about the sacraments and the early church

[fineca]

A few short (perhaps silly) questions:

1. How come Jesus gave Holy Communion to the apostles since they had not received absolution from their post-baptismal sins beforehand? Did the order of grace function differently in the times of the apostles? Why, when St.Paul talks about immorality in his letters, does he never tell them to confess their sins and be reconciled? Rather he tells others to rebuke the sinners or excommunicate them or something. The apostles seem not to have realised the sacramental power they had…but then again St.Paul says the ministry of reconciliation has been given to them. So why didn’t they seem to practise confession like we do? Was prayer and repentance enough back then, without the sacrament, but later when the sacrament was more fully understood, it was made obligatory?
2. How could the apostles receive communion, be saved etc. if they were not baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit? For this trinitarian formula is given only after Jesus’ resurrection and the Church doesn’t accept any other formula, before Jesus’s death people were baptized by John or “in Jesus’ name” or in the name of “Christ Jesus”, not in the name of the Trinity.
3. Why did the apostles call the Eucharist the breaking of bread, if they believed that in the Mass bread ceases to be bread and is the Body of Christ?
4. Why did Jesus preach so much about all kinds of other things but not so much at all about sacraments (I do believe he did preach about them quite clearly but he could’ve done it a lot more and a lot more clearly so that people would have no doubt about what was important) if the sacraments are the means through which we receive the graces of salvation? If he came to found a Church, we should think he’d explain what the doctrine of the Church would be and not leave it up to later speculations which he knew would cause great division in the Church.

Thank you
Emil

 

[arieh0310]

1. First off, one must realize that the letters that Paul wrote weren’t theological treatises but rather pastoral letters. Secondly, confession seems pretty clear from Scripture:

John 20:23: If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven

James 5:16: Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

Confession was originally public but was later made private, so confession in the early Church would have looked quite different but it was still the same sacrament.

1. Just because it doesn’t say is Scripture that the Apostles got baptized doesn’t mean that they didn’t. The Apostles were quite forceful about the necessity of baptism, I don’t think they would have passed on the Sacrament themselves. (Keep in mind that Paul was an Apostle and was baptized after his conversion Acts 9:18)
2. Paul called it more that just Bread:

*1 Cor. 10:16-17: Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.

1 Cor. 11:23-30: For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night 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, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. *

1. Jesus talked all the time about the Sacraments. The Eucharist, John 6 and the Last Supper narratives. Baptism, John 3:6. Marriage, Mark 10:11. Etc…

You should check out this section on the Sacraments, they are all biblical and historical.

 

[warrior71]

Very good questions. The exact same questions that many Protestants bring up to discredit church teaching. Not being a theologian I can only answer with my limited understanding.

Most Protestants believe in a theory called Sola Scriptura which mean scripture only. In other words, not in the Bible not valid. If it is not expressly stated in scripture it does not and cannot apply to the Church and its’ teachings. They base that theory on the belief that nothing can ever be added to the word of God, that there will be no new revelations and the Bible says it all. All very neat, very simple and very cozy.

The problem with the Protestant view is that the early Christians had no Bible, the final canon not being decided upon until sometime in the 300’s I believe. So as I see it the whole concept of sola scriptura was flawed from its’ inception.

The Catholic Church believes in Scripture and in the Traditions of the Church, decided on, interpreted by and guarded by the Magisterium

Please don’t fall into the Protestant trap of thinking that Sola Scriptura is the only way.