Protestants: How Do You Interpret 1 Cor. 11:23-29?

[Th0t]

1 Corinthians 11:23-29 (NIV)

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 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.” 25 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.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

27 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. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord** eats and drinks judgment on himself.**

How can you sin against the body of the Lord if you believe that its just a symbol?

 

[workingman]

Very Literally.

 

[light1house]

How can you sin against the body of the Lord if you believe that its just a symbol?

Simply because Jesus did not literally serve a piece of His flesh and blood, for them to consume. It would be blasphemy to take the bread and wine in remembrance of Him if you did not believe in Him.

For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

 

[Howie01]

How can you sin against the body of the Lord if you believe that its just a symbol?

Read the passage in context, starting at v 17, note the “Therefore” in v20. Therein is the sin of not judging “the body” rightly, viz. Christ’s church, also known as “the body” of Christ.

Then note the conclusion of the passage in vv33-34, which goes back to the gathering, concerning which disordered gathering, Paul states, "it’s not to eat the Lord’s Supper.

So, not rightly judging the body, that is, the church, made the Corinthians guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

They were at each other’s throats; read the epistle from the beginning.

 

[JonNC]

Very Literally.

Indeed!!

 

[JonNC]

1 Corinthians 11:23-29 (NIV)

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 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.” 25 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.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

27 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. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord** eats and drinks judgment on himself.**

How can you sin against the body of the Lord if you believe that its just a symbol?

Better stated, why would Paul claim that you could sin against a mere symbol? He wouldn’t have. He knew that Christ meant what He said: “This IS my body,” “This IS my blood”.

Jon

 

[allischalmers]

1 Corinthians 11:23-29 (NIV)

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 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.” 25 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.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

27 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. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord** eats and drinks judgment on himself.**

How can you sin against the body of the Lord if you believe that its just a symbol?

Just wondering, why has the poster changed the words in the Bible 1 Cor. 11:29 “he that eateth and drinketh unworthily” to – without recognizing the body of the Lord,
It completely changes the meaning of the verse
Again just wondering

 

[GJx86]

Just wondering, why has the poster changed the words in the Bible 1 Cor. 11:29 “he that eateth and drinketh unworthily” to – without recognizing the body of the Lord,
It completely changes the meaning of the verse
Again just wondering

My translation (which, admittedly, is an RSV:2CE) has “without discerning the body.” The NASB has “if he does not judge the body rightly.” Young’s Literal Translation has “not discerning the body of the Lord.” Even the NIV has “without recognizing the body of the Lord.”

The OP didn’t change anything–the quote just isn’t from the KJV.

 

[allischalmers]

My translation (which, admittedly, is an RSV:2CE) has “without discerning the body.” The NASB has “if he does not judge the body rightly.” Young’s Literal Translation has “not discerning the body of the Lord.” Even the NIV has “without recognizing the body of the Lord.”

The OP didn’t change anything–the quote just isn’t from the KJV.

The KJV , Darby, DRB, GB and ISV all “UNWORTHILY”

 

[GJx86]

The KJV , Darby, DRB, GB and ISV all “UNWORTHILY”

My translation can beat up your translation!

The point is that it was unfair to say that the OP “changed the words in the Bible,” as you claimed, simply because the quote came from another translation.

 

[workingman]

The word IS means IS. Not This IS a symbol. Not this IS metaphorical ect…
This IS my body and This IS my blood mean exactly that.
If one consumes the body and blood unworthily you do so to your own damnation.
This is not a exact quote, but sums up the meaning darn clear.

 

[Th0t]

When St. Paul refers to “This is the tradition of the Lord that I received and that in my turn I have handed on to you;” he is explaining to them how it is supposed to be and how they are supposed to celebrate The Lord’s Supper aka Mass as we know it today. Right? Okay. If the Lord’s Supper is to be taken symbolically, then our Lord gave up His body on the cross symbolically. When Jesus says “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” (John 6:63) He isn’t meaning that His flesh doesn’t count and that He is talking spiritually as to say symbolically… No… that is why His disciples and His apostles walk away because He actually MEANT it. He didn’t later explain it to them “oh this is what I meant…” how He did all the other times when He spoke in parables. It’s not the Father, the Son and the Holy Symbolic (thanks John ) Plus, if the words our Lord spoke are spirit don’t you think He also was talking in spirit when He said “This IS my body? This IS my blood?” and don’t you think St. Paul was talking in spirit when he said 1Cor. 11:29 “For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.” KJV

1Cor. 11:24 “And when he had given thanks, he broke [it], and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.” KJV

1Cr 11:25 “After the same manner also [he took] the cup, when he had supped, he said, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink [it], in remembrance of me.” KJV