in Oxford and this stand put him in disfavor with the chancellor of the university. [89] This would only cause him minor problems compared with his translating work.

Luther
Martin Luther, the “father of the Reformation,” was born in 1483 and reared a devout Catholic. He entered the priesthood and rose rapidly in the Augustinian Order. In 1511 he made a business trip to Rome for this Order and was shocked by the widespread immorality which he observed there. Though disheartened, he made his rounds to all the sacred shrines hoping to receive every blessing which could be derived from such a pilgrimage to the “Holy City.” Luther was, at this time, very loyal to the Pope. In one church he was stunned when he observed a priest saying the Mass in Latin, but not performing the “miracle” of transubstantiation before giving the bread to the worshipers. Later, the priest laughed to the other priests because the people could not tell the difference. [90]

In 1517, Johann Tetzel[91] came to the area of Wittenburg, Germany, where Luther was residing, selling indulgences. While Luther was preaching sermons about salvation by faith, Tetzel was selling indulgences to some of Luther’s parishioners in a booth at Juterbock only a few miles away. On October 31, 1517, Luther, in opposition to the indulgences, nailed a document to the door of the church building listing ninety-five theses against the Papacy in Rome and the indulgences. He offered to debate anyone who differed with him on the subject. Soon began the writing warfare between Luther and John Eck over indulgences.[92]

In 1520, Luther wrote a composition entitled, “On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church.” This was an examination of the sacramental system of the Catholic church. Within this paper, Luther examined all seven sacraments of the Catholic church and eliminated all but two: baptism and the Lord’s supper. He thought there could be sacramental value to repentance, but not in the form of penance as developed by the hierarchy. [93]

Luther rejected the idea of transubstantiation, but was too cautious to reject all aspects of the doctrine. He advanced the doctrine of consubstantiation, or the idea that the bread and wine did not literally change into the body and blood of the Lord, but the Lord’s body and blood were present “with, in, and under” the bread and wine. So, while the bread remains bread and the wine remains wine, there is a mystical, mysterious real presence of the Lord’s body and blood in both elements.

Zwingli
Zwingli, [94] the Swiss Reformer, was not as timid as Luther. He was a keen debater and sat on the town council. He removed pictures of idols from church buildings. He removed all instrumental music from churches. The doctrine of transubstantiation was rejected altogether and the communion was taught to be strictly a memorial supper with no real or spiritual presence of the Lord in any of the elements.[95]

Since the Reformers, Luther and Zwingli, were in constant danger from the Catholics, it was in their interests to unite their followers and efforts. Accordingly, representatives from Luther and Zwingli met in the castle of Philip of Hesse in Marburg in 1529. This was a mediating session in hopes of working out their differences. Out of fifteen propositions, these representatives discovered that they agreed on fourteen points, but the one, disagreeable point concerned the communion. Both sides agreed that the priests could not perform the “miracle” of transubstantiation. Yet Luther’s side insisted that the actual body and blood of Christ were present in the elements.

Zwingli and Luther eventually met face to face in person to discuss this matter further. Luther argued that if iron were heated until it was red hot, it was still iron, but with heat inside of it. He argued that in the same way, the bread and wine retained their physical properties, yet had the body and blood of Christ contained within them. Zwingli contended the bread and wine were strictly representative of the body and blood, nothing more. Luther took a piece of chalk and wrote on a banquet table, “this is my blood,” and he insisted that Jesus meant what He said. Zwingli agreed that the Lord “meant what He said,” but he made a powerful counter-argument by demonstrating that after Jesus said, “this is my blood,” He then said He would not drink any more of the “fruit of the vine,” showing it was still only “fruit of the vine” even after calling it his blood. Luther refused to agree and declared Zwingli had a different attitude than himself and he was unwilling to extend fellowship to Zwingli. [96]

Other Reformers
Martin Bucer, [97] John Calvin, [98] and others took a mediating position [99] in contending that the Lord’s body and blood were present spiritually within the communion elements.[100]

Also worthy of mention are John and Charles Wesley who came a hundred and fifty years after the Reformation, began. One notable thing these brothers stood for was weekly communion on the first day of the week. [101]

The Restorers (A.D. 1775-1996)
The Restoration Movement brings us to events of which we are generally more familiar with in the church of Christ. F. W. Mattox begins his chronicles of the Restoration with James O’Kelly, Abner Jones, and Barton W. Stone, before ever mentioning the Campbell family.[102] This period of history is rich and interesting as men began to break further and further away from manmade traditions and were looking more and more to the Scriptures for guidance.

Weekly Communion
Thomas Campbell had left for America before his family, hoping to prepare for their arrival. Waiting in Scotland for word from Thomas was the rest of the Campbell family. Alexander attended the University in Glasgow during the wait. There Alexander met Greville Ewing who had established an independent congregation and was practicing weekly communion.[103] This appealed to Alexander and, upon arrival to America, he was pleasantly surprised to learn that his father was reaching similar conclusions about communion and other Bible subjects.

In 1811, Thomas and Alexander Campbell organized an independent congregation called the Brush Run Church. Thomas was appointed as the elder and Alexander was licensed to preach. The next day after being founded, the congregation met for worship and celebrated the Lord’s supper for the first time. In their determination to follow the Scriptures, they decided to have weekly communion since there was “approved precedent” for it. [104]

By 1820 the Campbells had only four congregations and less than two hundred members who accepted their principles of Restoration.[105] In contrast, Barton W. Stone had fellowship with five hundred congregations with fifteen thousand members. What made the difference? Among other things, Stone was more liberal in whom he fellowshipped and in what he taught. Although Stone was himself immersed in 1807, he did not make immersion a “test of fellowship.” He felt such matters should be left to each man’s conscience. Also, he did not observe the Lord’s Supper often, believing that the communion was too sacred to be observed on a regular basis.[106] Stone made the following admission:

“The only distinguishing doctrine between us and [the Campbells] was, that they preached baptism for the remission of sins to believing penitents. This doctrine had not generally obtained amongst us, though some few had received it, and practiced accordingly. They insisted also upon weekly communion, which we had neglected.”[107]

Transubstantiation
J. W. McGarvey, considered by some to be the finest scholar produced by the Restoration Movement, and others continued to fight the doctrine of transubstantiation. McGarvey wrote an excellent treatise on the communion in which he argued that Jesus could not have meant that the bread and juice were His actual body and blood. As the disciples understood Him that night in the upper room, we today are to understand Him as meaning the elements merely represent and symbolize His body and blood. He argued that the “blessing” pronounced by Jesus over the bread was not a magical formula to change the elements into literal flesh and blood, but, as the alternate wording suggests, He was only giving “thanksgiving” to God for the elements (Matthew 26:26-27; Mark 14:22-23; Luke 22:19;
1 Corinthians 11:24). McGarvey pointed out that we are to give thanks in like manner. A powerful point was made concerning 1 Corinthians 10:16-21: *

“Let it be observed also, that, in order to communion of the Lord’s body and blood, it is no more necessary that the Lord himself be in the bread and wine, than that, in order to commune with demons, the demons must be in the meats and drinks offered to them. The term communion, in this place, has the sense of participation.” [108]

Closed Communion
“Open” versus “closed” communion became an issue in the 1800s for the Restoration Movement. Wayne House, in chart form,[109] demonstrates that the Catholic, Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli movements all practice “closed” communion. Under the Zwingli position, he notes the following: “Some groups practice closed communion, where participants must be a member of the denomination. Others practice closed communion, where one must be a member of the local church assembly.”

