The Culture Wars

I arrived home last night after a long day of classes and sat down on the couch. After a few deep breathes I get ready to settle in and relax for a moment before digging into the insurmountable pile that is my homework. I look over to my left and my stepdad has left his new book sitting on the couch The Culture Wars written by Bill O'Reilly. Are we really in a culture war? Or is Christianity just waking up in a post Christian society after being knock the heck out. The disorientation has many people in the Church so focused on winning some sort of culture war that they forget that the Bible tells us to be in the world, not wage war against it. It is this idea that we need to be in the midst of the culture in order to effect change. Waging war on the culture is the reason why the church has been withdrawn from the culture. The more we fight it the more they want to draw the lines in the sand behind which many a Christian rants and raves all the while the world simply covers her ears and says "oh that's just those Christians making noise again." We have sidelined our influence by trying to force our ways on society at large instead of gently showing the world Jesus through love. In the movie the Patriot General O'Hara say, "My Lord, if we re-form and wheel right, we may be able to turn their flank." and Lord General Cornwallis simply responds "You dream, General." The culture war is over, we have lost, get over it, and get back to mission that God has given us.

Eat My Flesh & Drink My Blood

The following is a response to a question asked by a member of the church I attend.

Dear Member,

The idea that the tenets of the Eucharist (communion), the bread and the wine, turn into the actual body of Christ when administered is and has been a widely held doctrine of the Catholic Church called transubstantiation. This doctrine emerged as part of the Sacramental theology. There is no need to go into great detail about Sacramental theology but it is important to address it because it is at the heart of a misunderstanding of the gospel. Sacramental theology teaches that it is through the seven sacraments, including transubstantiated communion, that one finds salvation. Sacramental theology does not find its roots in the bible but rather in a papal edict given by one of the Popes.

Scripture tells us that it is by grace alone given through faith in the resurrection of Christ that one finds salvation. Although this seems like a tangent it is necessary to establish the roots of Sacramental theology, which is not founded in scripture, and thus transubstantiation is not rooted in scripture.

Luke 22:19-20 tells us that this act was to be done in remembrance of the sacrifice that Christ was about to make. Even in the accounts given in Matthew and Mark use the same figurative language. As further evidence that this is figurative language Paul reiterates the fact that it is to be done in remembrance of Jesus Christ in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34.
In the doctrine of transubstantiation, the bread and wine need to be transformed into the literal body and blood of Christ because it is through this particular sacrament that one could maintain their Justification (be made righteous by the sacrifice of Christ). Leading a believer to put their faith in the sacraments to obtain grace, rather than in Christ alone, the author and perfector of our salvation.

So to sum up a lengthy answer the bread and wine are not the body and blood of Christ they are a figurative remembrance of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Grace & Peace
Carl Amouzou