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Holy Communion

Holy Communion

The Eucharist is the rite that Christians perform in fulfillment of Jesus' instruction, recorded in the New Testament, to do in memory of him what he did at his Last Supper. Jesus gave his disciples bread, saying "This is my body", and wine, saying "This is my blood." Christians generally recognize a special presence of Christ in this rite, though they differ about exactly how, where, and when Christ is present. The word "Eucharist" is also applied to the bread and wine consecrated in the course of the rite. The word "Eucharist" comes from the ancient Greek language. It means "to give thanks" or "thanksgiving." The word "Eucharist" is found in the Greek text of the New Testament in such passages as Matthew 15:36, 16:27, Mark 8:6, 14:23, Luke 22:17,19, John 6:11,23, Acts 27:35, 1 Corinthians 11:24. In each of these passages Jesus Christ offered his followers the bread or the cup and "he gave thanks (Eucharist)." It may be noted that the same word is found in many other passages of the New Testament describing the giving of thanks completely separate from the occasion of rite of Communion, (John 11:41, Romans 1:8, 7:25, 1 Corinthians 1:4, Ephesians 1:16, etc.) Most Christians classify the Eucharist as a sacrament, but many Protestant traditions avoid the term sacrament, preferring ordinance. In these traditions, the ceremony is seen not as a specific channel of grace but as an expression of faith and obedience of the Christian community.

Names for the Eucharist

- Eucharist (from Greek eucharistia, "thanksgiving") is the term with the earliest established historical use. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, who was martyred in Rome in about 110, used the term "Eucharist", referring to both the rite and the consecrated elements, three times in his Letter to the Smyrnaeans [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/srawley/smyrnaeans.html] and once in his Letter to the Philadelphians [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/srawley/philadelphians.html]. Justin Martyr, writing around 150, gave a detailed description of the rite, and stated that "Eucharist" was the name that Christians used: "This food is called among us the Eucharist..." (Apology, 66 [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/justinmartyr-firstapology.html]). Today the term "Eucharist" is used by Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, the Oriental Orthodox, Anglicans, and Lutherans. Most other Protestant traditions use this term rarely, but few reject it entirely.
- Communion (from Latin communio, "sharing in common") is a term used by Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Anglicans, and many Protestants; Holy Communion is also prevalent. Catholics and Orthodox typically apply it to the partaking of the consecrated bread and wine, and to these consecrated elements themselves, rather than to the Eucharistic rite as a whole. In their understanding, it is possible to participate in the celebration of the Eucharistic rite without "receiving Holy Communion" (partaking of the consecrated elements). On the other hand, groups that originated in the Protestant Reformation usually apply this term to the whole rite. Many, especially Anglicans, prefer the fuller term "Holy Communion" rather than just "Communion". The term Communion holds further ambiguity in that it also refers to the relationship of Christians, as individuals or as a Church, with God and with other Christians (see Communion (Christian)) and can also refer to the relationship between the Three Divine Persons within the Trinity, which relationships are considered the archetype of the other forms of communion.
- The Lord's Supper and the Breaking of Bread are terms that the New Testament (1 Corinthians 11:20; Acts 2:42, 46) applies to celebration of the Eucharist. The first of these terms tends to be preferred by "minimalist" traditions, especially those strongly influenced by Huldrych (or Ulrich) Zwingli and the Restoration Movement. The Lord's Supper is also a common term among Lutherans, as is the sacrament of the altar. Other Churches and denominations also use these terms, but generally not as their basic, routine term.
- Certain terms are limited to the Orthodox Christian and Catholic traditions, and are typically applied to the rite as a whole. The Divine Liturgy is used by Orthodox and the Eastern Catholic Churches, who also, especially for the consecrated elements, use the Divine Mysteries. Roman Catholics use many other terms, including the Mass, the Memorial of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Lord, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and the Holy Mysteries. The Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar are also common terms for the consecrated elements, especially when reserved in the Church tabernacle.

Eucharist in the Bible

The three synoptic Gospels (Matthew [http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=citation&book=Matthew&chapno=26&startverse=26&endverse=29], Mark [http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=citation&book=Mark&chapno=14&startverse=22&endverse=24], and Luke [http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=citation&book=Luke&chapno=22&startverse=19&endverse=20]) as well as Saint Paul's first Letter to the Corinthians [http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=citation&book=1+Corinthians&chapno=11&startverse=23&endverse=26] contain versions of the Words of Institution spoken by Jesus at the Last Supper: "Take, eat, this is my body ... Take, drink, this is my blood ... Do this in remembrance of me." All subsequent celebration of the Eucharist is based on this injunction. John 6 is also interpreted in connection with the Eucharist: " For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him." (John 6:55-56) See also: Historical roots of Catholic Eucharistic theology

Christian Theology

The Eucharist has always been at the center of Christian worship, though theological interpretations vary. In general, the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox traditions see the Eucharist as the fulfillment of God's plan for the salvation of humanity from sin (the "Divine Economy"), a commemoration and making present of Jesus' Crucifixion on Calvary and his Resurrection, the means for Christians to unite with God and with each other, and the giving of thanks for all these things. Differences in Eucharistic theology tend to be related to differences in understanding of these areas. Efforts at mutual understanding of the range of theologies led in the 1980s to consultations on [http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/bem1.html Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry] (BEM) through the World Council of Churches, and included the Roman Catholic Church.

Roman Catholic: Sacrifice; Transubstantiation

In the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, the Eucharist is one of the seven sacraments, but is also considered the "queen of the sacraments" and "the blessed sacrament." The Eucharist is a commemoration, or, in Greek, anamnesis of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ, understood in the fullest sense given to it in Biblical tradition. In other words, it is a memorial which does not just bring to mind the event celebrated, but also makes it truly present. The Eucharist is therefore understood to be not simply a representation of Christ's presence, or a remembrance of his Passion and Death, but an actual participation in the Sacrifice of Christ, the manifestation, in the present, of an event that occurred once for all in time. The Eucharist makes present that one sacrifice, not a different sacrifice. The priest and victim of the sacrifice are one and the same; the only difference is in the manner in which it is offered—the Church teaches that the Mass is the sacrifice at Calvary made present in an unbloody manner. The only minister of the Eucharist, that is, one authorized to celebrate the rite and consecrate the Eucharist, is a validly ordained priest (either bishop or presbyter) acting in the person of Christ (in persona Christi). In other words the priest celebrant represents Christ, who is the Head of the Church, and acts before God in the name of the Church. The matter used must be wheaten bread and grape wine; this is essential for validity. According to the Roman Catholic Church, when the bread and wine are consecrated in the Eucharist, they cease to be bread and wine, and become instead the body and blood of Christ. The empirical appearances are not changed, but the reality is. The consecration of the bread (known as the host) and wine represents the separation of Jesus's body from his blood at Calvary. However, since he has risen, the Church teaches that his body and blood can no longer be truly separated. Where one is, the other must be. Therefore, although the priest (or minister) says, "The body of Christ", when administering the host, and, "The blood of Christ", when presenting the chalice, the communicant who receives either one receives Christ, whole and entire. The hosts are kept in a tabernacle after the celebration of the Mass, so that they can be brought to the sick and dying outside the time of Mass, and also so that the Eucharistic presence may be worshipped and adored. On occasions, the Eucharist is exposed in a monstrance, in order for it to be the focus of prayer and adoration. The mysterious change of the reality of the bread and wine used in the Eucharist, a change to which patristic writers had given other equivalent names, began to be called "transubstantiation" in the twelfth century. In the judgement of the Catholic Church, this term, with its accompanying unambiguous distinction between "substance" or underlying reality, and " accidents" or humanly perceptible appearances, still best safeguards against the opposite extremes of a cannibalistic or of a merely symbolic interpretation of the Eucharist. The Eucharist is given to Catholics who wish to receive either at Mass or outside of Mass. This is called the administration of Holy Communion. When it is given at Mass, it may be given under one kind (usually the host), or under both kinds (both the host and the consecrated wine, referred to by Catholics as the Precious Blood). Regular use of Communion under both kinds requires the permission of the bishop, but bishops in some countries have given blanket permission to administer Holy Communion in this way. The ordinary ministers of Holy Communion are Bishops, Priests and Deacons, the latter traditionally ministering the chalice. Members of the laity can also be commissioned as Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, where there is a necessity. This is, in a way, a return to a very early practice, whereby the ordinary faithful took Communion to the sick and to others unable to come to the Eucharistic celebration.