From the writings of Robert Graham in the Christian Quarterly, [110] there was a desire on the part of Disciples to associate with the Baptists. [111] The Disciples desired to meet and commune with the Baptists but were rejected when the communion was passed. Evidently communion was being withheld for disciplinary reasons because of the stand Disciples made on issues of baptism, predestination, eternal security, etc. Communion was viewed as evidence of fellowship. The Baptists were not offering communion to the Disciples because they were not in fellowship with them. Graham was appalled by this, because the Baptists, while withholding communion from the Disciples, were at the same time offering it to Pedo-Baptists [112] with whom they differed.

Should the communion, then, be “open” to any and everyone who attends the assembly? This was the question of the day. McGarvey addressed the issue head on.

“The much disputed question, Who is entitled to partake of the Supper? must be settled like all the others, by the Scriptures. It was given to the disciples of Jesus, and to them alone. To these then it must be forever confined. But all the disciples had been baptized; and consequently, only baptized believers are scriptural participants. The unfortunate dispute as to what baptism is, has given rise to this question, and it can never be settled but by settling the baptismal controversy. Those who hold immersion alone to be baptism, are compelled by a necessary inference from their position to conclude that immersed believers alone are entitled to this ordinance, even though their practice may not be in harmony with this conclusion. This sacred privilege is further limited by the conduct of the believer subsequent to his baptism. He who eats, not discerning in the loaf the Lord’s body, eats unworthily, and brings on himself condemnation. In this no man can judge his neighbor, except by the neighbor’s avowal; and consequently it is only when such an avowal is made that one can on this ground be debarred. Again, we are forbidden to eat with a disciple who is a fornicator, or a covetous man, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner (1 Corinthians 5:11). It is supposed by some that this prohibits eating social meals with such persons; but whether this view is correct or not, it certainly forbids eating with them the Lord’s Supper. It requires the church to withhold the cup and the loaf from all such characters. The supper is a holy institution, and it is polluted by the touch of unclean hands (1 Corinthians 10:19-21)." [113]

In McGarvey’s interpretation, to “not eat” with an immoral brother (
1 Corinthians 5:11) meant not to share the communion with him.[114]

Individual Cups [115]
Another issue arising in the late 1800s concerned the number of cups to be used in distributing the fruit of the vine. Early in the Restoration Movement, congregations commonly used either one or two cups. [116] The number of vessels was not an issue at that time. An issue did arise, however, when Dr. J. G. Thomas, a physician and a minister, became concerned over people drinking after each other from the common cup. Accordingly, he invented the first set of individual communion cups. The first congregation using the new invention was the Vaughnsville Congregational Church in Putnam County, Ohio in 1893. [117] In March 1894 Thomas received a patent for his newly invented tray to hold the small cups.

The Christian Standard[118] at the turn of the century placed an ad in their paper for the individual communion sets. Within the ad was published a letter from a pastor who had used the sets in his congregation with great success. He states, “Besides the convenience of the Service, it is handsome.” [119]

McGarvey was opposed to all of this and wrote against individual cups in 1900. Both he and Lipscomb thought the worry over germs and microbes was ridiculous. McGarvey’s famous article on microbes is filled with satire of most excellent quality.

“We have always been a little squeamish about drinking out of the same cup with certain persons that we could name and now, seeing that by doing so there is a risk of our swallowing some of their microbes, the practice has become intolerable. It is true that our Lord appointed it this way; but then He may have forgotten, just at the moment, that He had made all these microbes, and that they were such awful things; or else He thought that, as in the case of our new criticism, the age in which He lived was not prepared for a revelation on the subject, and so He left matters as He found them. Perhaps He reflected that the many millions who were destined to premature graves by swallowing these microbes at the Lord’s Supper, would die in a good cause, and He therefore left them to their fate until an enlightened age would correct the evil. We have now reached that enlightened age, for the Spirit is still leading us into the new truth; and we propose to stop that needless waste of human life by having individual cups from which to drink the wine. If any man cries out against it as being unscriptural, exclusive or finicky, or anything of that sort, we will call him a legalist, a literalist, a Pharisee, a back number, a last year’s almanac, and a whole lot of things that we use to silence croakers with.”[120]

Although McGarvey opposed individual cups and instrumental music, he did not “draw a line of fellowship” over these issues.[121]

Brother Ronny Wade wrote that C. E. Holt of Florence, Alabama may have been the first “non-instrumental” preacher to advocate the use of individual cups. In the July 11, 1911 issue of the Gospel Advocate, a letter from brother Holt appeared:

“I do not claim that this is the only scriptural way of taking the Lord’s supper, but it is as scriptural as any other way, and besides it has the advantage of being clean. We are aware that some brethren ridicule the idea that microbes can be transmitted from one to an other by the common cup, yet the weight of authority is against them.”[122]

In this very same issue of the Gospel Advocate, David Lipscomb responded to the following question: “Will you kindly give your opinion as to the scripturalness of the use of individual communion sets in partaking of the Lord’s Supper?” In response he wrote: “Does anyone think that it was instituted by Jesus and observed by his disciples as an individual communion service? If not, why do it now?”[123] Later, after a visit from G. C. Brewer, Lipscomb would renege and state that in the paper that he did not feel individual cups were wrong provided the grape juice began in one cup and, after the blessing, the small cups were filled from the larger common cup. This made it easier for advocates to get the individual communion set into the majority of the congregations.

Fighting to be first in the “Who’s Who In Religious Innovations,” was G. C. Brewer. He wants the credit of being the first to advocate the use of cups:

“A good many of the fights that I have made have been with my own brethren on points where I believed them to be in the wrong. I think I was the first preacher to advocate the use of the individual communion cup and the first church in the State of Tennessee that adopted it was the church for which I was preaching, the Central Church of Christ at Chattanooga, Tennessee, then meeting in the Masonic Temple. My next work was with the church at Columbia, Tennessee, and, after a long struggle, I got the individual communion service into that congregation. About this time, Brother G. Dallas Smith began to advocate the individual communion service and he introduce it at Fayetteville, Tennessee; then later at Murfreesboro. Of course, I was fought both privately and publicly and several brethren took-me to task in the religious papers and called me digressive. Brother Smith came to my rescue and, in the year 1915, Brother David Lipscomb wrote a short paragraph in the Gospel Advocate saying that he had changed his view in reference to the communion cup and that he did not believe it was any digression or in any way a corruption of the service to use as many cups as might be demanded by the occasion. This brought that controversy to an end and, from then on, the churches began using the individual communion cup everywhere.” [emph. mine, gb].[124]

If what Brewer says is accurate, he pushed and advocated the use of individual cups long before he actually installed them into the services of the church. Note the words “fight” and “long struggle” in Brewer’s own writings. Neither he, nor his helpers were as interested in unity among brethren as they claimed they were. Contrary to what Brewer thought, the controversy did not “come to an end.”

