Adam5 Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 We believed in a lot of crazy stuff back in the day. For me, the wackiest Christian teaching by a long stretch was God eating. And it wasnt a snack on the side. For the Anglican church its the main event. John 6.. <headslap> wtf I just told myself at the time it was all symbolic. I knew it was crazy but went with the flow. What were your views on communion? What are your views on the insanity of it now? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeelHappy Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 It was definitely symbolic in the churches I went to, they'd even make sure the congregation knew that this wasn't the actual blood. Far different from when I went to the catholic churches and saw the elaborate communion service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam5 Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 It was definitely symbolic in the churches I went to, they'd even make sure the congregation knew that this wasn't the actual blood. This is the opposite of the Anglican church I attended. When they handed you the wafer, they'd say "the body of Christ", and the cup "the blood of Christ". And afterwards from the post communion prayer "Almighty God, we thank you for feeding us with the body and blood of your son Jesus Christ." Making it clear that it was actually the literal body and blood i,e, you were eating God. Amazing isnt it, churches having completely opposing beliefs about a core teaching, inspired alledgely by the same God. Just shows what utter nonsense christianity is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midniterider Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 This is the tasteless wafer of Jesus which was broken at Calvary....this is the grape juice that ran through Jesus' veins and will cleanse you....blah blah. We did that every month or so. Yes, rather absurd when you think about it. But I never really thought about it at the time. I knew I wasn't really eating god's flesh....just a wafer and grape juice.... I'm glad Jesus and the 12 disciples didn't like ritually stab themselves in the leg...can't you see 50 church members pulling out their ritual daggers and stabbing themselves in the leg? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsRoper Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 The whole thing just grosses me out now. The thought of attending church to celebrate public execution, as if it's something worthy of praise & then to top it off to have to drink the blood of Christ and eat the body of Christ - it's disgusting. I don't even like crosses as a symbol anymore. Why would anyone want to wear a murder weapon on their chest? I think I will probably get rid of all of mine, I don't even like looking at them on other people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deva Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 The Anglican service was beautiful to me in 1994. I thought it was everything I had been missing in the Baptist church. I thought it would save my faith. But, I was wrong. It is really fancied up, but it is essentially nothing more than eating a wafer and having a sip of wine. I love the ceremony, but what is behind it doesn't appeal to me anymore, even in a symbolic sense. Why would I have to do something like this to get close to God? It makes no sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverAgainV Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 being raised a catholic, communion was viewed as eating the real body & drinking the blood of jesus. That is how I understood it when I was Catholic. Then the baptist slant was "the catholics are crazy!!" so the baptists believed it was symbolic, "in rememberance..." I also attended, but didn't join the Lutheran's & they were somewhere inbetween. Now I just see it as cannibalism...& I don't get how the baptists can deny that jesus said to "eat his body & drink his blood". It's all messed up looking back. I don't miss it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsRoper Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 The Anglican service was beautiful to me in 1994. I thought it was everything I had been missing in the Baptist church. I thought it would save my faith. But, I was wrong. It is really fancied up, but it is essentially nothing more than eating a wafer and having a sip of wine. I love the ceremony, but what is behind it doesn't appeal to me anymore, even in a symbolic sense. Why would I have to do something like this to get close to God? It makes no sense. I can relate to your finding the mass beautiful. Even thought I believe everything I said above, I always find myself crying when I attend mass, it still moves me, even though to me it is all a myth. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConureDelSol Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 We usually had grape juice at communion, but I went to one church that had wine and I didn't expect it and spat it out. Now it seems hilarious because of the symbolism. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3DollarBill Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Former Baptist here...definitely did it symbolically, called it the "lord's supper" in remembrance of the last supper. Thought it was hilarious when I first heard that Catholics believed in transubstantiation, then had another good laugh when it first occurred to me how this is quite possibly the one area where fundies take something figuratively that Catholics take literally. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverAgainV Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Former Baptist here...definitely did it symbolically, called it the "lord's supper" in remembrance of the last supper. Thought it was hilarious when I first heard that Catholics believed in transubstantiation, then had another good laugh when it first occurred to me how this is quite possibly the one area where fundies take something figuratively that Catholics take literally. Great observation 3DB! I think it's interesting how in baptist/calvinist church the Catholics were looked on with such disdain, but Catholics actually are taking the bible literally in many instancesthat the Baptists wink at. Ah bible religion so many contradictions & inconsistencies..I'm so glad to be out of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurari Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 The idea of cannibalism, even symbolic cannibalism, has always been a weird, disturbing, and disgusting thought to me. I tried to push that back and get down with the symbolism, but all I could think of was that French bread and grape juice was pretty good when you're hungry and ready to go to lunch. The pagans do a similar offering of "cakes and wine" after ritual, but it's a method of grounding your energy and thanking the gods for their presence at your circle and the bounty that nature provides you. A much nicer thought, I think. I think the Eucharist could have followed in the same vein without the cannibalism idea. