Breaking Bread (Term for the Lords Supper?)

[uric3]

I have been studying about the Lords Supper recently and for sometime I have always followed suit with Acts 20:7. Which states

"7And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight."

Thus taking this example to show that we partake of the Lords Supper on the first day of the week... every week. However I came by this article and its really got me thinking about how I look at Acts 20:7-ff

http://theexaminer.org/volume4/number5/bread.htm

Can anyone give me proof for one way or the other? If you feel its supposed to be taken on Sunday why? Please read the article as well... after reading it I feel as though I have lost my original argument / proof for why I partook upon the 1st day of the week. And it seems like the disciples in early church history partook of the Lords Supper daily... sorry no reference will try to get one later... anyway any thoughts or comments with scripture would be very helpful.

[Emanate]

"7And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight."

Uh, breaking bread is not "communion" or there would be mention of wine. Break bread was eating and fellowshipping with one another. The first day began at sundown and was customary to have a meal at the ending of sabbath, eating challah (bread).

[kf4zmt]

How do we know for sure that the phrase "breaking bread" means the Lord's Supper?

[Br. Barnabas]

I would say that this is a reference to Eucharist. I did not however read the article after doing a bit examining, I found that the website that the article came from was a Chruch of Christ magazine meant to promote the doctrines of that church. I strongly disagree with a lot the doctrines of the Stone-Camplite movement. Not to turn this into a thread about the Chruch of Christ just letting everyone know where the article came from and why I did not read it.

So having said all that. I will go with what the catholic church has said from the beginning of the church and the more traditional interpretation of the Scripture used above. That the Eucharist is to be performed every week. If we look at the other places in the NT where the idea of breaking bread was used we see in Acts 2 it was used when the church was started and there I believe it was also used of the Eucharist. Which in the early church was also followed by a meal which is why some think that it is only a meal. The other place it is used is in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians chapter 10, where he speaks of the Eucharist and says the bread we break. So I would go with the way that the universal church has understood the idea of breaking bread.

[Forklifter]

I used to be a member of one of the so-called restoration movement churches (the Church of Christ). They would interpret Ac20:7 as communion, and that it must be done every first day of the week. The article you linked to was not written by a mainstream CoCer as he was saying breaking bread and Lords Supper are different. I agree with him.

Looking at how the phrase is used:

Luk 24:35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.

Act 20:7 And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.

Act 2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Act 2:46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,

Lords Supper or Communion is not mentioned in any of these. To top that off, Lu24:35 and Ac2:46 tell us exactly what breaking bread is, eating food.

If anything is learned from these examples it would be that the early Church shared meals together. Even in 1Cor11 where the Lords Supper is discussed, God tells us to wait for one another, because some were hungry and others drunk.

1Co 11:20 When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper.
1Co 11:21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.
1Co 11:33 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another.

It would seem the Lords Super would be more than a crumb or wafer and a thimble of juice/wine.

The only commands concerning the Lords Supper is:

1Co 11:24 And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
1Co 11:25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
1Co 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come.

God Bless

[kf4zmt]

I would say that this is a reference to Eucharist. I did not however read the article after doing a bit examining, I found that the website that the article came from was a Chruch of Christ magazine meant to promote the doctrines of that church. I strongly disagree with a lot the doctrines of the Stone-Camplite movement. Not to turn this into a thread about the Chruch of Christ just letting everyone know where the article came from and why I did not read it.

So having said all that. I will go with what the catholic church has said from the beginning of the church and the more traditional interpretation of the Scripture used above. That the Eucharist is to be performed every week. If we look at the other places in the NT where the idea of breaking bread was used we see in Acts 2 it was used when the church was started and there I believe it was also used of the Eucharist. Which in the early church was also followed by a meal which is why some think that it is only a meal. The other place it is used is in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians chapter 10, where he speaks of the Eucharist and says the bread we break. So I would go with the way that the universal church has understood the idea of breaking bread.

The authors of "The Examiner" do have a church of Christ background, but if you pay attention to what they are writing, you'll see very quickly that they are NOT representative of what most churches of Christ teach. As a matter of fact, the authors are for the most part considered outcasts by the more orthodox members of churches of Christ.

[bosco]

Uh, breaking bread is not "communion" or there would be mention of wine. Break bread was eating and fellowshipping with one another. The first day began at sundown and was customary to have a meal at the ending of sabbath, eating challah (bread).

Agreed, and sadly many don't understand the history to catch this. It was customary, still is by many, to end a Sabbath with a meal. This would be Saturday night according to our calender, but would be the beginning of the 1st day of the week according to the Jewish calender, which they most certainly followed. So to make a Lord Supper/ Eucharest doctrine from this verse is weak at best.

Remember folks, the "last supper" as it is called when Christ said to eat and drink the bread and wine in remembrence of him, was a Passover Sedar, a commanded/appointed time of gathering.

Bosco

[slr]

I have been studying about the Lords Supper recently and for sometime I have always followed suit with Acts 20:7. Which states

"7And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight."

Thus taking this example to show that we partake of the Lords Supper on the first day of the week... every week.

The text says only that there was a meeting to break bread on the first day of the week. It does not say that this was done regularly. This information was written in the context of travel arrangements. It is quite probable that Paul would not have traveled on a Jewish sabbath, in order to give no unnecessary offense to Jews; and his habit was to preach in synagogues on sabbaths, anyway. The next day may have been the first practical time in a busy itinerary to say farewell to Gentile Christians. The first day of the week was a work day, and the disciples must have met after the people in Troas had finished work, probably quite late in the day; hence the sleepiness of Eutychus, and the need for Paul to talk until dawn. Not a normal situation at all.

In any case, this information may have been added to explain a practical situation to the original readers that we are not aware of. People have made a theological mountain out of a probably mundane molehill from this one verse. No instruction for the church can be taken from it, and in any case, to construe a special day for Christians from it would be to conflict with other Scripture. The proper model for the church, if there is one, is found earlier in Acts:

'They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.... Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.' Ac 2:42...46 NIV

Now bread was the staple diet in the whole region, so literal breaking of bread was what everyone did, pagans too. The term 'breaking of bread' must refer to the Lord's supper. There is hint here that the Lord's supper could take place whenever and wherever the Holy Spirit was present when there was bread to eat. Wherever Christians sit down to eat in fellowship, they can, and perhaps should, break bread, or eat rice, or take whatever food they eat, with gratitude for the body offered on their behalf that gives them life; and whatever they drink can be a reminder of the blood that gives them life through God's forgiveness. After all, these are the thoughts that the saint is constantly aware of, in his or her every decision, many times a day.