Eastern Christianity: Sacrifice and Objective Reality but Pious Silence on the Particulars

The Eastern Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Assyrian Church of the East agree with the Roman Catholic Church that Christ is really, fully, and uniquely present in the Eucharistic elements, and that, in the Divine Liturgy, the one sacrifice of Christ is made present; however, beyond that, these traditions reject any further analysis. Instead, they hold that the exact means by which the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit, is a mystery. They are not particularly interested in the precise moment the change occurs, although this "change" or "fulfillment" of the bread and wine is usually identified with the Epiklesis. As in the Roman Church, the change is regarded as permanent, and any of the consecrated elements, or "gifts," that remain at the end of the Divine Liturgy are normally consumed by a priest or deacon. Gifts reserved for the communion of the sick are specially consecrated on Holy Thursday, or at other times as needed, and are not simply leftovers from the previous Divine Liturgy. Since the Eucharistic gifts are regarded primarily as food, Eucharistic adoration is unknown outside the Liturgy itself, except among those Orthodox Christians who worship according to a Western Rite.

Anglicans/Episcopalians: Real Presence with Opinion

The historical position of the Anglican Communion is found in the Thirty-Nine Articles of 1571, which state "the Bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ"; and likewise that "the Cup of Blessing is a partaking of the Blood of Christ" (Articles of Religion, Article XXVIII: Of the Lord's Supper). The fact that the terms "Bread" and "Wine" and the corresponding words "Body" and "Blood" are all capitalized may reflect the wide range of theological beliefs regarding the Eucharist among Anglicans. However, these same articles also deny that adoration, or worship per se, of the consecrated elements is appropriate and state that those who receive unworthily do not, in fact, partake of the Body and Blood of Christ. Contemporary Anglicans almost all believe in the Real Presence, but the specifics of that belief range from Transubstantiation, possibly with Eucharistic adoration (mainly Anglo-Catholics), to a belief in a spiritual-only presence, which may or may not be tied to the eucharistic elements themselves (almost always Reformed, or "low church" Anglicans). The normal range of Anglican belief ranges from Objective Reality to Pious Silence, depending on how Traditional or Reformed the individual Anglican's theology is. A small minority reject the doctrine of the Real Presence altogether, in violation of Anglicanism's historic position on the matter.

Lutherans: presence as "in, with and under": the Sacramental Union

Lutherans believe that the body and blood of Christ are "truly and substantially present in, with and under" the bread and wine (the elements), so that communicants eat and drink both the elements and the true body and blood of Christ Himself (cf. Augsburg Confession, Article 10). The doctrine of the Real Presence is also known among some Lutherans as the "Sacramental Union." For Lutherans there is no sacrament unless the elements are used according to Christ's institution (consecration, distribution, and reception). As a result, only bread and wine remain after the distribution and reception of the Lord's Supper, and after the conclusion of the service. The elements are treated with respect, but are not "adored" or reserved as in Roman Catholic, Orthodox, or Anglican practice. Lutherans use the terms "in, with and under" and "Sacramental Union" to distinguish their understanding of the Lord's Supper from those of the Reformed and other traditions.

Methodism: presence as "mystery"

There is no definitive Methodist statement on how the Christ is present in Holy Communion. The followers of John Wesley have typically affirmed that the grace of Christ is experienced via his real presence in the sacrament, but have allowed the details to remain a mystery, rejecting the doctrine of transubstantiation (see "Article XVIII" of the Articles of Religion, Means of Grace). In 2004, the United Methodist Church more clearly defined its view of the sacrament and its belief in the Real Presence in an official document entitled [http://www.gbod.org/worship/thisholymystery/default.html This Holy Mystery].

Calvinist Reformed: spiritual feeding

Many Reformed Christians, particularly those following John Calvin, hold that Christ's body and blood do not come down to inhabit the elements, but that "the Spirit truly unites things separated in space" (Calvin). Following a phrase of Augustine, the Calvinist view is that "no one bears away from this Sacrament more than is gathered with the vessel of faith". "The flesh and blood of Christ are no less truly given to the unworthy than to God's elect believers", Calvin said, "but those who partake by faith receive benefit from Christ, and the unbelieving are condemned by partaking. By faith (not a mere mental apprehension), and in the Holy Spirit, the partaker beholds God incarnate, and in the same sense touches him with hands, so that by eating and drinking of bread and wine Christ's actual presence penetrates to the heart of the believer more nearly than food swallowed with the mouth can enter in." Calvin specifically rejected adoration of the Eucharistic bread and wine as "idolatry", however. The elements may be disposed of without ceremony; they are unchanged, and as such the meal directs attention toward Christ's bodily resurrection and return.

Reformed/Congregational: non-presence

Some Protestant groups see Communion (also called the Lord's Supper or the Lord's Table) as a symbolic meal, a memorial of the Last Supper and the Passion in which nothing miraculous occurs. This view is known as the Zwinglian view, after Huldrych Zwingli, a Swiss leader during the Reformation. It is commonly associated with Baptists and the Disciples of Christ. Many of the Reformed hold that Calvin actually held this view, and not the Spiritual feeding idea attributed to him by some; or that the two views are really the same.

Summary of views

Because Jesus Christ is a person, theologies regarding the Eucharist involve consideration of the way in which the communicant's personal relationship with God is fed through this mystical meal. However, debates over Eucharistic theology in the West have centered not on the personal aspects of Christ's presence but on the metaphysical. The opposing views are summarized below.
- Transubstantiation – the substance (fundamental reality) of the bread and wine is transformed in a way beyond human comprehension into that of the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ, but the accidents (physical traits, including chemical properties) of the bread and wine remain; this view is held by the Roman Catholic Church and many Anglicans, especially Anglo-Catholic Anglicans.
- "In, with and under" - the body and blood of Jesus Christ are substantially present in, with and under the substance of the bread and wine, which remain. This is the view held by most Lutherans, and some Anglicans. Some refer to this view as consubstantiation, but many Lutherans reject this term.
- Objective reality, but pious silence about technicalities - the view of all the ancient Churches of the East, including the Eastern Orthodox, the Oriental Orthodox, and the Assyrian Church of the East as well as perhaps most Anglicans. These, while agreeing with the Roman Catholic belief that the sacrament is not merely bread and wine but truly the body and blood of Christ, have not adopted the "substance" and "accidents" terminology, preferring not to scrutinize the technicalities of the transformation. Some Eastern Orthodox Christians speak of "tranessentiation" in this regard. Most Eastern Christians, as well as some Anglicans, would understand this view as being "incarnational," reflecting the analogy Justin Martyr drew between the incarnation of the eternal divine Logos and the presence of that incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, in the consecrated bread and wine.
- Real Spiritual presence - not only the spirit, but also the true body and blood of Jesus Christ (hence "real") are received by the sovereign, mysterious, and miraculous power of the Holy Spirit (hence "spiritual"), but only by those partakers who have faith. This view approaches the "pious silence" view in its unwillingness to specify how the Holy Spirit makes Christ present, but positively excludes not just symbolism but also trans- and con-substantiation. It is also known as "mystical presence," and is held by most Reformed Christians, such as Presbyterians, as well as Methodists and some Anglicans, particularly Reformed Anglicans. See [http://www.opc.org/documents/WCF.html Westminster Confession of Faith, ch. 19.] This understanding is often called "receptionism" and is exemplified by the "invocation" of the Anglican Rite as found in the American Book of Common Prayer, 1928 and earlier and in Rite I of the American BCP of 1979 as well as in other Anglican formularies: ::And we most humbly beseech thee, O merciful Father, to hear us, and of thy almighty goodness, vouchsafe to bless and sanctify, with thy Word and Holy Spirit, these gifts and creatures of bread and wine; that we, receiving them according to thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ's holy institution, in remembrance of his death and passion, may be partakers of his most blessed body and blood.
- Symbolism - the bread and wine are symbolic of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, and in partaking of the elements the believer commemorates the sacrificial death of Christ. This view is also known as "memorialism" and Zwinglianism after Ulrich Zwingli and is held by several Protestant denominations, including most Baptists.
- Suspension - the partaking of the bread and wine was not intended to be a perpetual ordinance, or was not to be taken as a religious rite or ceremony (also known as adeipnonism, meaning "no supper" or "no meal"). This is the view of Quakers and the Salvation Army, as well as the hyperdispensationalist positions of E. W. Bullinger, Cornelius R. Stam, and others.

