Quote:
Originally Posted by OBW
I could say the same for you. You are so dogmatic about your name that you won't even participate in communion with others even though very many of them are more than glad to allow you to participate.
Yes, there are some that practice closed communion, but this is more because they are being very cautious about whether those who would participate are truly saved (no matter how they arrive at that conclusion). Since they don't know you, they take Paul's charge that some are sick because of taking the table when they shouldn't as a charge to them as overseers, not just a warning to the general population. Can't really fault them too much for being cautious on your behalf.
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The ones practicing closed communion live in superstition and fantasy land as they believe it is a mystery that the bread and wine changes into the body and blood of Christ when there is no verification of that happening, ever. They will be careful not to spill a drop and only 3 or 4 years of theological training qualifies one to be able to handle it and drink the leftovers during or after the service. It is an impressive scheme to grant a person sufficient training so that they can handle what is nothing more than flour and grape juice from your local store.
Your version of Christianity divides over what teacher to listen to, and worse, what church does things the way that you like to suit your preference. So it is no longer the church in the locality which you attend, but a church, or a sect rather, of "OBW's preference". Whether you realize it or not, it is actually your preference and everyone else preference which is the true cause of the division. And to distinguish your preference from another person's preference, it is necessary to attach a prefix to the church name so that people can know which church suits their preference. Preferences and names is possibly the only reason why denominations remain divided today despite having much in common, open communion policy and "not being as separated as we think". If a church which suited ones preference closed, people would be upset. Imagine if all the Calvinist churches closed, and people had to attend a sect which believed that a person could lose their salvation.
If such were the case in New Testament times then we should see multiple churches in each city according to a person's taste and preference. The early Christians had many good reasons to separate according to preference but they did not. For example Peter preferred to associate with the Jews and live as a Jew, Paul separated from them completely and lived as a gentile. Yet we find no instance of the church being divided along Jew and gentile lines, arminian and Calvinist, etc. I suppose it is one thing we have in common with Catholic and Orthodox - we do not attend church because of our preference, but because like them, we believe it to be "the church" in "the city".