The early Christians came together to eat the Lord’s meal. This was a festive community meal, that “proclaimed the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). When they gathered around the table they gave thanks, broke bread, and ate their meal, which concluded after the cup was passed around. This was a Jesus-centered, every-member participating community, celebrating his reign, around his table. But this quickly changed.
Frank Viola and George Barna, in their book Pagan Christianity? do a great job summing up what this Christian banquet has mutated into:
Today, tradition has forced us to take the Supper as a tongue-tickling thimble of grape juice and a tiny, tasteless bite-sized cracker. The Supper is often taken in an atmosphere of solemnity. We are told to remember the horrors of our Lord’s death and to reflect on our sins.
How did this happen? Why was this Jesus celebration replaced with a solemn ceremony, including only a small piece of cracker and a few drops of juice?
Well, beginning in the middle of the second century, the bread and the cup began to be separated from the meal, and before the dawn of the third century they were completely separated. By the time of the fourth century, the “love feast” was prohibited among Christians! The new practice of bread and cup alone began to be called the Eucharist, meaning thanksgiving.
With this change came others as well. The Supper went from being a community event, to a priestly ritual to be observed at a distance by the laity. The bishop took on a special role in the ritual, much like the role of high priest and eventually one had to be administered the “sacraments” by the priest. Chrysostom (347-407), bishop of Constantinople, separated the idea of sacrifice from communion, and believed that the priest offered the sacrifice to God, and the people took communion.
Along with this change, the bread and cup came to be viewed with an altar mentality rather than a table mentality. John Mark Hicks in his book Come to the Table does an excellent job at showing the history of sacrifices and celebrations within the Jewish and pagan traditions. The altar was the place of sacrifice, the place where sins were dealt with, the place where the victim was offered. But following the sacrifice at the altar came the celebration, where the participants relished in joy at the work of their god in taking away their sins. The celebration of the early Christians took place at the table, but a few centuries later this ritual took place at the altar. Naturally, this led to the participants having a somber attitude during this ritual rather than a joyous one. After all, the altar has always been a more solemn place than the table.
The Eucharist took on an aura of mysticism and superstition. The bread and the cup were viewed as holy objects in and of themselves. By the time of Gregory the Great (540-604) the sacrifice of the mass was fully established. It came to be believed that the bread and wine actually changed into the Lord’s physical body and blood during the Eucharist (The doctrine of transubstantiation, which explained how that change occurred, was not worked out until the 11th-13th centuries). These changes led to the people approaching these elements with fear and dread, as well as confusion and mystery. This remained the case in the Catholic Church until the reformers (14th-16th centuries), began to question and condemn many practices of the Pope and the priesthood, including transubstantiation. With the rise of Protestantism, the idea that the bread and the wine became the literal flesh and blood of Jesus during this sacrifice by the priest was rejected by newly forming Protestant denominations. The title given to this ritual was also changed from “Eucharist” to “Holy Communion.” Although there were tweaks here and there, the practice still appeared to be very similar to that of medieval Catholicism. The ritual still consisted of only a bite-sized piece of bread or cracker and a very small amount of wine or juice. The mood was still somber, and the people observing the ritual still for the most part sat in silence as they maintained the altar mentality. They were no longer served by a priest but now a pastor, although it was awful hard to tell much of a difference between the two.
The 17th and 18th centuries saw the beginning and development of “The Restoration Movement.” Unfortunately, in regard to the Communion ritual, those involved in the restoration movement kept virtually the same practices as most throughout mainline Protestantism. They just vowed to go thru this ritual more often, and renamed the altar table the communion table. With the restoration movement came the phrase “The Lord’s Supper,” taken from 1 Corinthians 11:20, being used as a title for this ritual, although the practice was still far from that of early Christians.
This is a brief trace of the history behind our current practice of the Lord’s Supper. This is information that I have learned in an effort to investigate my own beliefs and practices and in response to continually asking myself the question, “Why do you do what you do?” I encourage you to investigate for yourself, and find out why it is that you do what you do, and why you believe what you believe.
Sources
The Holy Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2011.
The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament by Craig Keener. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
From Symposium To Eucharist by Dennis E. Smith. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Fortress Press, 2003.
Come To The Table by John Mark Hicks. Abilene, Texas: Leafwood, 2002.
Making a Meal of It by Ben Witherington III. Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 2007.
Pagan Christianity? by Frank Viola and George Barna. Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 2008.
Reimagining Church by Frank Viola. Colorado Springs, Colorado: David Cook, 2008.
The Eternal Kingdom by F.W. Mattox. Delight Arkansas: Gospel Light Publishing Company, 1961.
No comments:
Post a Comment