Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: avo@icad.com (Alex Orlovsky) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: re: Open Communion Message-ID: Date: 9 Feb 90 07:22:35 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: ICAD Inc., Cambridge, MA Lines: 38 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article , Matthew Huntbach writes: >I believe intercommunion is allowed between Orthodox and RC This is not correct. The Orthodox permit only "Orthodox Christians who have prepared themselves with fasting and recent confession" to approach the Chalice. I do believe, however, that the RC permit Orthodox to commune. The explanation of the Orthodox opposition to open Communion is intimately bound up with the Orthodox view of the Church. The Eucharist is the sacrament, par excellence, of the Church. Debates about the nature of the elements present ignore the element most essential, namely the Church. It at once constitutes the Church and affirms its unity. (The unity is underscored by the fact that an Orthodox priest can't serve at more than one Liturgy a day, and that the same altar can be used for Liturgy only once a day.) The very name "Liturgy" suggests corporate action. This name is used specifically by the Orthodox to refer to the Eucharistic celebration and no other service. The word is derived from two Greek words, meaning roughly "the work (or action) of the people". Thus while not denying the personal element in Communion, the primary understanding of the Eucharist is the common action of the people, that is, the faithful. This begs the question then of who are the faithful ? Or in other words what is the Church? The Orthodox Church believes that the Church is one because God is one. Furthermore, this Church is visible in the world. The only invisible Church consists of those who have already died. While there may be many denominations, there is only one Truth. Thus, from the Orthodox perspective, open communion makes a mockery of the unity of God, Church and the Truth. (I realize this is a somewhat controversial statement in this day and age, but my purpose is not the beat anyone over the head with Orthodoxy, but simply to bear witness to it, to the extent of my abilities.) Incidentally, the Orthodox use both bread and wine, and then consume, quite literally, from a common cup.