A great number of debates were waged over the usage of individual cups — both written and oral. Some of the more well known defenders for the usage of only one cup were H. C. Harper, Dr. G. A. Trott, Homer King, Homer Gay, J. D. Phillips, E. H. Miller, and Ervin Waters. The most widely circulated debate was probably the Porter-Waters Debate when Ervin Waters met Curtis Porter on November 7-10, 1950 in Quincy, Illinois over this very issue. To this very day brethren from both sides of the controversy look to this debate as a point of reference. The arguments made by both debaters are still in use today.[125]

Other issues arose which revolved around the cup. Should the cup have a handle or not? If so, how many handles should there be — one or two? Should the cup be made of silver or not? Would it be scriptural to have one cup when blessing the fruit of the vine and then pour the juice into other containers after the blessing? If it could be poured into other containers, how many would be allowed? These were minor issues compared with the question of how many containers should be used. That is, these other issues never caused a split in the church that resulted in another brotherhood being forged. Congregations may have been split, but such disturbances were localized and did not carry far reaching effects.

Bread-Breaking [126]
Next came the problem of bread-breaking, or fragmenting the loaf into one or more pieces before the worshippers partake. This seems to have become an issue just after the cup issue. Evidently, when brethren began to question the number of cups to be used in communion, they also questioned how many loaves should be used and whether or not the loaf must remain whole or should be fragmented. The practice of breaking the loaf in half or fragmenting it centered around the meaning of the expression “break bread” as used in Acts 2:42, Acts 20:7 and
1 Corinthians 10:16. It was assumed by the bread-breakers that this meant the loaf must be fragmented or at least broken in half before partaking. Those insisting the loaf must remain whole correctly interpreted “break bread” to mean “break off a portion for the purpose of eating.”

Churches using individual cups were not affected by this controversy because they had already broken away with their individual cups. To them, if more than one cup could be used, it was easy to justify the use of more than one loaf, and in some cases, wafers. Plurality of cups and plurality of loaves seemed to go hand in hand. To accept one was to accept the other. Thus, the controversy was confined to churches using one cup.[127]

The debate between J. D. Phillips and Bob Musgraves (a one cup man himself from Elk City, OK) occurred between 1930 to 1932. This was considered by some to be the definitive debate which solidified both sides of the division. Both men were held in high esteem by the sides they represented. Phillips contended the loaf must remain in one piece and Musgraves contended for fragmenting the loaf. In 1938 Phillips debated again. This time it was against G. W. Roberts in Flemington, Pennsylvania on, not only the bread-breaking issue, but cups and classes as well. Phillips was, by this time, gaining recognition as the “brotherhood expert” on the subject. J. S. Beddingfield was another opponent around 1941 in the Albuquerque, New Mexico area. That same year Beddingfield would also meet Ervin Waters on the same issue.

The Wine Question [128]
The final issue we will discuss at length is the use of alcoholic or fermented wine in the communion. It was as though the use of individual cups and bread-breaking were not enough to wrangle over. Faithful brethren also had to fight an effort by some to push fermented wine into the communion. This was occurring sometime in the mid-1920s. The Apostolic Way carried an article by H. C. Harper on the subject in 1925.[129] The deep south and the state of Texas were the two areas where fermented wine became an issue and there seemed to be no connection between these two movements. That is, those pushing fermented wine in Texas were not the same ones pushing wine in Mississippi.

In 1928, The Apostolic Way carried a written discussion between W. G. Tucker (a wine advocate) and D. L. Shelton (unfermented grape juice).[130] Tucker was a strong advocate of wine and was moderately successful in persuading some congregations to follow along with his ideas. When he came to the New Salem, Mississippi congregation, he caused a split in the church over the use of wine. The New Salem congregation secured brother H. C. Harper to meet Tucker in a debate. This occurred in 1927 and would last three days.[131] Later Harper would have a written debate with A. J. Trail in 1933. This debate was first published in the paper of which Harper was the editor — The Truth. It was later reprinted in tract form by Lynwood Smith.

T. E. (“Nong”) Smith, Lynwood Smith’s grandfather, became the local leader at New Salem to fight this unscriptural practice. He correctly pointed out that the Lord’s Supper was instituted during the Jewish feast of unleavened bread — a time when all leaven was to be removed from the houses. Smith correctly argued that fermented wine contains leaven and therefore could not have been what Jesus used. Brother Smith’s arguments were weighty with brethren concerned about “doing Bible things in Bible ways,” but his arguments were meaningless to those unconcerned about Biblical authority. T. E. Smith became recognized by many as the “brotherhood expert” on the wine issue. Later, Smith’s son Carlos took up the cause and became the next “expert.” When brother Homer Gay wrote his tract, The Inside of the Cup, he admitted he got most of his argumentation and material from Carlos Smith.

Other debates in those days included a debate between T. E. Smith and Hewitt Smith in 1930. This was a written debate published in Harper’s The Truth. There was also the T. E. Smith — R. T. Case debate in 1939. A synopsis of brother Smith’s material on the wine issue was published in tract form by Lynwood Smith entitled, Emblems of the Body and Blood of the Lord.

Texas, as was usually the case with most church troubles, also became a hotbed for the wine issue. A former editor of the Old Paths Advocate, William Freeman Jones, began to put out his own paper, Footprints of Time. Freeman teamed up with Wesley Ballard and John Staley and began to push the wine question. Sometime between 1950 to 1952 Ervin Waters debated Staley in Waco, TX.

Other Issues

[132]

[133]

[134]

There is no doubt that some of these issues are posed by brethren and sisters who have some personal agenda to push, but probably most of the issues are discussed in a spirit of true concern to restore the communion to its original state as Jesus and His apostles observed it. Some of these issues involve mere preferences while others involve divine pattern and principles. A careful study of Romans 14 is in order as well as a careful study in rules of hermeneutics. Though brethren generally agree that personal opinions cannot be pushed to the point of division, we need to learn how to distinguish between an opinion and divine law. In almost every case, Scriptures are appealed to in an effort to prove a point as a matter of law. Yet, if sound hermeneutic principles were applied, it would be discovered that mere human opinion is often being promoted.

If an item can truly be proven to be part of the divine pattern for communion, then let us insist on that item no matter how small or insignificant it may seem.

“Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” [emph. mine, gb] (Matthew 5:19).
P. 0. Box 633, Morrow, GA 30260

References:

the first author of any learning, [who] still wrote in the language of the New Testament

love

23 2 Peter 2:13

love feast

Baptismal regeneration

remission of sins

Acts 2:38

Acts 22:16; Colossians 2:12; Galatians 3:27; Romans 6:1-7; 1 Peter 3:21; Hebrews 10:22

Mark 16:16

Acts 2:38

Romans 10:10

Numbers 21:9

baptisma1 regeneration

if we have to kill them in the process!

church father

(a)

(b)

(c)

John 6:35

coming

eating His flesh

coming

believing

drinking His blood

believing

John 6

founder

Paschasius Radbertus is usually regarded as the first propounder of transubstantiation

John of Damascus (700-750) seems to be the first to clearly defend a literal change from elements into actual flesh and blood

Mass

sent

dismiss

rebirth

transitional movement

Peacemaker of the Reformation

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109

110

111

112

113

114

closed

1 Corinthians 10:21

You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.

table of demons

115

The Sun Will Shine Again Someday

re-invention of the wheel

116

117

118

119

120

121

122

123

124

125

The Communion

The Divine Pattern Advocate

The Cup of the Lord

The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness

Last Supper and Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s supper should be celebrated frequently in the church, and there is good reason for doing so on each Lord’s day . . . The New Testament envisages the use of one loaf and a common cup. It would be good to maintain this symbolism today.

The Meaning of ‘Cup’ in Luke 22:20 and 1 Corinthians 11:25

126

The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness

Lindsey-DickSon Debate on One Loaf in Communion

How Should We Break the bread? Why?

The Communio

127

128

129

130

131

132

The First Day of the Week

133

134

The Bread Which We Break

Bibliography

Barclay, William

Bibens, Smith,

Brandt, John L

Brewer, G. C.

Davies, J. G.

Dollar, George W.

Ferguson, Sinclair B

House, H. Wayne

Kilmartin, Edward J.

Mattox, F. W.

Pendleton, James M.

Stookey, Laurence Hull

Unger, Merrill F

Wade, Ronny F

Walton, Robert C

This article compliments of the Church of Christ at Pacific Washington
cocpw.com
BibleTruthsToU@gmail.com
www.LetTheBibleSpeak.com
www.NewTestaamentChhurch.org
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Sunday, August 3, 2008

A Bible Study on the Lord's Supper

Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.”(NAS, NIV, NKJV, Amplified) (1 Corinthians 11:24-25; Luke 22:19)

1) How many loaves did Jesus take? (Matthew 26.26)
2) What kind of bread did Jesus take? (Matthew 26:17; Exodus 12:15, 19-20)
3) What drink did Jesus take? (Matthew 26:27-29)
4) Did Jesus drink of the “fruit of the vine”?
(Matthew 26:29, Mark 14:24-25)
5) How many cups did Jesus take? (Matthew 26:27)
6) How many cups did Jesus give to His disciples? (Mark 14:23)
7) What did the disciples do ? (Mark 14:23)

What do the symbols of the Lord’s Supper represent?
1) What does the bread represent ? (Matthew 26:26)
2) We are “one body” because we all ______ of the _____ loaf
(1 Corinthians 10:16)
3) Is the church, the spiritual “body of Christ”?
(Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 1 ;22-23)
4) What does the one loaf here represent?
(1 Corinthians 10:16-17)
5) When and how do we illustrate the unity of the church?
6) What does the fruit of the vine represent? (Matthew 26:28)
7) Is the blood of Christ the same identical thing as the New Covenant?(Hebrews 9:15-20)
8) If the fruit of the vine represents the blood of Jesus, what represents the covenant? (Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25)

The relationship between the Passover and the Lord’s Supper.
1) What was to be killed and cooked and eaten whole (unbroken)?
(Exodus 12:3-20, 43-49; 13:6-9)
2) Was the Passover Lamb a “type” or “shadow” of Christ?
(John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7)
3) Was Christ’s body physically whole (unbroken)?
(John 19:32-36)
4) What Scripture do you think this fulfilled?
5) When was the Lord’s Supper instituted? (Luke 22:7-8)
6) How many loaves must be used to figuratively represent Christ’s body?
7) Was any “leavening” or yeast (which represents sin) allowed during the Passover week?
(Exodus 13:6-9; 1 Corinthians 5:7-8)
8) Could the bread or the “fruit of the vine” have contained leavening or yeast, then?

Fill in the following summary of the spiritual representations contained in the Lord’s Supper:
1) _______________________ represents the body of Christ.
2) _______________________ represents the blood of Christ.
3) _______________________ represents the New Covenant.

What is the purpose of the Lord’s Supper?
1) What is it’s purpose? (1 Corinthians 11:24)
2) Was Christ’s body physically “broken”, or figuratively “broken” by death? (John 19:32-36)
4) What else does the one loaf represent?
(1 Corinthians 10:16-17)
5) Do we illustrate the unity of the church by partaking of the one loaf as Christ directed?
6) What would we illustrate by using multiple loaves and multiple cups in the Lord’s Supper?

The importance of partaking properly of the Lord’s Supper.
1) Can we bring judgment upon ourselves if we partake in an improper manner?(1 Corinthians 11:29-30)
2) What are we to do before we partake of the Lord’s Supper?
(1 Corinthians 11:28-32)

Do we have authority to change the Lord’s Supper?
1) If some element of the Lord’s supper has a spiritual meaning, can we alter that particular element in any way?
2) If Jesus said. “Do this ... in remembrance of Me.” can we change what He did in observing His Supper and still honor Him?

When are Christians to partake of the Lord’s Supper?
1) For what purpose did the disciples come together?
(Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 11;18-22, esp. 20; 10:16)
2) On what day did they do this?
(Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1-2; Revelation 1:10)
3) Remembering the purpose of the Lord’s Supper, Acts 2:41-42, the day of Jesus’ resurrection (John 20:1-2; Luke 24:1-6), Jesus’ appearances on the “first day” (John 20:19-20; Luke. 24:13-15), can it be necessarily inferred that the disciples met to partake of the Lord’s Supper every “first day” as part of the worship service (from Acts 20:7)?
4) When, then, should Christians partake of the Lord’s Supper?

Who breaks the bread in the Lord’s Supper?
1) Who breaks the bread in the Lord’s Supper? (1 Corinthians 10:16-17)
2) Is each person, then, to break off a piece as they partake of the loaf?
3) Is the cup also to be passed to each person as they partake of the grapejuice? (Mark 14:23)

WHAT CAN YOU DO? You can accept the authority of Christ by doing what He commanded (Matthew 7:21; John 14:15; 15:10-14; Luke 6:46). Notice the pattern for becoming a Christian as revealed in the Scriptures. The Gospel was heard, resulting in faith (Romans 10:17). Repentance of (turning away from) sin (Acts 17:30) and confession of Jesus as the Son of God followed (Romans 10:10). Believers were baptized INTO Christ for the remission (forgiveness) of sins (See Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2:12; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Mark 16:16; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Peter 3:20-21), and added to His church (Acts 2:47). Christians were taught to be faithful even to the point of death (Revelation 2:10).

