From the book, “What People Ask About The Church,” by Dale A. Robbins — 35 — This accusation has been around even since the times of Christ, but
is a misunderstanding of scriptures which use symbolic language, such as is seen here:
"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" (John 6:53). Obviously, Jesus was not inviting his followers to literally eat his
body and blood, but was speaking metaphorically of Himself as the Passover lamb,
describing a spiritual nourishing which would be provided from His atonement. Later,
during His last supper, Jesus served bread and grape juice to his disciples as symbols of
His broken body and shed blood, to show how the value of His sufferings must be consumed
spiritually within and become a part of every believer. In 1215, the Roman Catholic Church embraced the idea of "transubstantiation," which is the belief that during Holy Communion, the bread and juice actually turn into the blood and body of Jesus. However, there is no evidence to support this idea in scripture. This article is copyrighted © by Dale A. Robbins, 1995, and is a publication of Victorious Publications, Grass Valley, CA 95949. Unless otherwise stated, all scripture references were taken from The New King James Bible, © Thomas Nelson Inc., 1982.You may download for personal use as long as you retain credit to the author. Obtain permission before reproducing copies for any reason, by filling out our simple permission form. For media reproduction rights, or to obtain published quantities of this title, email us. |
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