{"id":34809,"date":"2012-09-14T19:57:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-15T00:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=34809"},"modified":"2021-05-01T20:00:14","modified_gmt":"2021-05-02T01:00:14","slug":"without-the-church-fathers-how-do-you-explain-the-shift-away-from-the-lords-supper-and-the-denial-that-john-6-is-literal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/without-the-church-fathers-how-do-you-explain-the-shift-away-from-the-lords-supper-and-the-denial-that-john-6-is-literal\/","title":{"rendered":"Without the church fathers, how do you explain the shift away from the Lord’s Supper and the denial that John 6 is literal?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

I have read all the pre-300 AD church fathers. How do you explain the “Lord’s Supper,” not a man preaching, has always been the center of a church service and in evangelical services today it’s a man? How do you explain all the early church fathers who were not later Gnostics or other heretics took John 6 literally?<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

I teach the Bible from the Bible. “If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen<\/em>” (I Peter 4:11).<\/p>\n

That the Lord’s Supper is a primary focus of worship is found in “Now on the first day of the week,\u00a0when the disciples came together to break bread<\/strong>, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight<\/em>” (Acts 20:7). It is also implied in Paul’s scolding, “Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper<\/em>” (I Corinthians 11:20). That partaking of the Lord’s Supper is not the exclusive reason for gathering is seen in “How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification<\/em>” (I Corinthians 14:26).<\/p>\n

That some people took Jesus’ statement “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world<\/em>” (John 6:51) literally is seen in the very next verse, “The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” <\/em>” (John 6:52). Of course, the Jews, as they did so often, did not understand what Jesus meant. A detailed explanation of this is found in\u00a0What did Jesus mean by “eat my flesh and drink my blood?”<\/a>\u00a0And when you are done, notice that there was no need to cite any early Christian writer, outside the Bible, to prove the point.<\/p>\n

It is amusing that to frame your question you had to eliminate all contradictory evidence. That alone should tell you something.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: I have read all the pre-300 AD church fathers. How do you explain the “Lord’s Supper,” not a man preaching, has always been the center of a church service and in evangelical services today it’s a man? How do you explain all the early church fathers who were not later Gnostics or other heretics…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[1599],"class_list":["post-34809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-roman-catholic-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":89452,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-often-should-christians-observe-the-lords-supper\/","url_meta":{"origin":34809,"position":0},"title":"How Often Should Christians Observe the Lord’s Supper?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mike Willis The Lord's Supper was instituted by Jesus Christ on the night of His betrayal and was designed to bring to our remembrance His beloved sacrifice for sin. Knowing that he would soon depart this world, Jesus commanded his disciples to take unleavened bread and fruit of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10444,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-think-about-my-statement-of-belief-regarding-the-lords-supper\/","url_meta":{"origin":34809,"position":1},"title":"What do you think about my statement of belief regarding the Lord’s Supper?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 17, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was surfing the net doing some research and discovered your teaching regarding the Lord's Supper. We are currently dealing with this issue and thought I would pass on our statement of belief for authority to make the Lord's Supper available in subsequent assemblies. [The document is not copied\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10270,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-children-contribute-to-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":34809,"position":2},"title":"Should children contribute to the church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 6, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My daughter is now eleven years old. When we, in the church, lay by in store on Sunday she has always put in her small amount. I have encouraged this to teach her to give. However, some oppose this with the view that giving is for adults, for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21317,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-setting-for-the-lords-supper\/","url_meta":{"origin":34809,"position":3},"title":"The Setting for the Lord’s Supper","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Gary P. Eubanks A Practical and Critical Question If a Christian is too sick to attend the Sunday assemblies of a church but is not too sick to eat the Lord's Supper at home, may, or should, he do so? It is difficult to imagine a more realistic question\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Communion-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14844,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-wrong-with-the-baptists-methodists-etc\/","url_meta":{"origin":34809,"position":4},"title":"What is wrong with the Baptists, Methodists, etc.?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I think my main concern is: \"Is the Church of Christ the only way?\" What is wrong with the Baptists, Methodists, etc...? Am I going in the right direction to get to Heaven? I know I have a lot of doubts and questions. Answer: The question, \"Is the Church\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1995,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-there-any-spiritual-work-that-an-individual-christian-may-do-that-the-church-may-not\/","url_meta":{"origin":34809,"position":5},"title":"Is there any spiritual work that an individual Christian may do that the church may not?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 15, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Comment: The following is taken from a list of questions sent to me by my request. The author is from a more liberally-minded group who is preparing lessons on the issues that separate some churches of Christ. 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