tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000642393175378494.post6210012958300543743..comments2023-09-15T04:44:05.493-07:00Comments on Crumbs at the Feast: Equus / WorshipNeil Ellis Ortshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12055904122133673244noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000642393175378494.post-61591949874124613292011-11-03T21:58:34.251-07:002011-11-03T21:58:34.251-07:00"Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He ..."Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said, 'Take; eat; this is my body, given for you. This do in remembrance of me.' In the same way, also, He took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them saying, 'Drink of it all of you. This cup is the New Testament in My Blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." <br /><br />These are the words of institution, or at least one version used by Lutherans. YMMV (Your Missal May Vary.) <br /><br />On the surface, they appear to be talking about eating human (or god-man) flesh and drinking blood. That there are elements used in the stead of flesh and blood, i.e. bread and wine, we can see from the above text that we are not to take the language of "body" and "blood" literally, but that it's a ritual. So I stand by my original statement---on the surface, it appears to be about ritual cannibalism. <br /><br />What you're doing, Brian, is the actual deconstruction, and you do it from your deep, rich, Catholic faith. You are giving a brief analysis of what is happening in the sacrament. We Lutherans might use different words, Calvinists others still. Those different words make up the deconstruction from the point of view of various theologies. <br /><br />All we do with these words is deconstruction. Or, interpretation or analysis, or unpacking. <br /><br />And again, no matter how you explain the words, how you unpack them, how you analyze them, how you deconstruct them . . . they have a surface appearance of being about ritual (not literal) cannibalism. I contend we have to own up to that, have some honesty about the "plain meaning of the words" (to use a popular phrase in some circles). <br /><br />That's all I meant there.Neil Ellis Ortshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12055904122133673244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000642393175378494.post-30190586295275533932011-11-03T14:12:00.736-07:002011-11-03T14:12:00.736-07:00If "no matter how you deconstruct it, has the...If "no matter how you deconstruct it, has the surface appearance of ritual cannibalism" why deconstruct it at all? <br /><br />If worship is destructive, it destroys sin in us, especially through the Eucharist. It destroys sin by giving us the life of Christ Himself. We exchange our life for His. One sacrifice for another. <i>Hoc est corpus meum...</i>Brian Sullivanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13090250825241093641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000642393175378494.post-12361057847816162892011-11-02T23:35:58.134-07:002011-11-02T23:35:58.134-07:00"People do not approach the communion rail wi..."People do not approach the communion rail with anything like the abandon of Alan howling in the mist, riding naked on the back of Equus."<br /><br />I started to argue this point, then remembered you are Lutheran.<br /><br />I'll try to respond more later. For now, must sleep. Worship and teaching and fellowship all day tomorrow. Nothing destructive.roadkills-r-ushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14029861300358380117noreply@blogger.com