Ritual and liturgy

The Agape feast

The Agape feast was the Eucharistic celebration of the early Christians. While centered on the ritual of the bread and wine, it also included various other ritual elements, including elements of the Passover seder and of Mediterranean funerary banquets, also termed Agape Feasts. Agape is one of the Greek words for love, particularly applied to selfless love. Such meals were widespread, though not universal, in the early Christian world. This service was apparently a full meal, with each participant bringing their own food, but eating in a common room. Perhaps predictably enough, it could at times deteriorate into merely an occasion for eating and drinking, or for ostentatious displays by the wealthier members of the community. This was criticized by St. Paul in the New Testament (cf. ). Because of such abuses, the Agape gradually fell into disfavor, and after being subjected to various regulations and restrictions, it was definitively dropped by the Church between the 6th and 8th centuries. Some contemporary Christians participate in Agape meals on rare occasions, to experience this historical form of the Eucharist. Many Christians, however, after celebrating the Eucharist, now routinely participate in a sharing of light refreshments and conversation in an informal ritual that is functionally an Agape. This post-Eucharistic gathering is often called "fellowship hour" or "coffee hour" and is regarded by many clergy as a particularly opportune time for engaging adults in Christian education.

Eastern Christianity

Among Eastern Christians, the Eucharistic service is called the Divine Liturgy. It comprises two main divisions: the first is the Liturgy of the Catechumens which consists of introductory litanies, antiphons and scripture readings, culminating in a reading from one of the Gospels and often, a sermon; the second is the Liturgy of the Faithful in which the Eucharist is offered, consecrated, and received as Holy Communion. Within the latter, the actual Eucharistic prayer is called the anaphora (Greek:, "offering" or "lifting up"). In the Byzantine Rite, two different anaphoras are currently used: one is attributed to St. John Chrysostom, and the other to St. Basil the Great. Among the Oriental Orthodox, a variety of anaphoras are used, but all are similar in structure to those of the Byzantine Rite. In the Byzantine Rite, the Anaphora of St. John Chrysostom is used most days of the year; St. Basil's is offered on the Sundays of Great Lent, the eves of Christmas and Theophany, Holy Thursday, Holy Saturday, and upon his feast day (January 1). At the conclusion of the Anaphora the bread and wine are held to be the Body and Blood of Christ. Conventionally this change in the elements is understood to occur at the Epiklesis (Greek: "invocation") by which the Holy Spirit is invoked and the consecration of the bread and wine as the Body and Blood of Christ is specifically requested, but since the anaphora as a whole is considered a unitary (albeit lengthy) prayer, no one moment within it can be readily singled out.

Roman Catholicism

See Mass and Divine Liturgy.

Protestantism

Anglican

See Book of Common Prayer.

Lutheran

The Lutheran Eucharistic service is similar in form to the Roman Catholic and "high" Anglican services. Administration of the bread and wine varies between congregations. The bread can be a thin wafer, or leavened or unleavened bread. The wine or grape juice may be administered via a common cup (the "chalice"), or through individual cups that may be either prefilled or filled from the chalice during the communion. Intinction is acceptable, but rarely used. Some congregations that use wine make grape juice available for those who are abstaining from alcohol, and some will accommodate those with an allergy to wheat or grapes.

Reformed/Presbyterian

Minimalist

The elements of the Lord's supper are most commonly unleavened bread and wine. In traditions in which temperance movements have had strong influence, grape juice is substituted for the wine. The term "grape juice" is usually not used in services; instead terms such as "unfermented wine," "wine," "the fruit of the vine," or simply "the cup" are used. Teachers from such movements often assert that oinon, the Greek word used in the original New Testament to mean wine, may mean either fermented or unfermented wine. This claim was unknown prior to the temperance movement, however. A few Holiness bodies, and the Mormons, substitute water for wine.

Open and closed communion

: Christian denominations differ in their understanding of whether they may receive the Eucharist together with those not in full communion with them. Closed communion was the universal practice of the early Church. The famed apologist St. Justin Martyr, ca. A.D. 150, wrote: "No one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teaching to be true...." For the first several hundred years of Church history, non-members were forbidden even to be present at the sacramental ritual; visitors and catechumens (those still undergoing instruction) were dismissed halfway through the liturgy, after the Bible readings and sermon but before the Eucharistic rite. The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, used in the Byzantine Churches, still has a formula of dismissal of catechumens (not usually followed by any action) at this point. The ancient Churches, such as the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox exclude nonmembers from Communion under normal circumstances, though they may allow exceptions, e.g. for non-members in danger of death who share their faith in the reality of the Eucharist and who are unable to have access to a minister of their own religion. Many conservative Protestant communities also practice closed communion, including conservative Lutheran Churches like the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. The Mennonites and the Landmark Baptist Churches also practice closed communion, as a symbol of exclusive membership and loyalty to the distinctive doctrines of their fellowship. Most Protestant communities practice open communion, including some Anglican, Reformed, Evangelical, Methodist, and more-liberal Lutherans (such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Church of Sweden). Some open communion communities adhere to a symbolic or spiritual understanding of the Eucharist, so that they have no fear of sacrilege against the literal body and blood of Christ if someone receives inappropriately. Others feel that Christ calls all of his children to his table, regardless of their denominational affiliation. Many churches that practice open communion offer it only to baptized Christians (regardless of denomination), although this requirement is typically only enforced by the recipients' honesty.

Footnotes

- : Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25
- as Anabaptist leader Pilgram Marpeck put it, "The true meaning of communion is mystified and obscured by the word sacrament." Nevertheless as far as his theology goes Marpeck was decidedly more incarnational than many of his Anabaptist peers, and thus closer to the Roman Catholic position than even Zwingli.
- : cf. , and ::[http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c1a3.htm#1328]
- : See Article 9 of the Agreed Statement of Eucharist Doctrine.
- e.g., see

Resources

- Anderson, S. E. The First Communion
- Chemnitz, Martin. The Lord's Supper. J. A. O. Preus, trans. St. Louis: Concordia, 1979. ISBN 0-570-03275-X
- Elert, Werner. Eucharist and Church Fellowship in the First Four Centuries. N. E. Nagel, trans. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1966. ISBN 0-570-04270-4
- Felton, Gayle. This Holy Mystery. Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 2005. ISBN 088177457X
- Father Gabriel. Divine Intimacy. Rockford, IL: Tan Books and Publishers, Inc., 1996 reprint ed. ISBN 0895555042
- Grime, J. H. Close Communion and Baptists
- Jurgens, William A. The Faith of the Early Fathers. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1970. ISBN 0814604323
- Kolb, Robert and Timothy J. Wengert, eds. The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000. (ISBN 0800627407)
- Lefebvre, Gaspar. The Saint Andrew Daily Missal. Reprint. Great Falls, MT: St. Bonaventure Publications, Inc., 1999.
- Macy, Gary. The Banquet’s Wisdom: A Short History of the Theologies of the Lord’s Supper. (2005, ISBN 1878009508)
- McBride, Alfred, O.Praem. Celebrating the Mass. Our Sunday Visitor, 1999.
- Nevin, John Williamson. The Mystical Presence: A Vindication of the Reformed or Calvinistic Doctrine of the Holy Eucharist. 1846; Wipf & Stock reprint, 2000. ISBN 1579103480.
- Oden, Thomas C. Corrective Love: The Power of Communion Discipline. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1995. ISBN 0-570-04803-6
- Sasse, Hermann. This Is My Body: Luther's Contention for the Real Presence in the Sacrament of the Altar. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2001. ISBN 1579107664
- Schmemann, Alexander. The Eucharist. St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1997. ISBN 0881410187
- Stoffer, Dale R. The Lord's Supper: Believers Church Perspectives
- Stookey, L.H. Eucharist: Christ's Feast with the Church. Nashville: Abingdon, 1993 ISBN 0687120179
- Tissot, The Very Rev. J. The Interior Life. 1916, pp. 347-9.
- Wright, N. T. The Meal Jesus Gave Us

External links

Liturgical texts & services

- [http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/lmass/ord.htm The Ordinary of the Sacred Liturgy according to the Roman Rite, Missal of 1962]
- [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/latinmass2.html The Ordinary...according to the Roman Rite, Missal of 1962] alternate source.
- [http://www.sspeterpaul.org/priest.html The Priest's Service Book] Orthodox Divine Liturgy.
- [http://www.saintgabriels.org/prayerbook.html The Book of Common Prayer], used by the US Episcopal Church. Contains the liturgy for Eucharist and other rites.
- [http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/d/t/dtrememe.htm Do This; Remember Me!], a 21st century hymn text telling the Upper Room story

History, theology, etc.

