Constantine's reign as Roman emperor (A.D. 306-337) dramatically changed the direction of Christianity, though in ways far different from those portrayed in The Da Vinci Code. This grew out of his strategy for unifying his empire by creating a "catholic"�meaning universal �church that would blend elements from many religions into one.
While Constantine supposedly converted to Christianity in 312, he wasn't baptized until on his deathbed 25 years later. In the intervening years he had his wife and eldest son murdered, and from all appearances he continued as a worshipper of the sun god. Long after his supposed conversion he had coins minted with a portrait of himself on one side and a depiction of his "companion, the unconquered Sol [sun]" on the other.
The "Christianity" Constantine endorsed was already considerably different from that practiced by Jesus Christ and the apostles. The emperor accelerated the change by his own hatred of Jews and religious practices he considered Jewish.
For example, at the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325), church authorities essentially replaced the biblical Passover with Easter, a popular holiday rooted in ancient springtime fertility celebrations. Endorsing this change, Constantine announced: "It appeared an unworthy thing that in the celebration of this most holy feast [Easter] we should follow the practice of the Jews, who have impiously defiled their hands with enormous sin, and are, therefore, deservedly afflicted with blindness of soul . . . Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd" (Eusebius, Life of Constantine 3, 18-19, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 1979, second series, Vol. 1, pp. 524-525).
Constantine's affection for sun worship had earlier led him to endorse Sunday, the first day of the week and a day dedicated to honoring the sun, as a weekly day of rest in the Roman empire . This created considerable hardship on those Jews and true Christians who continued to keep the biblical Sabbath on the seventh day of the week. (A century later the Council of Laodicea would essentially outlaw Sabbath-keeping and Christian observance of the biblical Holy Days.)
British historian Paul Johnson summarizes how Constantine's approach of merging religious practices produced a corrupted Christianity that meshed paganism with biblical elements: "Thus the followers of Isis adored a madonna nursing her holy child; the cult of Attis and Cybele celebrated a day of blood and fasting, followed by the Hilaria resurrection-feast . . . the elitist Mithraics, many of whom were senior army officers, ate a sacred meal ...
"Many Christians did not make a clear distinction between this sun-cult [Mithraism] and their own. They . . . held their services on Sunday, knelt towards the East and had their nativity-feast on 25 December, the birthday of the sun at the winter solstice ...
"How could the Christian Church, apparently quite willingly, accommodate this weird megalomaniac [Constantine] in its theocratic system? Was there a conscious bargain? Which side benefited most from this unseemly marriage between Church and State? ... Did the empire surrender to Christianity, or did Christianity prostitute itself to the empire?" ( A History of Christianity, 1976, pp. 67-69).
When we consider the vast differences between the mainstream Christianity of today and the original Christianity of Jesus Christ and the apostles, we can trace much of that change to Constantine and the religious system he put in power....Striving to get back to the faith once delivered to the saints!
I'm with you on this. Constantine had nothing whatsoever to do with the the Lord's Supper/Holy Commuion. I think he's getting more credit than he desires. lol...
It was indeed the Lord Jesus Himeslef who established the Holy Table of Communion on the night of His betrayal, if we are to believ the scriptures. Bread and Vine the elements of the Lord's Supper/Communion are symbolic of the body and blood of Jesus Christ... bringing us spiritualy in one with Him.
Matthew chapter 26:verses 25-30:
Then Judas, whobetrayed Him, answered and said, Master is it I? And Jesus answered him saying, "You said it. And as they were eating, Jesus took the bread and blessed it and broke it, and gavie it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is my body. And He then took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, "You Drink all of it. For this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But Isay to you, I will not drink anymore of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. And when they had song a hymn, they went out into the Mt of Olives.
This is also recorded in Mark chapter 14:verses 22-24; Luke chapter 22:verses 19-20> which Luke adds Jesus saying "Do this in rememberance of Me."
The theological significance of the Lord's Supper/ Communion is from Paul in I Corinthians chapter 10: verses 16-17: "I speak to you as speaking to wise men, and you judge for yourself. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not the COMMUNION OF THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST? The bread that we break, is it not the COMMUNION OF THE BODY OF CHRIST? For we being many are one bread, and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread.
I Corinthians chapter 11:verses 23-28:
Paul write: For I have received of the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus Christ on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, Take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in rememberance of Me.
And after the same manner He took the cup, and when
He had finsihed eating, He said, This cup is the New Testament in my blood. You do this, and as OFTEN as you drink it, do it in rememberance of Me." For as OFTEN as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till He come. Therefore, whoever will eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthy will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself and so let him then eat of the bread, and drink of that cup. For he who eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks damnation to himself, not discrning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many die. For if we judge ourselves, we will not be judged."
John chapter 6
Jesus siad I Am the bread of life, which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. Then the Jews said, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Then Jesus said, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drink My blood has ETERNAL LIFE, and I will raise him/her up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh an ddrink my blood lives in Me, and I in him/her. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread that came down from heaven...not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead."
