BDT17 - I apologize for the delay. Your post deserves a response. I've been crazy busy the past several days.
BusyTarpDuster2017 said:
Let's look at it this way: Jesus said in the beginning of this whole discourse that he was the "bread of life", and that whoever comes to him "will never hunger or thirst again". Question: have you ever been hungry or thirsty at any time in your life after taking the Eucharist?
Jesus is referring to having eternal life and never being hungry.
BusyTarpDuster2017 said:
Also, if Jesus said that we have no part with him unless we literally eat his flesh and drink his blood, then that would make the Eucharist absolutely necessary for salvation. Therefore, that would make all the declarations in the bible about how to get saved wrong. The Ethiopian eunuch, the Phillipine jailer, the house of Cornelius - all were misled about being saved, because none were given some of Jesus' flesh to eat. Jesus and Paul were wrong that faith/belief saves you. Too bad for Nicodemus, who wasn't told he had to literally eat Jesus' flesh as well.
One of the reasons for my delay in response is that I wanted to obtain an answer in accordance with Catholic magisterial teaching. I contacted Jim Blackburn, noted Catholic apologist, speaker, and author. He provided the following response to your statements above:
Quote:
Indeed, the Eucharist is necessary for salvationnot absolutely, but ordinarily. In other words, he who comes to know that the Eucharist is necessary for spiritual life must partake in it.
Quote:
With respect to the jailer, the house of Cornelius, et al., he offered this response:
Regarding the Ethiopian eunuch, the Philippian jailer, the house of Cornelius, and Nicodemus, how do we know they weren't given some of Jesus' flesh to eat? It seems likely that they were! If they were later taught about the Eucharistwhich they surely werethey almost certainly did partake in it.
BusyTarpDuster2017 said:
Notice that Jesus said the same thing when he washed the disciples feet. When Peter refused, Jesus said that unless he let Jesus do it, "you have no part with me". Question: have you had your feet literally washed by Jesus? Isn't he clearly saying here that if your feet aren't literally washed by him, that you aren't saved? So does this mean you need another sacrament? Does a priest have to call Jesus down to enter his body, so that the priest literally becomes Jesus himself, to where he can then wash everyone's feet in the church?
Quite frankly, I've never met or read anyone that proposed this line of reasoning. It has no rational basis. No where in the scriptures could it be implied that Jesus' comments He was going to wash everyone's feet. It was obviously meant for Peter alone.
BusyTarpDuster2017 said:
If we're going to be literal, and parse what Jesus said in that way, then look carefully at what he said: "THIS bread is my body....." He means that particular loaf of bread that he shared with the disciples in that specific supper was his body. He doesn't say that "any bread of your choosing, I will come down and my flesh will literally become that bread also". So unless you go to Israel and dig up a 2000 year old stale piece of bread and eat it, you're in trouble. Jesus said to do it "in remembrance" of him. He doesn't say it's literally happening each and every time. It was meant to be a symbolic reminder.
What's interesting is the word, "
in remembrance". In the Greek, He uses the word
"anamnesis." It doesn't mean to remember like a birthday. It has a meaning "to make present again." It is always used within a sacrificial context meaning a "memorial offering" or "memorial sacrifice."
Finally the "do this" in the Greek reads
"poieite touto." It is the root for
"poieite", is translated as "offer" with regard to offering sacrifices.
All the evidence and the history point to the literal meaning of John 6.