- [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05584a.htm Eucharist] in [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/ Catholic Encyclopedia]
- [http://www.catholic.com/library/Real_Presence.asp Patristic citations] concerning the Holy Eucharist.
- [http://www.fisheaters.com/mass.html The Catholic Understanding of the Eucharist]
- [http://www.oca.org/pages/orth_chri/Orthodox-Faith/Worship/Holy-Eucharist.html Holy Eucharist] from The Orthodox Faith by Fr Thomas Hopko, online essay from the website of the [http://www.oca.org Orthodox Church in America].
- [http://www.gbod.org/worship/thisholymystery/default.html This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion]
- [http://gbgm-umc.org/Umhistory/Wesley/sermons/serm-101.stm The Duty of Constant Communion] by John Wesley
- [http://www.geocities.com/pastorkeith/do_this.html Do This!: The Eucharist as a Key to Pastoral Care & Church Renewal]
- [http://www.emersoncentral.com/lordsupper.htm The Lord's Supper] - by Ralph Waldo Emerson, rejecting the Lord's supper as a perpetual rite.
- [http://www.usccb.org/liturgy/celiasprue.shtml A Short Introduction to Holy Communion and Celiac Sprue Disease] from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
- [http://www.twinbrook.net/view/?pageID=8173 a Baptist viewpoint]
- [http://www.churches-of-christ.net/tracts/job003u.htm a Church of Christ viewpoint]
- [http://www.thirdway.com/menno/as/as7.asp a Mennonite viewpoint]
- [http://www.graceonlinelibrary.org/articles/full.asp?id=25|52|367 a Reformed (Presbyterian) viewpoint]
- [http://www.angelfire.com/fl2/truthleads2life/Guestteaching1.html The Lord's Supper: Four Views] by Joe Slowiaczek
- [http://capo.org/cpc/mat2626s.htm Four Views of the Lord's Supper] - discusses transubstantiation, consubstantiation, spiritual presence, and symbolism (from spiritual presence point of view)
- [http://www.anabaptistnetwork.com/book/print/226 Pilgram Marpeck's defense of continuing to practice Lord's Supper (1531)] Category:Sacraments Category:Christian liturgy, rites, and worship services Category:Catholic Eucharistic Theology Category:Methodism Category:Christian theology ja:聖餐

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Christianity

Jesus

Jesus, also known as Jesus of Nazareth, is the central figure of Christianity, in which context he is known as Jesus Christ (from the Greek Ιησούς Χριστός ; transliteration: "Iesous Christos"; "Christ" not being a surname, but rather a title). He is also considered an important prophet in Islam. Jesus is accepted to have been a historical person, by both followers of the Christian tradition and most academics, who lived from about 8-4 BC/BCE to AD 29-36 CE. The primary sources regarding his life and teachings, which took written form some time after his death, are the four canonical Gospels from the New Testament of the Bible, which depict him – among many other things – as a Jewish Galilean preacher and healer who was often at odds with Jewish religious authorities, and who was crucified outside of Jerusalem during the rule of the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate. After his death, numerous followers spread his teachings, and within a few centuries Christianity emerged as a major religion distinct from Judaism. Beyond the historical information accepted by most secular scholars, the gospels make various additional claims about Jesus: that Jesus was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible); that he was the son of God; that his mother Mary conceived Christ while a virgin; and that after his crucifixion he rose from the dead, and then ascended into heaven. Most Christians hold that the Gospels also attribute divinity to Jesus; however, others hold that the Gospels are equivocal on the subject. Many Christians and some scholars believe that the accounts in the New Testament are historical facts, though others maintain that different parts have different degrees of accuracy, and a few scholars hold Jesus did not exist at all. In Islam, Jesus (called Isa) is considered one of God's most beloved and important prophets, a bringer of divine scripture, and also the messiah; although Muslims attach a different meaning to this term than Christians as they do not share the Christian belief in the divinity of Jesus. The Qur'an, Islam's holy book, states unambiguously that Jesus neither died nor was crucified. The same passage, however, admits of multiple interpretations on his status after that event; the majority interpretation is that the Qur'an states that he was raised to heaven by God. (An alternate, and minority, interpretation, is that he was exalted among human beings.) Based on sayings attributed to Muhammad, Muslims believe Jesus will return to earth once it has become full of sin and injustice. Other religions also have different perspectives on Jesus, but do not place significant importance on his life and teachings.

Life and teachings, based upon the Gospels

Chronology

The most detailed accounts of Jesus' birth are contained in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke. There is considerable debate about the details of Jesus' birth even among Christian scholars, and few scholars claim to know either the year or the date of his birth or of his death. Based on the accounts in the gospels of the shepherds' activities, the time of year depicted for Jesus' birth could be spring or summer. However, as early as 354, Roman Christians celebrated it following the December solstice in an attempt to replace the Roman festival of Saturnalia. Before then, Jesus' birth was generally celebrated on January 6 as part of the feast of Theophany, also known as Epiphany, which commemorated not only Jesus' birth but also his baptism by John in the Jordan River and possibly additional events in Jesus' life. In the 248th year of the Diocletian Era (based on Diocletian's ascension to the Roman throne), Dionysius Exiguus attempted to pinpoint the number of years since Jesus' birth, arriving at a figure of 753 years after the founding of Rome. Dionysius then set Jesus' birth as being December 25 1 ACN (for "Ante Christum Natum", or "before the birth of Christ"), and assigned AD 1 to the following year—thereby establishing the system of numbering years from the birth of Jesus: Anno Domini (which translates as "in the year of the Lord"). This system made the then current year 532, and almost two centuries later it won acceptance and became the established calendar in Western civilization due to its championing by the Venerable Bede. However, based on a lunar eclipse that Josephus reports shortly before the death of Herod the Great, the birth of Christ would have been some time before the year 4 BC/BCE. This estimate itself relies on the historicity of the story in the Gospel of Matthew of the Massacre of the Innocents under the orders of Herod — an event mentioned nowhere else in contemporaneous accounts. Having fewer sources and being further removed in time from the authors of the New Testament, establishing a reliable birth date now is particularly difficult. The exact date of Jesus' death is also unclear. The Gospel of John depicts the crucifixion just before the Passover festival on Friday 14 Nisan, called the Quartodeciman, whereas the synoptic gospels describe the Last Supper, immediately before Jesus' arrest, as the Passover meal on Friday 15 Nisan. Further, the Jews followed a lunisolar calendar with phases of the moon as dates, complicating calculations of any exact date in a solar calendar. According to John P. Meier's A Marginal Jew, allowing for the time of the procuratorship of Pontius Pilate and the dates of the Passover in those years, his death can be placed most probably on April 7, 30 or April 3, 33.

Family and early life

33 According to the Gospels, Jesus was born in Bethlehem to Mary, a virgin, via the Holy Spirit. The Gospel of Luke gives an account of the angel Gabriel visiting Mary to tell her that she was chosen to bear the son of God ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%201:26-28&version=31 Luke 1:26-28]). Catholics call this the Annunciation. Joseph, Mary's betrothed husband, appears only in stories of Jesus' childhood; this is generally taken to mean that he was dead by the time of Jesus' ministry. Mark 6:3 (and analogous passages in Matthew and Luke) reports that Jesus was "Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon," and also states that Jesus had sisters. The 1st-century Jewish historian Josephus and the Christian historian Eusebius (who wrote in the 4th century but quoted much earlier sources that are now lost) refer to James the Just as Jesus' brother (See Desposyni). However, Jerome argued that they were Jesus' cousins, which the Greek word for "brother" used in the gospels would allow. This was based on the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox tradition that Mary remained a perpetual virgin, thus having no biological children before or after Jesus. Luke's gospel records that Mary was a relative of Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist (Luke 1:36). The Bible, however, does not reveal exactly how Mary and Elizabeth were related. Jesus' childhood home is represented as Nazareth in Galilee. Aside from a flight to Egypt in infancy to escape Herod's Massacre of the Innocents, all other events in the Gospels are set in ancient Israel. Only one incident between his infancy and his adult life, the Finding in the Temple, is mentioned in the canonical gospels, although New Testament apocrypha go into these details, some quite extensively. For most Christians, only the virgin birth and the Incarnation itself are major articles of faith for this period of time before Jesus begins his ministry. Muslims also believe in the virgin birth, but aside from that, few non-Christians believe in either, and look upon stories of the virgin birth as mythological or indicating that Jesus was conceived out of wedlock.