The Lord's Supper/Communion is represents the fellowship together of the church commemorating the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the forgivness of our sins, and out common-union as Christians connected to Christr in our spirutal life.
How can anyone think that Constantine started Communion, but scriptures lets us know differently.
Also, Easter is only another word for Passover which Constantine did not coin this word, according to Acts chapter 12:4. Now he may have had something to do with Christians in the Church setting aside the first Sunday after the full moon to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. But there is much in the New Testament Constantine had nothing to do with, but I agress brought to the attention of the Church... Nevertheless, It is by FAITH that one believes and must exercise that faith in order to receive the spiritual blessings of partaking of the Lord's table/ Communion.:angel:
Jesus said, AS OFTEN AS YOU EAT OF THE BREAD, AND DRINK OF THE CUP, YOU ARE DOING IT IN REMEMBRANCE OF HIM, what He did on the croos for our sins.
Well,I'm sorry I started talking about Communion here. I had hoped that someone would actually read and understand what I have said about the Passover meal and the significance of it in the meaning of the bread and wine. I sincerely believe that the Protestant church has done nothing more than continue a tradition of the Catholic Church that has no basis in Scripture.
For a moment, put aside your doctrine and look at the scriptures only and consider these questions. What is happening when Jesus is talking? What meal are they eating at that time? What bread and cup is he talking about? Why should the disciples remember Him when they eat that bread and drink that cup? This is not the institution of a new sacrament it is the explanation of the fulfillment of the Pasach. Jesus is telling his disciples that HE is the Passover Lamb, it is his body that is represented by the bread they have been breaking every year for centuries. It is redemption in His blood that they have been drinking every year for centuries. Of course it doesn't make sense to Gentiles who have never celebrated Passover and taken part in the Sader. It is easy for you to believe the doctrine regarding Communion because it is probably the only thing you have ever heard about it but it just doesn't make any sense at all.
Any Christian who reads the Bible and attends church knows that the last supper Jesus had with his disciple was during the feast of the Unleavened Bread, or as it is also called the Passover. This is found in all of the gospels of the New Testment Matthew chapter 26; Mark chapter 14; Luke chapter 22; and John chapter 13.
The only thing that must be undrstood is that it was Jesus Himself who changed the meaning of the Passove/Unleaven Bread feast/supper, when He offered up the bread and vine as symbolic of His death, AFTER they had eaten.
Instead of celebrating the past of being delivered from Egypt, and the passing over of the death angel, which is the significance of the feast. Jesus lifted up the bread and cup making clear his death, resurrection, and to increase the faith of the disciple's , and to let them know that redemption from sin, his death, and resurrection was more important, and that his death was abut to occur. The bread and cup is our covenant with Christ.
The disciples had only been with Jesus for three short years, so there was much they didn't understand, even when he tried to explain things to them about his mission on earth, and that it was coming to an end. So they had not celerbrated many feast with Jesus, but the Passover over did represent Him as the Passove/Sacrificeed Lamb of God, because His blood would be shed for our sins. This is why the bread and cup should be important to all who are called Christians.
My question to you, how is it that as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you don't believe in partaking of the Holy Communion/Lord's Supper?...
Actually Ella I think you are incorrect. The bread he broke is eaten before the meal. There are two parts of the Sader Service, it's more than a meal, and in the second part of the srvice a piece of bread is taken out of a "bag" that has three pockets in it and each pocket has a piece of unleavened bread. This bread is pierced with small holes in rows and is baked until it has brown stripes on it. You see these are the piercings of the nails and the stripes he took from the whip. OK, so there are three piece of bread and the middle piece is taken out of the bag and broken in half. Half of the piece is wrapped up and hidden away for the children to go looking forlater. (represents the resurrection of Jesus). When Jesus broke this particular piece of bread he explained to the disciples that if represented his broken body that will be sacrificed for them.
There is a meal time in which a similar meal to the one eaten on Passover night in Egypt is eaten. There is much ceremony and the readings of the story of the Exodus throughout the service. After the meal the service resumes and they come to the cup of wine that is taken after supper. This cup is called the Cup of redemption. It is the third of the four wines taken during the service.
Again, my point is that Jesus was talking about the symbolism in the Passover meal and was not instituting a new sacrament. The New Testament, or New Covenant, is simply one that replaces the sacrifices of bulls and goats for the atonement for our sins with the sacrifice of our Messiah, Jesus, the Paschal Lamb of God.
I do not believe in taking Communion and I don't. I think that if you were to participate in the Passover, which Jesus expected his disciples to do when he said, "as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup", every year you would have a far greater understanding of what I am talking about. The idea of the institution of the Communion is completely foreign to Scripture.
The Passover Lamb was to be "eaten" quickly (in a rush), but it was to Be Eaten. So then Jesus as The Passover Lamb was also to be eaten.
