Quotations From The Answer To question (19) Of The " 100 Tough Questions about God And The Bibble " By Stephen M. Miller.

By Sodium

Re-citing Question (19):
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" Why do many Christians say the wine and bread of communion actually turn into Jesus' blood and body ? ".

Quotation One:
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" Of all the rituals Christians perform, including marriage ceremonies and baptism, there's one ritual that stand out as the most secred at all-at least in the mind many Christians.It's the ritual of eating a piece of bread and drinking a sip of grape juice or wine. This ritual goes by many names
 
   * Communion
   * The Lord Supper
   * Eucharist
   * Mass

It's so cherished because it's not a ritual that the disciples or other church leaders decided to create. It's the one ritual that Jesus himself established. He set up during his last meal with the disciples, the night of his arrest. Apparently anticipating his crucifixion the next morning. "

Quotation Two:
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Stephen Miller provides the following reference from the Bible to confirm that Jesus himself established such a revered ritual, indeed:

" Jesus took some bread in his hands and gave thanks for it. He broe the bread and handed it to his apostles. Then he said, " This is my body, which is given for you. Eat this as a way of remembering me! "  After the meal he took another cup of wine in his hands.  (he said, " This is my blood. It is poured out for you. "  Luke 22:19-20 CEV "

Quotation Three::
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" Today, most Protestants would say that the bread and grape juice or wine that their ministers serve during the sacrament of Communion is just that: bread and juice. It simply represents the broken body and shed blood of Jesus. It's a metaphor. "

Quotation Four:
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" Catholics and Orthodox Christians insist that Jesus said " This is my body and blood, " not " This is a Metaphor."

Quotation Five:
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Stephen Miller says that " Some twenty years after Jesus, Paul said this when he described the ritual to Christians in Corinth (Turkey): "

" What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your words and action the death of the Master. You will be drawn back to this meal again and again until the Master returns. "  1 Corinthians 11:26 THE MESSAGE

He called the elements " bread " and " drink, " not the body and blood of Jesus. "

Quotation Six:
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Finally, Stephen Miller provide the following historical information:

" The first church handbook skipped it "  and he wrote:

" The church's first known manual--Didache ( DID ah KAY; Greek: " teaching " )--does not say a word about the bread and winemorphing into flesh and blood. "

Final Words:
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NO COMMENTS.

END.