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The Episcopalian POV: Maybe. If you wanna believe that, you can. If you want to think the Eucharist is just a "remembrance", you can believe that, too. Or anything in between, which is where most of us fall, I think.
47 Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life.
48 I am the bread of life.
49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.
50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die.
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh.”
52 At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”
53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you.
54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 For My flesh is real food, and My blood is real drink.
56 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him.
57 Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me.
58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this bread will live forever.”
89:9.3 (984.2) The ancient social brotherhoods were based on the rite of blood drinking; the early Jewish fraternity was a sacrificial blood affair. Paul started out to build a new Christian cult on “the blood of the everlasting covenant.” And while he may have unnecessarily encumbered Christianity with teachings about blood and sacrifice, he did once and for all make an end of the doctrines of redemption through human or animal sacrifices. His theologic compromises indicate that even revelation must submit to the graduated control of evolution. According to Paul, Christ became the last and all-sufficient human sacrifice; the divine Judge is now fully and forever satisfied.
89:9.4 (984.3) And so, after long ages the cult of the sacrifice has evolved into the cult of the sacrament. Thus are the sacraments of modern religions the legitimate successors of those shocking early ceremonies of human sacrifice and the still earlier cannibalistic rituals. Many still depend upon blood for salvation, but it has at least become figurative, symbolic, and mystic.
53:3.2 (1712.2) One of the visiting Pharisees, mounting a lampstand, shouted out this question: “You tell us that you are the bread of life. How can you give us your flesh to eat or your blood to drink? What avail is your teaching if it cannot be carried out?” And Jesus answered this question, saying: “I did not teach you that my flesh is the bread of life nor that my blood is the water thereof. But I did say that my life in the flesh is a bestowal of the bread of heaven. The fact of the Word of God bestowed in the flesh and the phenomenon of the Son of Man subject to the will of God, constitute a reality of experience which is equivalent to the divine sustenance. You cannot eat my flesh nor can you drink my blood, but you can become one in spirit with me even as I am one in spirit with the Father. You can be nourished by the eternal word of God, which is indeed the bread of life, and which has been bestowed in the likeness of mortal flesh; and you can be watered in soul by the divine spirit, which is truly the water of life. The Father has sent me into the world to show how he desires to indwell and direct all men; and I have so lived this life in the flesh as to inspire all men likewise ever to seek to know and do the will of the indwelling heavenly Father.”
What I have always found interesting is the parts that those who don’t believe in transsubstantiation, which tends to be the more literal types, choose to ignore . And that is this, that Jesus doesn’t change his words or offer a symbolic interpretation when his own followers leave him because they can’t accept the words as literal . If you don’t believe Jesus was speaking literal then you believe he let followers leave him over a misunderstanding, and even gave the Apostles the opportunity to leave him over a misunderstanding rather than correct it for them . Jesus never says to those leaving him because they can’t accept his words as literal that he is speaking symbolically. In fact, in vs 55 he doubles down and proclaims his flesh real food and his blood real drink.
Believe what you choose to, I am not interested in which way anyone believes, just interested in how some choose to ignore some verses that affect the interpretation, but nowhere does Jesus ever indicate his words are symbolic , nor does he ever back down from those leaving him over his words and explain that he meant them symbolically .
43“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
52Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
60On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
61Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit e and life. 64Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
66From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Last edited by NatesDude; 11-06-2021 at 09:18 AM..
I'm not interested in arguing this. Here's what concerns me about all these conversations - they all seem to be about arguing, no one is actually LEARNING anything from what I can tell. No one seems to ever change their minds about anything, or expand their mindset or whatever. I find it distasteful. You can call it "apologetics" if you want to but I'm going to call it "arguing."
Pretty sure the OP doesn't believe in transubstantiation and is not going to change her mind one way or the other no matter how many verses anyone posts.
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