Later life

Incarnation.]] According to Christian belief, just after he was baptized by his kinsman John the Baptist Jesus began his public teaching. According to the Gospel of Luke, he was about thirty years old at the time. Jesus used a variety of methods in his teaching, such as parables and metaphors. He frequently taught, "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand." Some of his most famous teachings are in the Sermon on the Mount, which also contains the beatitudes. His parables (or stories with a deep or metaphorical meaning) include the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. Jesus had a number of disciples. His closest followers were twelve apostles. According to the New Testament, Jesus also performed various miracles in the course of his ministry, including healings, exorcisms, and raising Lazarus from the dead. Jesus frequently put himself in opposition to the Jewish religious leaders including the Pharisees and Sadducees. His teaching castigated the Pharisees primarily for their legalism and hypocrisy, although he also had followers among the religious leaders such as Nicodemus. Jesus was also known as a social reformer, and because of the controversial view that he was the Jewish Messiah Jesus' preachings included the forgiveness of sin, life after death, and resurrection of the body. Jesus also preached the imminent end of the current era of history, or even the literal end of the world; in this sense he was an apocalyptic preacher. Some interpretations of the Gospels, particularly amongst Protestants, suggest that Jesus opposed stringent interpretations of Jewish law, supporting the spirit more than the letter of the law. It is commonly thought that Jesus preached for a period of three years, but this is never mentioned explicitly in any of the four gospels, and some interpretations of the Synoptic Gospels suggest a span of only one year; to achieve consistency with the Gospel of John, one theory suggests Jesus' public ministry took approximately one year. Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem at the end of his ministry is usually associated with the Passover Feast, but some scholars point out that details of the entry, such as the Hosanna shout, the waving of palm fronds, and the proclamation of a king, are more consistent with the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkoth, than with Passover.This is likely because although the triumphal entry occurred around the time of Passover, the people reacted to it as if it were Sukkoth to celebrating the coming of a political messiah, as they had for Judah Macabee. Such celebration would be wiewed by Rome as an act of defiance, because it was associated with an earlier rebellion against the Greeks. Jesus however staged no such political rebellion, regardless of people's expectations.

Arrest, trial and execution

Judah Macabee]] Christian belief holds that Jesus came with his followers to Jerusalem during the Passover festival, and created a disturbance at the Temple by overturning the tables of the moneychangers there. He was subsequently arrested on the orders of the Sanhedrin and the high priest, Joseph Caiaphas for blasphemy, because he claimed to be God. He was identified to the guards by one of his apostles, Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus by a kiss in the Garden of Gethsemane, after which another apostle, Peter, used a sword to attack one of the captors. After his arrest, Jesus' apostles went into hiding. Jesus was condemned for blasphemy by the Sanhedrin and turned over to the Romans for execution, on the charge of sedition, the usual penalty for which was a humiliating death by crucifixion. According to the gospels, the Roman governor Pontius Pilate ruled that Jesus was not guilty of any civil crime and then, following what the Bible says was a Passover tradition, offered the crowd a choice of which prisoner to free — Jesus of Nazareth, or an insurrectionist named Jesus Barabbas. To his chagrin, the crowd chose to free Barabbas. According to all four gospels, Pilate then ordered Jesus to be crucified with a charge placed atop the cross (called the titulus crucis) which read "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews". (The titulus crucis is often written as INRI, the Latin acronym.) The gospels further state that after Jesus died on the cross, his followers were allowed to take his body down and place it in a tomb

Resurrection and Ascension

Latin by Matthias Grünewald.]] In accordance with the four canonical gospel accounts Christians believe that Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. This article of faith is referred to in Christian terminology as the Resurrection of Jesus Christ; and each year at Easter (on a Sunday) it is commemorated and celebrated by most groups who consider themselves Christians. No one was a witness to the resurrection. However, the women who had witnessed the entombment and the closure of the tomb with a great stone, found it empty when they arrived on the third day to anoint the body. The synoptic gospel accounts further state that an angel was waiting at the tomb to explain to them that Jesus had been resurrected, though the Gospel according to John makes no mention of this encounter. The sight of the same angel had apparently left the guards unconscious (cf. Matt 28:2–4) that, according to Matthew 27:62–66, the high priests and Pharisees, with Pilate's permission, had posted in front of the tomb to prevent the body from being stolen by Jesus' disciples. Mark 16:9 says that Mary Magdalene was the first to whom Jesus appeared very early that morning. John 20:11–18 states that when Mary looked into the tomb, two angels asked her why she was crying; and as she turned round she initially failed to recognize Jesus—even by his voice—until he called her by her name. The Gospel accounts and the Acts of the Apostles tell of several appearances of Jesus to various people in various places over a period of forty days before he ascended into heaven. Just hours after his resurrection he appeared to two travelers on the road to Emmaus. To his assembled disciples he showed himself on the evening after his resurrection, but Thomas was absent, though he was present when Jesus repeated his visit to them a week later. Thereafter he went to Galilee and showed himself to several of his disciples by the lake and on the mountain; and they were present when he returned to Bethany and was lifted up to heaven and a cloud concealed him from their sight. The resurrection of Jesus is almost universally denied by those who do not follow the Christian religion. Most Christians—even those who do not hold to the literal truth of everything in the canonical gospel accounts—accept the New Testament presentation of the Resurrection as a historical account of an actual event central to their faith. Therefore, belief in the resurrection is one of the most distinctive elements of Christian faith; and defending the historicity of the resurrection is usually a central issue of Christian apologetics. However, some liberal Christians do not accept that Jesus was raised bodily from the dead, or that he still lives bodily (e.g., John Shelby Spong, Tom Harpur). What is more interesting to note in context of the resurrection story was the manner in which the desciples died years later under the Roman Empire. Some were roasted, had their flesh flayed or even were mauled by wild beasts. None relented, even unto death, their claim that Christ was indeed resurrected and who he claimed to be. Either they were all mad men plagued by demented twisted ideals or they had found a truth so real they were prepared to die quite violently and painfully for.

Legacy

Tom Harpurd Jesus of Nazareth to the people of Jerusalem]] According to most Christian interpretations of the Bible, the theme of Jesus' preaching was that of repentance and grace. During his public ministry Jesus extensively trained twelve Apostles to continue after his departure his leadership of the many who had begun to follow him mainly in the towns and villages throughout Galilee, Samaria, and the Decapolis. Most Christians hold that Jesus' miracles were literally true, not allegory, and that the Apostles gained the power to perform similar miracles and healings on Jews and Gentiles alike after they had been empowered by the Holy Spirit of Truth (to pneuma tēs alētheias, John 14:17, 26; Luke 24:49, Acts 1:8, 2:4) that Jesus had promised the Father would send them after his departure—a promise that according to Acts 2:4 was fulfilled at Pentecost, the Jewish feast that, in addition to other Scriptural events, commemorates the giving of the Law to Moses. For Christians, the legacy Jesus left was one of sacrifice; they believe that Jesus was sent by God to die as a sacrifice in place of all humanity. Christians hold that this sacrifice had to take place because all man is born into a nature of sin (they claim, based on scripture, that God's penalty for sin is death and separation from God) so God sent his Son to die in their place. Christians believe Jesus' body was resurrected and ascended into heaven, so they believe that none of Jesus' body is on earth. The only body that remains of Christ on earth is figurative and embodied in the Church. The church is often referred to as the "body of Christ". Non-Christians generally reject these claims. Ironically (given Jesus's Jewish identity, and profession of love), for some the legacy of Jesus was a long history of Christian anti-Semitism (of course, always with exceptions), although in the wake of the Holocaust many Christian groups have gone to considerable lengths to reconcile with Jews and to promote inter-faith dialogue and mutual respect. This was more prevalent during the medieval reign of the Roman Catholic Church and in modern times considered to be the view of and extremely small minority. For others, Christianity has often been linked to European colonialism (see British Empire, Portuguese Empire, Spanish Empire, French colonial empire, Dutch colonial empire); conversely, Christians have often found themselves as oppressed minorities outside of Europe and the Americas. Other legacies include the religions of Christianity and their churches, the adoption of the cross as a symbol, the doctrine of the Trinity, the Anno Domini method of reckoning years, and celebrations at Christmas and Easter.

Religious perspectives

Jesus has an important role in the two largest world religions, Christianity and Islam. Most other religions, however, do not consider Jesus to have been a supernatural or holy being. Some of these religions, like Buddhism, do not take any official stance on Jesus' life, while others, such as those practicing Jesus's own religion at the time of his death, Judaism, generally reject claims of Jesus's divinity and regard him as a false prophet.