WE WELCOME YOU Following the instructions of the Scriptures, members of Christ’s body [collectively called the “churches of Christ” Romans 16:16),] assemble as congregations for worship, encouragement, and Bible study. The congregation in your community welcomes you to investigate the Bible with us. With a spirit of brotherly love we would seek to reconcile any differences by following the Bible ONLY. We recognize the Bible as God’s inspired word, the ONLY reliable standard of faith and practice. We desire the unity for which Christ prayed and which the Bible emphasizes in the expression, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” Together we seek to maintain “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

A friendly welcome awaits you. We do not wish to embarrass you in any way. You will not be asked for contributions. We assemble for Bible study and worship each Sunday morning and we welcome you to meet with us. We would be happy to talk to you about your questions and we want to be of encouragement.

If you have any comments or questions --- or would like the location and contact names of a congregation of the church belonging to Jesus Christ near you, please e-mail me at BibleTruths@hotmail.com or call 253-396-0290. Thanks Dennis Crawford, editor.

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How Should the Lord's Supper
Be Observed?

How Should the Lord's Supper Be Observed? by Rick Cutter
The Lord's Supper, also called the "Communion," is a simple memorial of the death of Christ - the most renowned event in history.

Unfortunately, the mechanics of how it should be observed has been a lamentable and unnecessary source of much division, uncertainty, and confusion across the "Christian" religious world. Of course, the proper way for us to avoid division is to ensure our practices are in harmony with the "ultimate authority" - the Word of God .

God's Word is complete and contains all relevant truth for the Christian (2 Timothy 3:16-17; John 16:13; & 17:17). Not 80% of God's will, 90% of God's will, or even 99% of God's will. It's 100% complete. Everything we need to know about what we need to do as Christians is in the Bible. Obviously, this includes what we need to know about the Lord's Supper.

Furthermore, God has expressly prohibited any adding to or subtracting from His Word (Dueteronomy 4:2 & 12:32; Proverbs 30:6; & 119:160; Hebrews 13:7; Revelation 22:18-19; Matthew 24:35; Luke 16:17; Acts 20:27). Therefore, it is God's Word alone with which this article will be entirely concerned. The prophet of old summed it up quite well when he said: "I would not be able to go beyond the word of the Lord, to do either good or bad of my own will; what the Lord speaks, that will I speak" (Numbers 24:13).

In this article we want to survey the following:

1) How did Christ observe the Communion? Since Christ was the One who instituted the Lord's Supper, investigating this should give us vital clues on how He wants it to be observed today.

2) How did the Apostolic Church observe the Lord's Supper? Did they follow Christ's original pattern or was this unimportant?

3) How did the Jews observe the Passover? Understanding this is important since Christ instituted the first Communion right after the conclusion of the Passover. Therefore, knowing how the Jews practiced the Passover gives us insight into the mechanics of Communion.

4) How did the Post-Apostolic Church observe Communion? This is interesting since it gives us information about whether or not the Church continued to follow the Biblical pattern of Christ and the Apostles, or whether they felt it was unimportant.

5) When did significant change occur in the Communion, and why? This section helps us understand when the first major changes to certain aspects of Communion occurred, and what was behind these changes.

6) Opposing Arguments to Biblical Communion. This final section examines 10 top reasons why many choose not to follow the Biblical pattern of Communion, and the problems in their logic.

HOW DID CHRIST OBSERVE
THE COMMUNION?
Since Christ was the One who originated the Supper, and since He's the central focus of the Supper itself --- then most people would probably agree that finding out exactly how He instituted it is of paramount importance. Since this is the logical starting point, we begin by noticing exactly how Christ observed Communion.

Matthew 26:26-29. The first Biblical account of the Lord's Supper is in Matthew 26:26-29 (inside brackets are author's comments; all Biblical quotations are from the New American Standard Version):
“And while they [the disciples] were eating [during the Jewish Passover Feast], Jesus took some bread [unleavened because that's all that was allowed during Passover], and after a blessing [prayer], He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is [represents] My body.’ And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it [the cup] to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you; For this [what you are drinking] is My blood of the covenant [the New Covenant of Christ], which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine [what was inside the cup] from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.’ "

That's it. As you can see, it's incredibly simple: Jesus was sitting at a table with His disciples eating the Passover Supper. At the end of the Passover Supper, Jesus simply took a loaf of bread (the original Greek word artos means "loaf"). He then thanked God for it in prayer. He then broke it (or broke a piece from it, literally a fragment from it, according to the original Greek) and gave the rest to His disciples. He then issued a command: He told them to eat it - not from the bread that was probably directly in front of each of them, but from the same loaf He had blessed and given to them.

But why did Christ do this? Why did Christ take a loaf? Because of its symbolism. The bread represented, or symbolized Christ's body. Of course, the disciples probably didn't realize what Christ meant by all of this - they were oblivious to the fact that He was going to be crucified the very next day - within 24 hours. Not realizing this, they probably did not make the connection that the loaf would represent Christ's body, which would soon be dying on a cross to take away the sins of the world. Furthermore, we know the bread was unleavened because the Jews did not allow leaven in their homes during the Passover Feast (Exodus 12:15).

Next of all, Christ took "a cup" [containing liquid "fruit of the vine" or grape juice]. He gave thanks [prayed] for it. He then gave this same cup to the disciples and asked each of them to drink from that cup. It is important to realize that although each of the disciples probably had individual cups in front of them (we'll see why in a moment), Christ did not "propose a toast" here - but rather, He asked His disciples to do something a bit strange - a bit inconvenient - something they would not understand until later. He asked them to all drink from the same cup, from His cup.

This is an important point that should not be "glossed over." Think about the extra effort required in what Christ did here. Wouldn't it have been easier and more sanitary for Christ to have asked each of them to eat the bread nearest them and perhaps directly in front of them? Wouldn't it have been more convenient for Him to have proposed a toast and asked each of His disciples to simply drink from their own cups that were undoubtedly sitting in front of them? But, instead, Christ asked His disciples to all share the same cup. Why? Why go to all this extra trouble? Was it all meaningless?

Of course, sincere Bible students realize that Christ did not conduct His life frivolously. Everything He did here had meaning, significance, and purpose. We are going to notice that not only did the loaf, cup, and fruit of the vine contain symbolism, but so also did the "oneness" of the loaf and cup. Said another way, the fact that there was only one cup and one loaf was just as symbolic as the loaf itself and the cup itself and the fruit of the vine itself. Paul explains all of this in I Corinthians 10, a passage we will notice shortly.

Finally, in verses 28 and 29, Jesus explains His actions. He explains that the "fruit of the vine" (v 29) they drank represented His blood, which in the next few hours He would shed for the forgiveness of the world's sins. (Note that Jesus did not use the common Biblical word "wine," but rather "fruit of the vine," strongly suggesting that this was not fermented wine, but the natural fruit, or product, of the vine.)

Later, in I Corinthians 11:25 (to be examined shortly), Paul will explain that not only did the fruit of the vine represent Christ's blood, but the cup from which He drank also had great symbolism; it represented the "New Testament" which was ratified by Christ's death on the cross.

The only other 2 accounts of Christ's institution of the Lord's Supper, Mark 14:22-25, and Luke 22:14-20, essentially say the same thing as Matthew 26:26-29.

