06-12-2006, 05:16 PM
Muslimah wrote:
> As I understand that the communion, is an important part
> of the Christian rituals, is when the worshiper drinks wine
> and eats certain type of baked bread symbolizing the blood
> and flesh of Jesus, isn't this correct?
Many Christian denominations (for example, Baptists) would agree with what you wrote.
Lutherans and Catholics would disagree with your use of the word "symbolizing." Lutherans and Catholics both believe that the ritual ("Sacrament", to use a more precise term) is not purely symbolic, but believe in the real presence of Christ's true body and blood in the elements of the Sacrament.
In other words, Baptists believe that the bread and wine merely symbolize Christ's body and blood. Lutherans and Catholics believe that the presence of Christ is more than symbolic (although Lutherans and Catholics disagree over the exact way in which Christ is present in the bread and wine).