Christian views

Judaism depiction of Saviour Not Made by Hands, the most popular iconography of Jesus in Eastern Orthodoxy.]] Christians believe in and follow what they believe to be the teachings of Jesus. However, Christianity quite naturally has a more specific and involved meaning, as most Christians hold similar beliefs regarding Jesus and his life that are largely rejected by non-Christians. Generally speaking, most Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God, part of a trinity of three persons of God, and the Messiah, who came to earth to save mankind from sin and death through his proxy sacrifice. Most believe Jesus lived a perfect life and that is why his death on a cross, called the crucifixion, counts as a sacrifice for mankind. According to Christian tradition the disobeying of God's command by the first man Adam caused all mankind to suffer the consequences of sin entering the world. Scriptures often refer to death as "seperation from God" and to sin being something that God the Father cannot tolerate. As a result of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, all mankind who believe in Jesus being God's only son and in his resurrection, may have eternal life. Most believe that after Jesus's death he rose from the grave on the third day and forty days after that ascended to Heaven. There are many differing views within Christian groups as to whether or not Jesus ever claimed divinity. The majority of Christian laypeople, theologians, and clergy hold that the Bible clearly states Jesus both to be divine and to claim divinity in many passages. Most also believe that Jesus's resurrection is additional proof that he is God. However, some people (both Christian and non-Christian) maintain that there are passages in the New Testament that clearly have Jesus stating that he was not equal with God, and that other passages are ambiguous about such claims. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints maintains that Jesus is the very same as Jehovah or Yahweh of the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible but is distinct from God the Father; that he is the Creator of the Universe; that he spent the interval between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection organizing a Mission in the Spirit World for the righteous spirits to teach the gospel to those in darkness; and that he visited both the inhabitants of the ancient Americas and other locations throughout the world after his Resurrection.

Islamic views

In Islam, Jesus is known as Isa, and is one of God's highest-ranked and most-beloved prophets. Like Christian writings, the Qur'an holds that Jesus was born without a biological father by the will of God, that he could perform miracles, and that he will one day return to the world to rid it of evil. However, unlike Christians, Muslims do not consider Jesus to have been the son of God, and do not believe that he died on the cross. Instead, the Qur'an states that his death was only an illusion (done by God) to deceive his enemies, and that Jesus ascended bodily to heaven. Muslims believe he will return to the world in the flesh with Imam Mahdi to defeat the Dajjal (Antichrist-like figure, translated as "Deceiver") once the world has become filled with sin, deception and injustice, and then live out the rest of his natural life. Muslims also believe that Jesus received a gospel from God (called the Injeel) that corresponds to the Christian New Testament, but that it and the Old Testament have both been changed by mankind over time as such that they no longer accurately represent God's original message to mankind. In Muslim traditions, Jesus lived a perfect life of nonviolence, showing kindness to humans and animals (similar to the other Islamic prophets), without material possessions and abstaining totally from alcohol and from the flesh of animals. The Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam believes that Jesus survived the crucifixion and later travelled to India, where he lived and died as a prophet under the name of Yuz Asaf.

Jewish views

Judaism rejects both the Christian belief that Jesus was the Messiah and the Muslim belief that he was a prophet. Judaism states that there were no prophets after the prophet Malachi, and still awaits the coming of the Messiah. Jewish belief does not completely reject all of the historical information contained in Gospels, but does reject all of the confessions by early Christian adherents, especially Paul.

Eastern religions

Hindu beliefs in Jesus vary from those who consider him to have been just a normal man, or even purely a fable, to those who believe that he was an avatar of God. A large number of Hindus consider Jesus to have been a wise guru or yogi, some even suggesting that he spent his "lost years" learning various Hindu beliefs in India. The Hindutva historian P.N. Oak has even claimed that Jesus was in fact Krishna, and that Christianity originated as a form of his worship. Many in the Surat Shabd Yoga tradition regard Jesus as a Satguru. Mahatma Gandhi considered Jesus one of his main teachers and inspirations for Nonviolent Resistance. Although Buddhism in general attributes no spiritual significance to Jesus, some Buddhists believe that Jesus may have been a Bodhisattva, one who has dedicated his or her future to the happiness of all beings. Some Buddhists also interpret Jesus through Zen Buddhism, sometimes basing their perspective on the Gospel of Thomas. The Bahá'í Faith considers Jesus to be one of many "Manifestations" (or prophets) of God, with both human and divine stations.

Negative views

Some religions consider Jesus to be a false prophet. Mandaeanism regards Jesus as a deceiving prophet of the false Jewish god Adunay, and an opponent of the good prophet John the Baptist—whom they nonetheless believe to have baptized him. Some Satanists consider Jesus to have been the son or a follower of Satan, or Satan himself, but most do not hold any spiritual beliefs regarding Jesus.

Other Views

The Ebionites believed that Jesus was a great prophet and the Messiah, but not divine. They rejected the Epistles of Paul, and asserted that Jesus did not consider the Biblical laws to be abrogated, but instead wanted his followers to abide by them. Some Ebionites claimed the leadership of Saint James, the Brother of Jesus, but no historical connection between James and the sect has been substantiated. The New Age movement entertains a wide variety of views on Jesus. with some representatives (such as A Course In Miracles) going so far as to trance-channel him. Many recognize him as a "great teacher" (or "Ascended Master") similar to Buddha, and teach that Christhood is something that all may attain. At the same time, many New Age teachings, such as reincarnation, appear to reflect a certain discomfort with traditional Christianity. Numerous New Age subgroups claim Jesus as a supporter, often incorporating contrasts with or protests against the Christian mainstream. Thus, for example, Theosophy and its offshoots have Jesus studying esotericism in the Himalayas or Egypt during his "lost years".

Historicity

Egypt image of Jesus is one of many in which a sun cross halo is used. Such depictions are characteristic of Eastern Orthodox iconography.]] Most modern scholars hold that the works describing Jesus were initially communicated by oral tradition, and were not committed to writing until several decades after Jesus' crucifixion. The earliest extant texts which refer to Jesus are Paul's letters, which are usually dated from the mid-1st century. Paul saw Jesus only in visions, but he claimed that they were divine revelations and hence authoritative (1 Galatians 11-12). The earliest extant texts describing Jesus in any detail were the four New Testament Gospels. These texts, being part of the Biblical canon, have received much more analysis and acceptance from Christian sources than other possible sources for information on Jesus. Many apocryphal texts have also surfaced detailing events in Jesus' life and teachings, chief among them the Gospel of Thomas, a "sayings gospel" or logia consisting primarily of phrases attributed to Jesus. Other New Testament apocrypha, generally considered less important, include the Gospel of the Hebrews, the Gospel of Mary, the Infancy Gospels, the Gospel of Peter, the Unknown Berlin Gospel, the Naassene Fragment, the Secret Gospel of Mark, the Egerton Gospel, the Oxyrhynchus Gospels and the Fayyum Fragment.

Earlier texts?

Some texts with even earlier historical or mythological information on Jesus are speculated to have existed prior to the Gospels, though none are extant. Based on the unusual similarities and differences (see synoptic problem) between the Synoptic Gospels — Matthew, Mark and Luke, the first three canonical gospels—many Biblical scholars have suggested that oral tradition and logia (such as the Gospel of Thomas and the theoretical Q document) probably played a strong role in initially passing down stories of Jesus, and may have inspired some of the Synoptic Gospels. Specifically, many scholars believe that the Q document and the Gospel of Mark were the two sources used for the gospels of Matthew and Luke; however, other theories, such as the older Augustinian hypothesis, continue to hold sway with some Biblical scholars. Another theoretical document is the Signs Gospel, believed to have been a source for the Gospel of John. There is little consensus concerning how and when any of these documents were circulated, if they were at all. The ecumenical council meetings in the 4th century that discussed which works should and should not be included in the canon were largely unconcerned with modern historical sensibilities, utilizing few techniques of objective textual analysis. Instead, their discussions generally tended to center upon theology, rather than upon historicity. However, noted scholars F.F. Bruce, Bruce Metzger and others argue that some historical details were taken into consideration regarding the New Testament canon. It may be surmised that the early church leaders took for granted that historicity was not an issue to be debated, any more than debating the historicity of the Articles of Confederation or the Constitution would be major issues today. In addition, Bible scholar Bruce Metzger wrote regarding the formation of the canonical New Testament: :"Although the fringes of the emerging canon remained unsettled for generations, a high degree of unanimity concerning the greater part of the New Testament was attained among the very diverse and scattered congregations of believers not only throughout the Mediterranean world, but also over an area extending from Britain to Mesopotamia."