A Brief Summary. In summary, Christ's example of the Communion went like this: He took a loaf of unleavened bread, He gave thanks for it, and He ate a fragment from it and then passed the loaf on to His disciples, commanding them to do the same.

He then took a cup containing "fruit of the vine"; He gave thanks for it, drank from it, and then gave the cup to His disciples commanding them to all drink from the same cup as well. While doing these things He explained what it all meant. The bread represented His own body (to be sacrificed shortly, like the Passover Lamb, for the sins of the whole world). We also know the cup represented the New Covenant between God and man (I Corinthians 11:25; Hebrews 8:7-13); and the fruit of the vine within the cup represented the blood He would soon shed. In essence, it was an extremely simple memorial packed with meaning.

HOW DID THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH OBSERVE
THE LORD'S SUPPER?
We've just noticed how Christ and His disciples observed the original institution of the Lord's Supper. We've seen how Christ went to special effort to be sure the disciples all drank from one cup and not from their own individual cups; and that they all ate from one loaf and not from individual pieces of bread; and how that basically everything He did had important symbolism.

Due to the special and particular effort of Christ in originating the Lord's Supper, it should come as no surprise that this is exactly the way the Apostolic churches of the 1st century were commanded to observe the Lord's Supper. Regardless of the many various and interesting man-made approaches to Communion among modern Christians, we're about to discover that the Church founded by Christ and established by His Apostles was strictly instructed to keep it exactly as it had been originally delivered by Christ.

I Corinthians 11:23-34. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he found himself writing to some spiritual babes in Christ who were having difficulty comprehending several fundamental concepts of Christianity. Among their challenges were divisions, gross immorality, and misunderstandings about the resurrection - to name a few.

Also among their problems was a misunderstanding concerning the correct observance of the Lord's Supper. Like many modern day churches, the Corinthians didn't realize it was unacceptable to observe the Lord's Supper "just any old' way you please." This is why I Corinthians 11 is an extremely important chapter, because it essentially silences any conjecture about how the Lord's Supper was to be properly observed.

According to I Corinthians 11:17-22, the Corinthians were divided. And although it's not completely clear just exactly what was going on at Corinth during Communion, fortunately it's not important to know all the trivial details. The main thing to know is that they were doing it wrong and Paul was about to tell them how to do it right:

“20 Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper. For in your eating each one takes his own supper first... What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God...What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you.”

Stern words indeed! The Corinthians had corrupted the Lord's Supper to Paul's conspicuous displeasure. And it no doubt shocked them to know they were not eating the Lord's Supper at all! They certainly thought so. After all, they were assembling, they were communing, and they were remembering Christ - weren't they? True, but the problem was that they had altered this simple memorial to the extent Paul would say, in effect, "it's not the Lord's Supper you're eating any more." In other words, they were eating their own Supper rather than the Lord's Supper.

What did Paul do to correct this situation? Did he give them some guidelines totally different from those Christ prescribed in Matthew 26:26-29? Quite to the contrary, Paul directed the Corinthians right back to the way the Supper had been originally observed (I Corinthians 11:23-27):

"For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.’In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.‘ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.”

Doesn't this sound familiar? Needless to say, Paul basically quotes the gospel accounts of how Christ observed the Communion, telling the Corinthians to do exactly the same. In other words, Paul vigorously urged the Corinthians to observe the Lord's Supper - not as they pleased - but exactly as Christ had originally ordained. Even though decades had passed since Christ, in that upper room in Jerusalem, had carefully demonstrated to His disciples proper observance of the Communion - they were still not at liberty "to do things their own way." Changes were not permissible.

But because of the problems the Corinthians were having with this simple memorial, Paul reminded them why it was important to keep it unaltered - because of the symbolism involved. He repeated that the bread represented the Body of Christ, and that the cup was "the new covenant in my blood." The cup literally stood for, or represented, the New Covenant of forgiveness between God and Mankind; a covenant ratified by Christ's blood (symbolized by the fruit of the vine within the cup).

Notice also that Christ commanded His disciples to "Do this" (v 24,25). This is a direct command to do exactly what Christ had done! Christ did not command the Corinthians to "do something else" but to "do this", that is to say, to do exactly what He had done in this simple memorial. Any change was precariously unauthorized.

Then, to remind them of the importance of the Lord's Supper, Paul went on in verse 26 to explain: "as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes." The Lord's Supper was God's way of perpetually keeping the greatest sacrifice ever made before the human race.

Finally, in verse 27, Paul reminded them of the dangers of improperly observing this important memorial. He said: "...whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord." A chilling statement indeed!

The Corinthians were observing the Lord's Supper "every first day of the week." It's very apparent that the Corinthians, under Paul's direction and instruction, were not observing this unprecedented memorial every Easter, nor were they practicing it just whenever they acquired a pious urge; rather, the Corinthians were attending to Communion every single first day of the week. (Notice that they weren't communing every "Sunday" but every "first day of the week" - a day which was understood by early Christians to be the first day following the Jewish Sabbath, i.e., a day which started at dusk on Saturday and ended at dusk on Sunday).

How do we know they communed every first day of the week? Because in I Corinthians 11:18-22 we find that the Corinthians were communing "when they came together." Later on, in I Corinthians 16:1-2, we discover exactly when the Corinthians "came together": "every first day of the week" - a time when they also made financial contributions to the Church, among other things. Therefore if they were coming together "every first day of the week," and if when they came together they were communing (I Corinthians 11:18), then obviously the Corinthians were partaking of the Lord's Supper every first day of the week. Acts 20:7, along with numerous historical references, provides further supporting evidence.

I Corinthians 10:16-17. As you can see, the Bible is incredibly harmonious and uncomplicated when it comes to Communion. And I Corinthians 10:16-17 is no exception:

“Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?”

Notice that when the Corinthians drank of the one cup together, they were "sharing" in the blood of Christ (thus, the Lord's Supper is also called "Communion," which means "sharing," or "joint participation"). The point is, they were to share the one cup rather than drink from individual cups.”

With the bread it was the same. They were to share it as well, rather than have individual fragments of pre-broken bread. Paul explains this better in the next verse:

“17 Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.”

Paul makes it plain that all the Corinthians were partaking of "one bread." Why were they doing this? Why the inconvenience, why - as some would hysterically suggest - this needless exposure to germs? Because, according to Paul, the "oneness" of the bread represented unity in the body of Christ, or Church of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23). If one bread represents one body (or one unified Church), what do you think many individual loaves must represent to God? Would it not represent the division caused by the introduction of these innovations to worship?

There's no question that God considers division to be a great sin(I Corinthians 1:10). Soon we're going to show that it was not until almost 1900 that the concept of multiple cups and multiple loaves was sizably advanced among Christian churches - and it predictably led to immediate and major division.

When symbols are changed, meanings also change. As a final review, let's briefly inspect each item of the Communion containing symbolism:

1) The Bread symbolized the literal body of Christ, as well as the spiritual body of Christ, the Church.
2) The Cup symbolized the New Testament, or New Covenant, that God made with mankind.
3) The oneness of the loaf represented the unity of Christ's Church.
4) And the oneness of the cup represented the one and final New Testament, or Covenant, we have with God.
Obviously, if any of these symbolic items are changed, the symbolism changes too. And, the same reasoning used to justify one modification may also be used to justify any other modification.

