As mentioned in my previous post (link), the postings of two anti-Catholic controversialists concerning the Eucharist were brought to my attention. I shared some thoughts on Brian Culliton, and shall now concentrate on Timothy F. Kauffman.
Tim is an anti-Catholic Reformed Baptist whom I have interacted with in the past here at AF concerning the topic of baptismal regeneration in the early Church Fathers (the germane 4 posts are found under this label). Back on June 27, 2020 (link) Tim began a number of posts under the subject heading of 'EUCHARISTIC SACRIFICE'. The June 27, 2020 post was titled: THE APOSTOLIC “AMEN”. From that post we read:
The disagreement over celebrating the Resurrection is easily resolved, as there is no prescriptive mandate from the Scripture on whether the Resurrection should even be celebrated. There is no Scriptural imperative to commemorate it in the first place, much less to do so on a certain date...Regarding the consecration, the Scriptures give no explicit direction. The Gospel writers make no mention of a formal consecration, and Paul simply refers to the cup “which we bless” and the bread “which we break” (1 Corinthians 10:16).
But when it comes to the matter of the sacrifice, the Apostle Paul has left to us an elegant means by which we may not only establish a unified, biblical, apostolic liturgy but also utterly dispose of the abominable Roman Catholic liturgical sacrifice of Christ’s body and blood. Once Paul’s Eucharistic liturgy is understood from the Scriptures, we find from the historical evidence that the early Church readily embraced and practiced it for three centuries, until a new liturgy emerged in the late 4th century, paving the way for the abominations and idolatries of Roman Catholicism. The elegant Pauline precept that separates the Christian liturgy from the Roman Catholic one is the Apostolic “Amen” (1 Corinthians 14:16) immediately following the Eucharist, or “giving of thanks.” Roman Catholicism places the Eucharist after the Consecration so that Christ’s body and blood is alleged to be offered to God, but the Scriptures place the Eucharist before the Consecration, making the liturgical offering of Christ’s body and blood impossible. And Paul’s “Amen” prevents any and all attempts to combine them.
Tim’s foundational premise concerning the Eucharist was explicitly presented in the following statement:
The elegant Pauline precept that separates the Christian liturgy from the Roman Catholic one is the Apostolic “Amen” (1 Corinthians 14:16) immediately following the Eucharist, or “giving of thanks.”
A bit later in the post we read:
Paul describes the liturgical “Amen” as a common expression of the gathered participants immediately following the Eucharist:
“…when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks (εὐχαριστίᾳ, eucharistia), seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?” (1 Corinthians 14:16)
When I first read the above from Tim's pen I was literally dismayed; I had never heard of, or read, such an interpretation of 1 Cor. 14:16. I instinctively knew it was time to consult the commentaries I have in my library on Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians; note the following:
It is obvious that εὐχαριστία here cannot mean the Eucharist. The minister at that service would not speak in a Tongue. Nor is it probable that in ‘the Amen’ there is indirect reference to the Eucharist. The use of the responsive Amen at the end of the prayers, and especially of the reader’s doxology, had long been common in the synagogues (Neh. v. 13, viii. 6; 1 Chron. xvi. 36; Ps. cvi. 48), and had thence passed into the Christian Church, where it at once became a prominent feature (Justin M. Apol. i. 65; Tertul. De Spectac. 25 ; Cornelius Bishop of Rome in Eus. H.E. vi. xliii. 19; Chrys. ad loc.), especially at the end of the consecration prayer in the Eucharist. So common did it become at the end of every prayer in Christian worship that the Jews, it is said, began to abandon it; Jerome says that it was like thunder...It is evident from this passage that a great deal of the service was extempore, and both the Didache and Justin show that this continued for some time. Apparently the prophets had more freedom in this respect than others. (Archibald Robertson and Alfred Plummer, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, 1911, p. 313)
To bless and to give thanks are related in thought to pray and to sing (vs. 15); the former also refer to the adoration and the thanksgiving which are implied in the speaking of tongues. The words "to bless" and "to thank" are not used in the same sense as in 10:15. Paul does not speak about Holy Communion in our verse; (F. W. Grosheide, Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, 1953, p. 326)
At thy giving of thanks (epi tēi sēi eucharistiāī). Just the prayer, not the Eucharist or the Lord's Supper, as is plain from verse 17. (Archibald Thomas Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Volume IV - The Epistles of Paul, 1931, p. 183)
The setting of 1 Cor. 14:16 is one of spontaneity. The early worship services—when the brethren come together— were “extempore,” with demonstrations of a number of varying spiritual gifts by the brethren. Paul is emphasizing that in order for one to give a proper “Amen” to a psalm (ψαλμὸν), doctrine (διδαχὴν), revelation (ἀποκάλυψιν), a tongue (γλῶσσαν), an interpretation (ἑρμηνείαν), one must be able to understand them. Paul is arguing that uninterpreted tongues have no place in congregational settings. Note the following:
Praying or singing in tongues could serve no purpose, and Paul would not do it. Otherwise if you bless in the spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted say the "Amen" at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? Ungifted (idiōtēs) is, I believe, better translated in its usual sense of ignorant, unlearned, or unskilled. A person who is ignorant of a language being spoken cannot possibly understand what he hears. In a worship service, for example, he could not know when to say the "Amen" at your giving of thanks. Prayers of songs of thanks could not include anyone else if they were given in unintelligible sounds.
Amen is a Hebrew word of agreement and encouragement, meaning "So let it be," and was commonly used by worshippers in the synagogue. The practice carried over into some early Christian churches and, in fact, is common in many churches today. A person cannot know when to "Amen," however, if he does not know what is being said. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary - 1 Corinthians, 1984, p. 377)
It sure seems to me (and the commentators listed above), that the “elegant Pauline precept that separates the Christian liturgy from the Roman Catholic one is the Apostolic ‘Amen’ (1 Corinthians 14:16)”, does not exist. The setting of 1 Cor. 14:16 is clearly not what Tim thinks it is. Borrowing a term from Tim’s playbook, his interpretation is "abominable".
Grace and peace,
David
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