Questions of reliability

As a result of the many-decade time gap between the writing of the Gospels and the events they describe the accuracy of all early texts claiming the existence of Jesus or details of Jesus' life have been disputed by various parties. The authors of the gospels are traditionally thought to have been witnesses to the events included. After the original oral stories were written down, they were transcribed, and later translated into other languages. However, several Biblical historians have responded to claims of the unreliability of the gospel accounts by pointing out that historical documentation is often biased and second-hand, and frequently dates from several decades after the events described. Even among those who believe that Jesus existed, however, there are still numerous divisions over the historical accuracy of the canonical gospels. Some say that the Gospel accounts are neither objective nor accurate, since they were written or compiled by his followers and seem to exclusively portray a positive, idealized view of Jesus. Those who have a naturalistic view of history, as a general rule, do not believe in divine intervention or miracles, such as the resurrection of Jesus mentioned by the Gospels. One method used to estimate the factual accuracy of stories in the gospels is known as the "criterion of embarrassment", which holds that stories about events with embarrassing aspects (such as the denial of Jesus by Peter) would likely not have been included if not true.

External influences on gospel development

A minority of scholars believe that the gospel accounts of Jesus have little or no historical basis. At least in part, this is because there are many similarities between stories about Jesus and contemporary myths of pagan godmen such as Mithras, Apollo, Attis, Horus and Osiris-Dionysus, leading to conjectures that the pagan myths were adopted by some authors of early accounts of Jesus to form a syncretism with Christianity. Some Christian authors, such as C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, believed that such myths were created by ancient pagans with vague and imprecise foreknowledge of the Gospels. While these connections are disputed by many, it is nevertheless true that many elements of Jesus' story as told in the Gospels have parallels in pagan mythology, where miracles such as virgin birth were well-known. Scholars such as A. N. Sherwin-White, FF Bruce, John Wenham, Gary Habermas and others argue for a high degree of historical reliability of the key New Testament events or the New Testament as a whole (see: Resurrection of Jesus for details). Prominent liberal scholar John A.T. Robinson argued for early dates of the entire New Testament and ascribed many of the key New Testament texts to their traditional authors.

Notes

# The Gospels of the Bible, [http://www.biblegateway.com/ BibleGateway.com]. # Daniel Gaztambide (2005), [http://www.aramaicnt.org/site/index.php?mode=article&entry=28 "So Sayeth The Lord... According to Who?"]. # Stephen Voorwinde, [http://www.pastornet.net.au/rtc/canon.htm "The formation of the New Testament"], Patornet. Accessed October 25, 2005. # F. F. Bruce, New Testament Documents: Are they reliable?, [http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/ffbruce/ntdocrli/ntdocc03.htm "Chapter 3: The Canon of the New Testament"] (June, 1982), ISBN 087784691X, Inter-Varsity Press. # Coey Keating (December 11, 2005), [http://www.ntgreek.org/SeminaryPapers/ChurchHistory/Criteria%20for%20Development%20of%20the%20NT%20Canon%20in%20First%20Four%20Centuries.pdf "Criteria for development of the New Testament canon in the first four centuries of the Christian Church"], Fuller Theological Seminary. # Bruce Metzger (1987), The New Testament Canon, page 254. # Josh McDowell (1992), [http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/josh2.html "Evidence for the Resurrection"]. # F.F. Bruce (1959), [http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/ffbruce/ntdocrli/ntdocont.htm "THE NEW TESTAMENT DOCUMENTS Are they Reliable?"]. # Gary Habermas (2001), [http://www.apologetics.com/default.jsp?bodycontent=/articles/historical_apologetics/habermas-nt.html "Why I Believe The New Testament Is Historically Reliable"]. # John Robinson

External links

Religious views
- [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08374c.htm Jesus Christ Catholic Encyclopedia article]
- [http://www.LatinVulgate.com/christverse.aspx Complete Sayings of Jesus Christ] - The complete sayings of Jesus Christ in parallel English and Latin
- [http://www.islamfrominside.com/Pages/Articles/Jesus%20-%20An%20Islamic%20Perspective.html An Islamic perspective on Jesus]
- [http://www.watchtower.org/library/w/2001/11/15/article_02.htm Jehovah's Witnesses' perspective]
- [http://www.mormon.org/learn/0,8672,810-1,00.html Latter-day Saint (Mormon) beliefs about Jesus]
- [http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1988.htm/ensign%20november%201988.htm/what%20think%20ye%20of%20christ.htm What think ye of Christ?] (Mormon)
- [http://www.uua.org/pamphlet/3040.html Unitarian Universalist Views of Jesus]: prophet; dissident; one of many Christs
- [http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/topic/christ.html The Historic & Reformation View of Jesus Christ]: Solus Christus, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura, Soli Deo Gloria
- [http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dp5/mead.htm Jesus in the Jewish tradition]
- [http://www.christnotes.org/dictionary.php?dict=sbd&id=2398 Jesus Christ] - Smith's Bible Dictionary article Historical and skeptical views
- [http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/history/jesus.htm Overview of the Life of Jesus] A summary of New Testament accounts.
- [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/ From Jesus to Christ] -- A Frontline documentary on Jesus and early Christianity.
- [http://www.Jesus-Institute.org The Words and Life of Historical Jesus] by Jesus Institute
- [http://www.uncc.edu/jdtabor/index.html The Jewish Roman World of Jesus]
- [http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/oct1993/v50-3-article8.htm Historical context of Jesus' time]
- [http://www.sullivan-county.com/news/mine/jesus.htm Jewish sects during Jesus' time]
- [http://www.vatican.va/jubilee_2000/magazine/documents/ju_mag_01031997_p-29_en.html Christ and the Other Religions]
- [http://pages.ca.inter.net/~oblio/jhcjp.htm The Jesus Puzzle]
- [http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/jesus.html Skeptic's Guide to Jesus]
- [http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dp5/jesus.htm Who Was the Real Jesus?] Seemingly unique compilation from a theosophical point of view. Category:1st century BC births ko:예수 그리스도 ms:Yesus Kristus ja:イエス・キリスト simple:Jesus th:เยซู คริสต์ zh-cn:耶穌基督 zh-tw:耶穌基督

New Testament

The New Testament, sometimes called the Greek Testament or Greek Scriptures, is the name given to the part of the Christian Bible that was written after the birth of Jesus. The phrase "New Testament" is a translation of the Greek Η Καινή Διαθήκη, which is also often translated as The New Covenant. The phrase was originally used by early Christians to refer to the new covenant with God that formed the new basis for their relationship with God (see Jeremiah 31:31; Luke 22:20; 2 Corinthians 3:6; and Hebrews 9:15-20). About two centuries later, at the time of Tertullian and Lactantius, the phrase was being used to designate a particular collection of books that embodied this covenant. In recent times, the Biblical term New Covenant is also used by some to refer to the books of the New Testament.

Naming of the New Testament

Tertullian, in the 2nd century, was the first to use the terms novum testamentum/new testament and vetus testamentum/old testament, for example, in Against Marcion book 3 [http://earlychristianwritings.com/text/tertullian123.html], chapter 14, he wrote: :This may be understood to be the Divine Word, who is doubly edged with the two testaments of the law and the gospel and in book 4 [http://earlychristianwritings.com/text/tertullian124.html], chapter 6, he wrote: :For it is certain that the whole aim at which he has strenuously laboured even in the drawing up of his Antitheses, centres in this, that he may establish a diversity between the Old and the New Testaments, so that his own Christ may be separate from the Creator, as belonging to this rival god, and as alien from the law and the prophets. Lactantius, in the 3rd century, in his Divine Institutes, book 4, chapter 20 [http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-07/anf07-07.htm#P1533_624437], wrote: :But all Scripture is divided into two Testaments. That which preceded the advent and passion of Christ - that is, the law and the prophets - is called the Old; but those things which were written after His resurrection are named the New Testament. The Jews make use of the Old, we of the New: but yet they are not discordant, for the New is the fulfilling of the Old, and in both there is the same testator, even Christ, who, having suffered death for us, made us heirs of His everlasting kingdom, the people of the Jews being deprived and disinherited. As the prophet Jeremiah testifies when he speaks such things: [Jer. 31:31-32] "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new testament to the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not according to the testament which I made to their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; for they continued not in my testament, and I disregarded them, saith the Lord." ... For that which He said above, that He would make a new testament to the house of Judah, shows that the old testament which was given by Moses was not perfect; but that that which was to be given by Christ would be complete. The Vulgate translation, in the 5th century, used testamentum in 2nd Corinthians 3 [http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=1&b=8&c=3]: :(6)Who also hath made us fit ministers of the new testament, not in the letter but in the spirit. For the letter killeth: but the spirit quickeneth. (Douay-Rheims) :(14)But their senses were made dull. For, until this present day, the selfsame veil, in the reading of the old testament, remaineth not taken away (because in Christ it is made void). (Douay-Rheims) However, the more modern NRSV translates these verses from the Koine Greek as such: :(6)who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. :(14)But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside. Thus, it is common to conflate the English terms testament and covenant, even though they are not synonymous.