For example, if I change the oneness of the cup (i.e., have multiple cups in Communion), why can't I change the contents to water, or coke? If I change the loaf to crackers, why not change it to a hamburger? In fact, why do I need to drink or eat anything during Communion? Isn't this a spiritual observance, anyway? Can't I just "think it?" After all, isn't remembering Christ the main idea? One of the inconsistencies in the logic of those who oppose Biblical Communion is that these same people would greatly object if someone decided to use water instead of grape juice or a hamburger instead of unleavened bread - and well they should.
It is also important to realize that while some items involved in the Communion were symbolic, some "items" were not. The things symbolic cannot be changed without destroying the intended symbolism. The things that are not symbolic are not important, and may be scripturally changed. They are "incidentals."

For example, Christ also commemorated the memorial at night, in an upper room, in Jerusalem, with 12 other men. Does this mean we all have to commune in Jerusalem, at night, in an upper room, with exactly 12 other men? Certainly, if Christ had given symbolism to any of these things then we would be required to copy His actions. However, because He did not, we don’t. In fact, it would be just as wrong to give symbolism to something that lacked it as it would be to take away symbolism from something that did not.

HOW DID THE JEWS OBSERVE
THE PASSOVER?
"Why is it important to know how the Jews observed the Passover?" someone might ask. As we have just seen, Christ chose to originate Communion just after the Passover Feast had ended. He did this for profound spiritual reasons. Paul referred to Christ as "our Passover Lamb" who was sacrificed for us (I Corinthians 5:7). Clearly, Paul was making a connection between Christ's crucifixion and the killing of the Passover lamb. Jesus was also called "the Lamb of God" (John 1:35). Therefore the fact that Christ chose to originate the Lord's Supper right after the Passover dinner and during the Passover feast itself was no accident. What this means is that understanding more about the Passover will only serve to help us better understand the Lord's Supper and how Christ expected us to observe it.

The Passover was an annual Jewish celebration of their freedom from Egyptian bondage under the leadership of Moses around 1500 B. C. The celebration, or "feast," lasted 7 days. The word "Passover" was derived from the 10th plague God sent on Egypt (when all the firstborn sons in Egypt were to be killed by the destroying angel - Exodus 12:3-40); the angel "passed over" the houses of the Israelites. The feast is also sometimes called "the Feast of Unleavened Bread" because the Israelites hastily baked unleavened bread before departing Egypt, thus the Jews were commanded to observe the Passover using only unleavened bread. During the Passover the Jews also developed customs over time that involved drinking "fruit of the vine" from various cups - a custom we will now notice in more detail.

Although we will not go into great detail about the Passover, let's briefly examine what historians and scholars have said regarding some of the Passover's mechanics. The following quotations we owe to the work of George Hogland in his tract "The Cup of the Lord, Is it the Fruit of the Vine Only?" Underlines have been added for emphasis:

Eadies Biblical Cyclopedia, by John Eadie
Comments on I Corinthians 10:16

“The master of the feast took a cup of wine in his hand and solemnly blessed God for it and for all the mercies which were then acknowledged. It was now passed to all the guests, each of whom drank of it in turn.”

Greek New Testament with English Notes, by J.A. Spencer
Comments on Mark 14:23
“At the Passover the guests all drank out of the same cup.”

Hastings Dictionary of the New Testament
Vol 2, pages 326-7
“A cup of red wine, mixed with water was poured out for each guest...at the Passover Supper each participant had his own cup to drink from...”

Lenski's the Interpretation of Matthew
Page 1027
“Whether a different cup was used for each of the four or five times of drinking in connection with the Passover, or whether only one cup was used and this was refilled as needed is not certain and quite immaterial. The point is that Jesus instituted the sacrament with the use of one cup and that He bade all the disciples to drink out of this one cup.”

The Broadman Bible Commentary
Page 164
“In common practice each person had his own cup in the celebration of the Passover. But here all the disciples drink from Jesus' cup. While realizing that some of these men were attaching their own opinions and comments, they seem to basically agree that each participant in the Passover had a cup of his own, although it was also common for the master of the Passover feast to have a common cup from which all the participants drank. It's therefore readily apparent that these historical/ scholarly accounts fit flawlessly with the Biblical description of how Jesus observed Communion. He took His cup, blessed it, and passed it to each of His disciples. Although they had their own cups and easily could have used them, Jesus insisted that they all drink from His.”

HOW DID THE POST-APOSTOLIC CHURCH
OBSERVE COMMUNION?
We've already shown how Christ observed the Communion; and we've shown how Paul instructed the early Church to follow the same original pattern. We've seen that historical accounts of the Passover also harmonize seamlessly with the Biblical account. But what about early Church history? How did the Church observe the Communion after the death of the Apostles? How was it done in the 2nd Century and beyond?

While baptism, Church government, worship, and many other original patterns of worship were rapidly revised after the passing of the Apostles - one-cup Communion, by contrast, was such a simple fact of plain Biblical interpretation that it remained intact for almost 1900 years.

Naturally, it's greatly inadvisable to pattern today's Church after any historical church excepting the one described in the Bible, for one can cite all sorts of godless acts performed officially by "churches of Christendom" down through the ages. However, history is valuable in that it reveals important information concerning how the vast majority of Christian churches observed Communion before they became too steeped in the Apostatizing influences of the Roman Catholic Church.

So, let's look at some historical quotes of the early Church regarding Communion. We owe thanks for most of these to J. D. Phillips' tract: "The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness Being a Treatise to Restore the Scriptural Observance of the Lord's Supper":

Ante-Nicene Fathers
Vol. 1, page 81
Quote of Ignatius, bishop in the Church at Antioch, martyred in 107
“There is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup in the unity of His blood...”

Vol. 1, page 185
Justin Martyr (Christian leader martyred in 165)
“There is then brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of wine. The sacrifice which we offer in His name, according to the commandment of Jesus Christ, i.e., in the Eucharist of the Bread and of the Cup, and which are offered by Christians in all places throughout the world.”

Against Heresies
By Irenaeus (130-202?), bishop of Lyons
“...the bread and the mingled cup...the cup of the Eucharist, the communion of His blood...When the mingled cup and the...bread received the Word of God, the Eucharist becomes the body and blood of Christ.”

The Ante-Nicene Fathers to 325 A.D.
Vol VII, Page 554 [quote taken from about 200 A.D.]
“The priest...says a prayer...then breaks the bread, and holds the half in his right hand, and the half in his left...And when he gives a single piece to each chalice, he says...”

Ad Caecilium Dominici Calicis, Ep 63, 62, 16
Cyprian, Christian martyred in 258 A.D.
“Since Christ says: "I am the true vine," the blood of Christ is not, therefore, water, but wine; nor can His blood appear to be in the cup by which we have been redeemed and made alive, when the wine is absent from the chalice by which the blood of Christ is shown forth...Seeing that they drink the cup of Christ's blood..."