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam5 Posted June 13, 2012 Author Share Posted June 13, 2012 We usually had grape juice at communion, but I went to one church that had wine and I didn't expect it and spat it out. Now it seems hilarious because of the symbolism. Spat it out! You'd be crucified for doing that at the church I attended, figuratively of course Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam5 Posted June 13, 2012 Author Share Posted June 13, 2012 being raised a catholic, communion was viewed as eating the real body & drinking the blood of jesus. That is how I understood it when I was Catholic... I'm sure I heared once years ago, maybe on EWTN radio cant remember, that if crumbs of the bread were dropped, they would hoover them up, and bury the hoover bag. I could be getting the story wrong. But if true shows how seriously the whole thing is taken. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam5 Posted June 13, 2012 Author Share Posted June 13, 2012 The idea of cannibalism, even symbolic cannibalism, has always been a weird, disturbing, and disgusting thought to me. I tried to push that back and get down with the symbolism Me too. The idea grossed me out even why I was a kool aid drinker, so to speak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akheia Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 I'm glad Jesus and the 12 disciples didn't like ritually stab themselves in the leg...can't you see 50 church members pulling out their ritual daggers and stabbing themselves in the leg? Christianity as a whole would never have taken off had it required anything like that of its followers. Maximum reward for minimal effort, maximum punishment for minimal offense--that's its entire draw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivingLife Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 We had jeebus crackers and grape juice at my old church. occasionally, they would actually splurge on a bread like this; Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akheia Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 See, good bread makes it okay. My fundie church saw the whole idea more as a communal meal in memory of an event, or at least that's what I thought of it. I'd have been disgusted to think it was really someone's body and blood. When Catholic, that was the hardest thing to endure ever, to think I was doing that to Jesus. I cried so hard when I learned that in catechism. I'm all for a communal meal, but human sacrifices don't fit in with my cosmology anymore. It's another failing of the Christian myth, really. (True story: A fundie friend discovered that you could buy Catholic-style melt-in-your-mouth-not-in-your-hands communion wafers at the same Jesus store that sold Chick tracts down by the Food4Less in Houston. Apparently they aren't bad with peanut butter.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilith666 Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 I get irritated with religious rituals. To me, the symbolism is overdone and melodramatic. And graphic--I don't want to eat X and drink his blood. Don't any of them think it's sort of gross? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverAgainV Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 I get irritated with religious rituals. To me, the symbolism is overdone and melodramatic. And graphic--I don't want to eat X and drink his blood. Don't any of them think it's sort of gross? well...that's the thing, they don't think about it...it's all "faith" so you gotta just accept it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeCoastie Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Former Baptist here...definitely did it symbolically, called it the "lord's supper" in remembrance of the last supper. Thought it was hilarious when I first heard that Catholics believed in transubstantiation, then had another good laugh when it first occurred to me how this is quite possibly the one area where fundies take something figuratively that Catholics take literally. Former Catholic here. And yes they do take it literally. Its one of the stranger and tougher things that young Catholics are made to believe. Pretty much you have the wafer and the wine and the priest does his prayers and hocus pocus over it. The wine and the wafer are now the blood and flesh of Jesus. They still taste, look, feel, and smell like the wine and wafer, but IT IS the flesh and blood of Jesus. We never used real bread either. The communion wafers we used tasted and felt like styrofoam, but we did use real wine which is pretty cool when you're a kid. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akheia Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Dude, those styrofoam wafers were the only part of Mass I *did* like as a kid Don't even tell me you didn't let them melt on your tongue and then stick out your tongue at your siblings to gross them out. I can't have been the only one. I just can't have. Though you guys bring up a very interesting point. Out of everything fundagelicals think is literal about the Bible, that is actually about the only thing I can think of that they DON'T think is literal. I wonder why that one thing is symbolic but everything else Jesus said is grade-A fact? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeCoastie Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Well I did enjoy the melting sensation. I remember somebody telling me that it was best not to chew your savior. I don't see why that matters, he ends up as poop at the end anyways. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akheia Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Yeah, what's up with that? My aunt, the nun, told me that too. Apparently you just let it melt. What's worse, chewing the Messiah's torn flesh or letting it turn to sludge on your tongue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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