Holy Communion Resources
Teaching through 1 Corinthians has certainly given us a lot of challenging messages as we've had to teach our way through what were points of conflict and controversy in the early church. One of the things I have found very interesting is how much those same topics are still so relevant to the expressions of church today. Even as we have gone through many changes to the expression of the church over the last 1,970 years, it seems that the human experience remains the same so that the church still has to keep coming back to the main thing in the midst of the tension between contextualization and syncretism: Is Christ really at the center of our passions, priorities, and practices? If not, how we will conform to Christ rather than seeking to conform Christ to us?
As we discussed the Lord's Supper in last week's message, Unholy Communion, we did a bit of digging into the background of the text that is often used when we celebrate the Lord's Supper. We got to dig into why Paul was writing what he did and what the context was for Jesus' words of institution were as well as some words that are often misunderstood that end up keeping people away from this celebration. Hopefully it helped to give even more significance to the Lord's Supper as we remember the work of Jesus and proclaim His Good News through our celebration of that family tradition and through our relationships and common-union as the Body of Christ and the Family of God.
Some of you may want to do further learning on this topic. Here are some helpful academic resources in video and audio format that can help you go a bit deeper.
Audio:
The Lord’s Supper and 1 Corinthians 8-11, Part 1 | The Naked Bible Podcast (Dr. Michael Heiser)
The Lord’s Supper and 1 Corinthians 8-11, Part 2 | The Naked Bible Podcast (Dr. Michael Heiser)
Video:
Lord’s Supper: Corinthian Abuse of the Ritual (1 Cor 11:17–22) (Dr. Craig Bloomberg). Watch the 3 consecutive clips (about 20 mins total)
Meals in Corinth, Celebrating & Implementing Jesus' Hospitality (Dr. Joshua Jipp). Watch the 3 consecutive clips (about 13 mins total).
You can always use the Free "Faithlife Study Bible" and a few other free resources within the Logos or Faithlife Apps to look into any key texts (most of your other Bible Study titles in the app will have to be purchased after May 31st, but these free ones are often enough background to catch something you may have questions on, especially the FSB). Last week I also recommended "Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians" by Dr. Ben Witherington, III for anyone who wants to dig deeper into Corinthians specifically.
Enjoy!