Books of the New Testament

The 27 books of the New Testament were written by various authors at various times and places. Unlike the Old Testament, the New Testament was written in a relatively narrow span of time, probably over less than a century, from c. AD 50 to c. AD 125. The following is a list of the New Testament books, followed by the author traditionally associated with that book.

The Gospels

The Gospels focus on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus:
- The Gospel of Matthew - Matthew, a tax-collector and apostle.
- The Gospel of Mark - Mark, a follower of Peter and also of Paul.
- The Gospel of Luke - Luke, possibly a follower of Paul.
- The Gospel of John - John, a fisherman and apostle. None of the Gospels identifies its author by name; rather, traditions about authorship are based on early Christian writings that identify them. The earliest references to the Gospels do not indicate an author - such as Justin Martyr who refers to "memoirs of the apostles" also "called Gospels", but gives no names; or Aristides who refers to the (singular) "Gospel, as it is called", but also gives no name(s).

History

The history of the early Christian church after the death of Christ is related here.
- The Acts of the Apostles - Luke

Epistles

The epistles contain various letters written sometimes to individuals but mainly to early Christian congregations. These epistles expound important theological points and give insight into the developing Christian church. The NT epistles are of varying quality and it is not at all certain if they were actually written by the person whose name they bear. Modern scholars argue that many of the epistles are pseudepigraphical.

Pauline Epistles

The Pauline Epistles (or Corpus Paulinum) constitute those epistles traditionally attributed to Paul (for modern views, see below under Authorship). Their names are based on the Christian groups or individuals to whom they are addressed. Some of the Pauline epistles (such as the Pastoral Epistles) are considered by some to not be written by Paul.
- Epistle to the Romans - Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles
- First Epistle to the Corinthians - Paul
- Second Epistle to the Corinthians - Paul
- Third Epistle to the Corinthians - Armenian Orthodox
- Epistle to the Galatians - Paul
- Epistle to the Ephesians - Paul
- Epistle to the Philippians - Paul
- Epistle to the Colossians - Paul
- First Epistle to the Thessalonians - Paul
- Second Epistle to the Thessalonians - Paul
- First Epistle to Timothy - Paul (Pastoral Epistles)
- Second Epistle to Timothy - Paul (Pastoral Epistles)
- Epistle to Titus - Paul (Pastoral Epistles)
- Epistle to Philemon - Paul
- Epistle to the Laodiceans - Vulgate apocrypha

General Epistles

:See main article: General Epistles The General or Catholic Epistles are those written to the church at large. They are named after their traditional author, but many contemporary scholars believe they are all pseudepigraphical. In medieval times, they were often collected not with the Pauline epistles but with Acts to form the Praxapostolos.
- Epistle to the Hebrews - Anonymous. Historically attributed to Paul, though few scholars would identify him as the author today.
- Epistle of James - James, the brother of Jesus
- First Epistle of Peter - Peter the Apostle
- Second Epistle of Peter - Peter the Apostle (normally considered to be written by another author by modern scholars)
- First Epistle of John - John the Apostle (the Johannine letters are usually attributed to members of the community of his disciples, though 1 John closely resembles the Gospel of John in style and vocabulary)
- Second Epistle of John - John the Apostle
- Third Epistle of John - John the Apostle
- Epistle of Jude - Jude, brother of James

Prophecy

- Revelation - John "the Divine." Traditionally identified with John the Apostle. There is still some debate as to whether this is John the Apostle or another prophet by the same name.
- Bible prophecy

Language

The common language spoken in the time of Jesus was Aramaic. However, the original text of the New Testament was most likely written in Koine Greek, the vernacular dialect in first-century Roman provinces, and has since been widely translated into other languages, most notably Latin, Syriac, and Coptic. (However, some of the church fathers seem to imply that Matthew was originally written in Hebrew or more likely Aramaic, and there is another contention that the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews wrote in Hebrew, which was translated into Greek by Luke. Neither view holds much support among contemporary scholars, who argue that the literary quality of Matthew and Hebrews suggests that they were composed directly in Greek, rather than being translated.) It is notable that many books of the New Testament, especially the gospel of Mark and the book of Revelation, are written in relatively poor Greek. They are far from the refined Attic or Classical Greek one finds composed by the higher classes, ruling elites, and trained philosophers of the time. Relative exceptions to this include the gospels of Luke and John and the Acts of the Apostles, the latter probably written or redacted by the same person who wrote or redacted Luke. A very small minority of scholars consider the Aramaic version of the New Testament to be the original and believe the Greek is a translation (see Aramaic primacy).

Gospel sources

The sources of the Gospels, and their relationship, is a matter of some debate (see the Synoptic Problem). Some of the Church Fathers said that the Gospel of Matthew was the first written. Many scholars now believe that the Gospel of Mark and the Q document are the main primary sources of the Gospels - the Two-Source Hypothesis. However, as noted below, the nature and existence of Q is hypothetical. (Main article: Historicity of Jesus)

Authorship

The New Testament was written by many different people. The traditional view is that all the books were written by apostles or their followers (e.g. Mark and Luke). Modern scholars now largely discount this assumption aside from seven of Paul's letters. Except for Hebrews, no serious question about the authorship of any of the books was raised in the church before the 18th century, when critical inquiry into the New Testament began. However, it should be noted that scholars such as A. N. Sherwin-White, F.F. Bruce, John Wenham, Gary Habermas and others argue for a high degree of historical reliability of the key New Testament events or the New Testament as a whole (see: Resurrection of Jesus for details).[http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/josh2.html] [http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/ffbruce/ntdocrli/ntdocont.htm][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wenham][http://www.apologetics.com/default.jsp?bodycontent=/articles/historical_apologetics/habermas-nt.html] Prominent liberal scholar John A.T. Robinson argued for early dates of the entire New Testament and ascribed many of the key New Testament texts to their traditional authors. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Robinson_%281919-1983%29] Seven of the epistles of Paul are now generally accepted by most modern scholars as authentic; these "undisputed" letters include Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon. Scholars are divided over the Pauline authorship of 2 Thessalonians, Colossians, and Ephesians (listed in decreasing order of support). It is mainly evangelical scholars who hold Pauline authorship of the Pastorals (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus). Almost no current mainstream scholar, however, holds that Paul wrote Hebrews. In fact, controversy about the authorship of Hebrews, the only anonymous epistle, goes back to the early Church fathers. The exact authorship of most other books has not been agreed upon. The issue is somewhat different for the gospels, because they are all technically anonymous; so the question is whether the traditional attributions (to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are correct. The Johannine writings, particularly the Gospel and the first epistle, have been accepted by many as coming from circles around John the Evangelist; the question there is whether Revelation is ascribed to the circles. Of key concern is the role of presuppositions in Biblical scholarship, especially gospel and historical Jesus studies. It is now widely recognized that every individual comes to historical study with their own experiences, religious beliefs, and philosophical assumptions, and that these factors can play a defining role in the final product that any particular scholar produces. In the case of the gospels, modern research has been approached from a number of perspectives: Jewish, feminist, Protestant, Roman Catholic, agnostic, materialist, historical, and social-scientific, to name just a few. A prime example of this diversity of opinion is represented in the numerous, often contradictory, "historical Jesus" books published in

Holy Communion

Names for the Eucharist

Eucharist in the Bible

Christian Theology

Roman Catholic: Sacrifice; Transubstantiation

Eastern Christianity: Sacrifice and Objective Reality but Pious Silence on the Particulars

Anglicans/Episcopalians: Real Presence with Opinion

Lutherans: presence as "in, with and under": the Sacramental Union

Methodism: presence as "mystery"

Calvinist Reformed: spiritual feeding

Reformed/Congregational: non-presence

Summary of views

Ritual and liturgy

The Agape feast

Eastern Christianity

Roman Catholicism

Protestantism

Anglican

Lutheran

Reformed/Presbyterian

Minimalist

Open and closed communion

Footnotes

Resources

See also

External links

Liturgical texts & services

History, theology, etc.

ChristianIty

Jesus

Life and teachings, based upon the Gospels

Chronology

Family and early life

Later life

Arrest, trial and execution

Resurrection and Ascension

Legacy

Religious perspectives

Christian views

Islamic views

Jewish views

Eastern religions

Negative views

Other Views

Historicity

Earlier texts?

Questions of reliability

External influences on gospel development

Notes

Other topics pertaining to Jesus

See also

External links

New Testament

Naming of the New Testament

Books of the New Testament

The Gospels

History

Epistles

Pauline Epistles

General Epistles

Prophecy

Language

Gospel sources

Authorship