Jesus lost disciples because of this Teaching (1000's fled Him...saying "this is too harsh a thing to do"). They said that they would not be cannibals. I find it hard to believe that people would leave Jesus because of a Metaphor! And also Jesus did not go after them, to correct their misunderstanding. Also the Greek word that He used was "gnaw". You don't "Gnaw" on words.
You also need to consider why The Early Church had no problem believing that it Truly was The Body and Blood of Christ. It was only in the 16th Century that This sacrament was questioned and even then it was not Luther that questioned it (Luther believed in the Sacrament), but others. For over 1500 years there was no Out Cry of Blasphemy. But then suddenly...many Sacraments were being questioned.
I once had a Pastor tell me that the reason for this was because The Holy Spirit was so tired after everything it had done that it needed a long vacation (1500 or so years). Once it came back from it's vacation it inspired Luther to do what he did.
Pope Clement (80 AD) wrote a letter to the Churches stating about abuses with The Eucharist and other matters. This was less than 100 years after Christ. So the belief in The Eucharist was at least that old and actually believed from the VERY BEGINING!
One of the earliest Christian documents is the Didache, known as the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, which probably dates from the 1st century. Sections 9 and 10 deal with the Eucharist [Gk. Eucharistias] and prayers of thanks which allude to the Mass.
It contains this warning, "... let no one eat or drink of this Eucharist unless he has been baptized in the name of the Lord [a shorthand way of alluding to the Trinity]; for concerning this the Lord also said:
�Do not give to the dogs what is holy.�" Perhaps alluding to St. Paul�s epistle to the Corinthians, in part 14 it notes: "And on the Lord�s day, gather together and break bread and give thanks, first confessing your sins so that your sacrifice might be pure. This is clearly an illusion to the prophecy of Malachi (Mal 1:11), which our next Father also addresses.
Pope. St. Irenaeus (Book III, iii) tells us that Clement
"saw the blessed Apostles and conversed with them, and had yet ringing in his ears the preaching of the Apostles and had their tradition before his eyes, and not he only for many were then surviving who had been taught by the Apostles. "
Similarly Epiphanius tells us that Clement was a contemporary of Peter and Paul.
There is a tradition that he was ordained by St. Peter and acted as a kind of auxiliary bishop to Linus and Anacletus, his predecessors in the papal chair. His letter to the Corinthians was written between 70-96 A.D. in an effort to restore peace to the Church at Corinith, Greece, which has broken into factions and was intent upon firing some of their presbyters.
The epistle, which is written in Greek, is important because of the distinction it makes between leaders of the community and the faithful. Clement refers to the leaders as presbyters or bishops, without making any further distinction, referring specifically to their ministry as the "offering of gifts."
He says, "Our sin will not be light if we expel those who worthily and blamelessly have offered the gifts of the episcopacy." This is clearly liturgical language in light of Mt 5:23 and Lv.1: 2 and Lv 7:38, referring in this instance to the Eucharistic sacrifice offered by priests in the Mass.
My Sisters and Brothers...Christ Promised that the gates of hades would not prevail against His Church. Am I to believe that mere years passed before His Church became so corrupted that it was not to be belived??
There are many...many...many letters written by these wise and Holy men. There is much in their letters that will answer your questions.
Would you if you could...stand before Peter or Paul and ask them a question and then because their answer was not in Scripture...call them a LIAR? I think not.
If you have time find and read what these men that were taught by The Apostles or by those that were taught by The Apostle (one generation removed). It is very illumunating and edifying.
OK Steve, I'll do more research on this and maybe I'll change my mind. Just because I have a strong opinion doesn't mean that I am not teachable. That's why it's so great to get into these strings because I get perspectives and information I either wasn't aware of or couldn't find. Thanks for the post. I love everybody here except . . . ? Too! :ROFL:
On the passover the jews ate the bread and drank wine.This was always the body and blood of christ.As the uears went on things hae been added.The children ran outside to see if Elijah was coming. The bread was broken into 3 pieces.The 3 parts of god.
One was wrapped in white linen.
It was hidden while the children were outside.
When jesus came this was to tell the jews who he is.
The passover meal covers all 4 gospels at once.
Go to your local christian book store and read up on it.
So, the communion was done by the jews since Moses,ok.
Jesus changed how it was done.
He said," Do this to remember me."
I will read my passover books as that time of year is here and start a thread soon. Your, loving brother in christ-Dennis
It is also interesting to think about why Jesus had His Apostle gather every last piece of the Bread that Jesus used to feed the Multitudes. Perhaps that was also an Eucharistic Supper?
There are so many inferences to Jesus being The Sacrificial Lamb. As He entered Jeruselam to the adoring crowd...right behind Him came the Sacrificial Lambs (perfect and spotless).
Just as the Lambs had to be examined and found to be without any faults or blemishes...so was Jesus examined by Pilate and found to be without fault.
There is so much to learn by reading what these men had to say about Christ and God and The Faith.
