06 March 2013

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

We repeat the proposition, confirmed by the whole history of the Church, that moral repugnance to the doctrine that the body and blood of Christ are the medium through which redemption is applied, has its root in a moral repugnance to the doctrine that His precious body and blood are the medium through which redemption was wrought.—C. P. Krauth, Conservative Reformation, p. 657.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

V

Anonymous said...

Please excuse my earlier cryptic comment “V”. That is what happens when you hit Shift V instead of Control V.

Following are all of the verses from the New Testament which I can find that deal with the institution and meaning of the Eucharist: Matthew 26:26 -29, Mark 14: 22-25, Luke 22: 19-20, John 6: 52-58, 1 Corinthians 10: 15-22, 1 Corinthians 11: 17-34. This does not include any verses that simply tell of the Eucharist being observed. Martin Luther’s comment, “Not one syllable ….”, referring to John 6, should also be noted. If anyone knows of any other passages from the New Testament that are relevant, I will be very grateful if you would include them in your response.

One could make an argument from John 6 that “the body and blood of Christ are the medium (sic) through which redemption is applied”, but it would be more proper to say that those who are already redeemed “eat and drink His blood.” In other words, it is a correlation, not a cause and effect relationship. The other verses do not support that notion.

Seeing as we are saved “by grace, through faith” are not these the media of our redemption. And does not Baptism play some role in it through the media of water and the Holy Spirit?

Furthermore, could we have just one little footnote which proves that the writer’s contention is “confirmed by the whole history of the Church”?

What I also resent in this posting is that the author is so sure of his position that if you deny his first proposition, you are automatically in the camp of those who have a “moral repugnance to the doctrine that His precious body and blood are the medium through which redemption was wrought.” Now, actually I do have some repugnance in this area, because when we speak of His body and blood having wrought our redemption, we are speaking metaphorically (unless we are prepared to join the Society of the Precious Blood of Jesus). Our redemption was wrought through the perfect life of our dear Lord, which culminated in the sacrifice of Himself on the cross. Certainly His broken body and shed blood were involved, but the focus should be on His person.

Peace and Joy!
George A. Marquart