Ambrose (340-397), bishop at Milan
Theodorst Hist. Eccl.
Vol 17
“We, receiving of one loaf and one cup are receivers and partakers of the body of the Lord...With what rashness dost thou [the Emperor Theodosius] take with thy mouth the cup of precious blood, when by the fury of thy words innocent blood has been spilt.”

Ambrose (340-397), bishop at Milan
Book on the Sacraments
L. IV, Ch. 4
“Wine is put into the cup...”

Ancient Liturgy of the Church of Antioch
Chrysostom (347-407), bishop at Constantinople
“One body is now available for all, and one cup...”

Ad Neophytos, I
Augustine (354-430), early Christian writer
“Receive in the cup that which was shed from Christ's side...”

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers
Second Series, Vol 14, Page 138-9
“The others [deacons] bring and set upon the altar the breads and chalices prepared for the sacred banquet...then taking his inspiration from the last words...and declaring that it is in order to observe this memorial...this eucharistic bread and wine...”

What history seems to be saying is that, while a few isolated cases of multi-cup Communion started emerging by 200 A.D., and while other innovations to Communion were also surfacing (wine in Communion, transubstantiation, etc) the vast majority of early "Christian" churches worshipped as Christ and the Apostles had done - with one cup and one loaf. It was apparently not until almost 200 years after Christ's institution of the Lord's Supper that any case of individual cups in Communion could be found whatsoever. In fact, even with the many false teachers about whom Christ and the apostles had warned the Church repeatedly, it was not until almost 1900 that multiple cups/loaves in Communion became widespread in any Christian church of any sort.

While infant baptism, superstitions, and various blatant doctrinal errors flooded Christian churches almost immediately - one-cup Communion remained constant for practically 1900 years. And this shouldn't come as a big surprise considering the utter plainness and simplicity of the Bible on this topic.

WHEN DID SIGNIFICANT CHANGE OCCUR
IN THE COMMUNION, AND WHY?
As has just been noted, although isolated cases of individual cups can be found in history, the vast majority of Christian churches clung quite adamantly to one-cup Communion. As has been mentioned, it was apparently not until almost 1900 that widespread changes were made to the Lord's Supper. Though several men have clamored to take "credit" for the lamentable Church divisions caused by these innovations, it seems the man most deserving was the "Reverend" and Presbyterian preacher J. G. Thomas, MD, who was granted a patent in 1894 for individual cups. His congregation was presumably the first to use patented multiple cups for Communion. Of course, their introduction received bitter opposition in virtually all denominations.

G. C. Brewer, in his book Forty Years on the Firing Line (1948), boasted: "I think I was the first preacher to advocate the use of the individual communion cup and the first church in the State of Tennessee that adopted it was the church for which I was preaching...after a long struggle, I got the individual communion service into [another congregation]. Of course, I was fought both privately and publicly and several brethren took me to task in the religious papers and called me digressive."

The Lutherans were strongly opposed to the introduction of individual cups. Listen to the Lutheran commentator Lenski on Luke 22:20: "...Jesus instituted the sacrament with a common cup that was used for all the disciples. Any change in what Jesus did, which has back of it the idea that he would not do the same thing today for sanitary or esthetic reasons, casts a reflection on Jesus which is too grave to be allowed when He is giving us His sacrificial blood to drink."

Why all the change after 1900 years?

One might wonder why, after so many centuries, Christians suddenly "got the urge" to alter what Jesus, the Apostles, and the vast majority of Christian churches throughout the ages had consistently practiced. The motives behind these changes are rather predictable. After 1900 years of adhering relatively close to the Apostolic pattern - due to 19th century medical research - the world was becoming more and more aware of little, microscopic organisms called "germs."

Due to the discovery of these germs, apparently some religious leaders felt it was time to take decisive action for the safety of the churches. They ostensibly believed that Christ and Paul had either overlooked or totally forgotten about these little organisms when instructing the disciples and early congregations to all drink from a common cup. But doesn't it seem odd that Christ and the Holy Spirit - both directly involved in the universe's creation - somehow unanimously and inexplicably acquired "bacterial amnesia" until primitive 19th century scientists helped them out?

How quickly we forget the words of Paul:
"the foolishness of God is wiser than men"
(I Corinthians 1:25).

Yet, incredibly, after almost 1900 years, "modern man" felt he had discovered something God had overlooked, felt he had a "better idea," an idea that was destined from baseless fears to destroy the simple symbolism intended by Christ in the Communion and divide churches across the world.

Thus, germs were the culprits precipitating the wave of fear in the Church, fear of the unknown. This anxiety immediately compelled some to consider alternatives to the scriptural method of Communion. And it wasn't long before scriptural justifications for such innovations were being carefully crafted. In a moment we will notice some of the complicated and convoluted argumentation invented to confuse this otherwise rudimentary issue and thus win followers - argumentation used by those who had decided first that cups would be necessary for hygienic reasons before finally looking to the Scriptures for divine justification.

It's also worth noting that this new-found logic was unknown before men decided they wanted to use multiple cups in the Communion. Believe it or not, scholars did not read all the plain Bible verses on Communion and then exclaim: "We should have been using multiple cups all along!" It was clearly the other way around. It was first decided - due to the discovery of germs - that individual cups would be necessary; then men looked for Biblical justification.

WHAT CAN YOU DO? You can accept the authority of Christ by doing what He commanded (Matthew 7:21; John 14:15; 15:10-14; Luke 6:46). Notice the pattern for becoming a Christian as revealed in the Scriptures. The Gospel was heard, resulting in faith (Romans 10:17). Repentance of (turning away from) sin (Acts 17:30) and confession of Jesus as the Son of God followed (Romans 10:10). Believers were baptized INTO Christ for the remission (forgiveness) of sins (See Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2:12; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Mark 16:16; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Peter 3:20-21), and added to His church (Acts 2:47). Christians were taught to be faithful even to the point of death (Revelation 2:10).

WE WELCOME YOU Following the instructions of the Scriptures, members of Christ’s body [collectively called the “churches of Christ” Romans 16:16),] assemble as congregations for worship, encouragement, and Bible study. The congregation in your community welcomes you to investigate the Bible with us. With a spirit of brotherly love we would seek to reconcile any differences by following the Bible ONLY. We recognize the Bible as God’s inspired word, the ONLY reliable standard of faith and practice. We desire the unity for which Christ prayed and which the Bible emphasizes in the expression, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” Together we seek to maintain “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

A friendly welcome awaits you. We do not wish to embarrass you in any way. You will not be asked for contributions. We assemble for Bible study and worship each Sunday morning and we welcome you to meet with us. We would be happy to talk to you about your questions and we want to be of encouragement.

If you have any comments or questions --- or would like the location and contact names of a congregation of the church belonging to Jesus Christ near you, please contact me at BibleTruthsToU@gmail.com or 253-396-0290 (cell). Thanks Dennis Crawford, editor
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