“THOUGHTS ON THE LORD'S SUPER: THE ELEMENTS AND SELF-REFLECTION” (SANTAMARIA)

The liturgy used for the Lord’s Supper even among Baptists -  Is it warranted from the New Testament? - ed

The Lord's Supper as practiced today seems a far cry from the breaking of bread as found in the book of Acts.  It has become a solemn act.  The event described in the Book of Acts was a joyous celebration.  "And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." Where did the concept of solemnity before the Supper come from? is it the same as taking it in vain? Acts 2.42. We have the words of Frank Viola's bombshell book, Pagan Christianity:

But clearly, Protestants (as well as Catholics) do not practice the Supper the way it was observed in the first century. For the early Christians, the Lord’s Supper was a festive communal meal.[22] The mood was one of celebration and joy. When believers first gathered for the meal, they broke the bread and passed it around. Then they ate their meal, which then concluded after the cup was passed around. The Lord’s Supper was essentially a Christian banquet. And there was no clergyman to officiate.[23] Viola, Frank; Barna, George. Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices (p. 192). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition. 

Viola goes on:

Today, tradition has forced us to take the Supper as a tongue-tickling thimble of grape juice and a tiny, tasteless bite-size cracker. The Supper is often taken in an atmosphere of solemnity. We are told to remember the horrors of our Lord’s death and to reflect on our sins. In addition, tradition has taught us that taking the Lord’s Supper can be a dangerous thing. Thus many contemporary Christians would never take Communion without an ordained clergyman present. Often, they point to 1 Corinthians 11:27-33. In verse 27, the apostle Paul does warn believers not to participate in the Lord’s Supper “unworthily.” In this instance, however, he appears to have been speaking to church members who were dishonoring the Supper by not waiting for their poor brethren to eat with them, as well as those who were getting drunk on the wine. Viola, Frank; Barna, George. Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices (pp. 192-193). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition. 

Our readers will forgive us for quoting Viola further, but his words are very accurate:

Truncating the Meal So why was the full meal replaced with a ceremony including only the bread and the cup? Here is the story. In the first and early second centuries, the early Christians called the Lord’s Supper the “love feast.”[24] At that time, they took the bread and cup in the context of a festive meal. But around the time of Tertullian, the bread and the cup began to be separated from the meal. By the late second century, this separation was complete.[25] Some scholars have argued that the Christians dropped the meal because they wanted to keep the Eucharist from becoming profaned by the participation of unbelievers.[26] This may be partly true. But it is more likely that the growing influence of pagan religious ritual removed the Supper from the joyful, down-to-earth, nonreligious atmosphere of a meal in someone’s living room.[27] By the fourth century, the love feast was prohibited among Christians![28] With the abandonment of the meal, the terms breaking of bread and Lord’s Supper disappeared.[29] The common term for the now truncated ritual (just the bread and the cup) was the Eucharist.[30] Irenaeus (130–200) was one of the first to call the bread and cup an offering.[31] After him, it began to be called the “offering” or“sacrifice. Viola, Frank; Barna, George. Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices (p. 193). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition. 

Again with the reader's forbearance, we will quote further from Viola:

While contemporary Protestant Christians have discarded the Catholic notion that the Lord’s Supper is a sacrifice, they have continued to embrace the Catholic practice of the Supper. Observe a Lord’s Supper service (often called “Holy Communion”) in most Protestant churches and you will observe the following: The Lord’s Supper is a bite-size cracker (or a small piece of bread) and a shot glass of grape juice (or wine). As in the Catholic church, it is removed from the meal. The mood is somber and glum, just as it is in the Catholic church. Congregants are told by the pastor that they must examine themselves with regard to sin before they partake of the elements, a practice that came from John Calvin.[45] Viola, Frank; Barna, George. Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices (pp. 195-196). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition. 

Today, we are to be solemn and we are to meditate on our sins to make ourselves "worthy" of partaking in the Lord's Supper.  This is based on the false interpretation of I John 1.19, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  The confusion comes from conflating the word repentance (a different Greek word) with confession.  Nowhere else in the Epistles do we see Paul exhorting BELIEVERS to repent.  As for the word confession, it simply means to keep the faith,  not to abandon the faith, not to apostatize, etc. I John is saying that all believers must confess they are sinners and are dependent on Christ's work and not their own.  The preposterous idea that there is a condition for God to forgive us our sins is purely Arminian.  That would make God's forgiveness depend on some act of ours like repentance.  Besides when we are repenting "evil is present therewith" according to Paul in Romans 7.  Also, how do we repent for sins we are unaware of?  No!  Let us do away with this infernal doctrine!

The biggest problem is that there has been too much luggage we carry from the Catholic Church, Apostolic Fathers, and yes, even the vaunted Reformation, which was a brave but vain attempt to "reform" a corpse (the Roman Catholic Church).  May the Lord guide in this to his truth!