Thepointofmysennontodayis

to explain and apply the nature of that

communion Christians enjoy with
Christ in the Lord's Supper. Most
certainlywe gain little, and lose much,
by closing our eyes to this high
mysteryofcommunionwithourLord,
by eating and drinking, wherein w.e
are made partakers of His body and
blood. *
In the supper, we hold special
communion with Christ in each of
His offices, as He is the King, the
Priest and the Prophet of his
Church. It is not, 6f course,
intimated that every act of
worship does not include
these three offices so
essential to the Mediator's
work. Theyare alIso related
as to be inseparable, and the
mention of one necessari1y
involves the others. For
example, the truth which
the Prophet discloses is that
which the Priest has
wrought out and con-
stituted such, -either
directly lying in the work of
redemption which He
accomplished, or as being
antecedently sci 'necessary
thereto as to be of necessity
unfolded. In like manner, the
Kingdom which the Mediator
administers is that acquireg through
His priesthood. Those are the proper
subjects ofit, who were given Himin
the Covenant of Redemption, whom
He has purchased with His blood,
and overwhom.He is conStituted the
Lord and Head forever. If there be a
wider extension of His authority over
others, itis designed to besubordinate
and subsidiary to thatempirewhichis
wielded more irrunediately over the
subjects ofHis grace. The Priesthood
of Christ may be represented then as
underlying all the offices which he is
called todischarge, giving the material
which is worked up in them .. It is
impOSsible, therefore, to think of one
without implying the other two, and
they are together involved in any true
worship of the Redeemer.
Atthecommuniontable,however,
there is a more direct and spedal
homage rendered to Christ in each of
His offices, separately viewed. The
distinction between this and other
acts of worship, is that here the
with Christ in these
offices is explidt, whilst in them it is
implidt. Just as with the adorable
Trinity, therecognition of each Person
involves therecognition of all, because
the three Persons are the one God,
and we think of the Trinity onlywhen
we think it in unity. It is the tri-unity.
Communion with one Person is
implicitlycotnmunion with thewhole
8 TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon November, 1992
Godhead. Yet there arespecial acts of
worship, as in the Doxology and
Benediction, when the thought is
directed to Jehovah in, His plural
subsistence, and the reference to the
three Persons in the God-head is an
explidt reference. So, there is an
implicationofalltheRedeemersoffices
in the mention of anyone of the three;
but in the Supper, the corrununion is
explicit in each. Let us look at this a
little more minutely.
We are accustomed to speak of
some parts of human worship as
natural; by which is meant,
that they have a ground in
ourownnatureas Godhas
constituted it, and in the
necessary relations in
which we stand to Him
as our Creator. Prayer
and praise, for example,
have their foundation in
nature. Reason itself
deddes that, if we are
creatures, our depen-
dence should be
constantly acknow-
ledged to the great Being
in whom we live and
move. Desireshouldnot
reach forth to any good,
without going first in
prayer to Him whose prerogative it is
to bestow or to withhold it. Nor
should we in the possession of
any blessing, without expressions of
gratitude and love to Him who has
opened His hand in this kindness
upon our head. So true is this, that
viewed in any light which reason can
shed, anintelligentcreatute, who lives
without prayer and worship of God, is
simply a monster in the
day will come when the defonnity
will be so revealed as to shock the
moralsentimentoftheentireuniverse.
The Lord's Supper is distinguished
from these, as being a positive
institute-resting solely upon the
appointmentofJesusChrist,andupon
the express command: "do thls in
remembrance of me." Human
authority would never have ventured
to introduce such a service as this; nor
wouldhumanwisdomhavestumbled
upon any worship so sublime in its
reach, and still so Simple in its form.
In its observance, then, we render
conspicuous homage to that kingly
authority by which it was ordained,
an act of formal obeisance to the
supremacy of Christ in and over His
Church. Itis,you perceive, more than
a single act of obedience to one out of
many commands of our King. It is a
typical and comprehensive act,
covering thewhole obedience ofa life.
It is the formal sacramental vow, by
which we bind ourselves to the person
and cause of our Master forever; in
which, through most expressive
symbols, we are knit to Him and
participate in His life. It is impossible
to conceive of any consecration more
solemn than this, by which we are
identified with Christ in His spiritual
kingdom.
It will require even fewer words to
indicate our communion with Christ
as the only Priest in his Church. The
very design of the ordinance is to
show forth Christ in His death. (I Cor.
11:26) In the Jewish Passover, the
memorial character of the service-
and dying beneath this, its typical
reference also-were well brought
out in the dialogue between the
children and the parents, which
became incorporated as one of the
features of the feast. "And itshall come
topass,
you what mean ye by thisservice?-that
ye shall say, itis the sacrifice of the Lord's
Passover, who passed over the houses of
the children of Israel in Egypt, when he
snwte the Egyptians, and delivered 0111'
houses." (Exodus 12:26, 27) Just so,
the Lord's Supper is an emblematic
representation of thesacrificein which
Christ "offered Himself once in the endof
the world, " to "bear the sins of many."
Under a figure, He is "before ollr eyes
evidently setforth, crucifiedamongstus."
(GaL 3:1) We profess to receive Him
as oursubstitute under the Jaw, making
atonement for our sins. It is the most
solemn and explicit homage which
can be paid to Christ, in the discharge
of his Priesthood.
Since, too, we could attach no
significance to these symbols without
the explanation which He himself
hath given, there is an equal
recognition of His prophetical office
and authority. In these respects, our
communion with Christin the Supper
is peculiar. It is the public and formal
acknowledgment of Him as our
Redeemer, in each of His necessary
offices; and it is thesolemn decJaration,
that in each of the three we are
partakers of His life; so that He ofCod
ismadeuntouswisdomandrighteousness
and sanctification and redemption." (I
Cor. 1: 30)
2. In this holy ordinance, the object
of faith, and its consequent actings
are spedaL No little confusion of
thought in respect to faith, arises from
blending its generic with its more
special and technical signification. In
its broadestsense, it has respectsimply
to the truth of statements made to us,
and of course to the veracity of the
witness. It is co-incident with belief,
or the mere assent of the mind to what
is held byit as true. But it is easy to see
that the truth, thus received, may
draw along with it what shall deeply
stir the affection, and rouse into action
thewholeenergyofournature. IfIam
startled at midnight with the cry that
my house is on fire, it would not be
possible to believe it and yet curl
up to nap which had been
so rudely disturbed. I could not
recognize the signs of a loathsome
disease upon my person and believe
tllat the whole system was tainted
witll its poison, with onlya cold assent
of the judgment, involving no flush of
the emotions and no action of thewill.
The interests at stake are too immense
to be resigned with indifference; and
if in either case, a mode of deliverance
should be proposed, then faith must
assume the form of trust and involve
a cordial acceptance. When therefore
the Scriptures describe the condition
of a sinner under the sentence of the
Divinelawshutup to everlasting death,
it is idle to restrict the faith in such a
revelation to an unimpassioned
intellectual assent to it as a proposition
simply true. For if it be true, there
must be a corresponding recognition
of it as a filet that is dreadful. If,
further, theseScripturesrevealaSavior
whose province it is to deliver from
this death, it is idle to talk of a faith
which does not joyfully rest upon his
power, and accept the proffered relief.
It depends upon the nature of what is
disclosed to us, and upon the practical
interest we have in it, whether the
faith shall sink to the level of a mere
intellectual belief, or whether it shall
draw upon all the powers of the soul
in personal trust and loving
acceptance. When it is asked what is
meant in the Scriptures by faith in
Jesus Christ, we have only to consider
what is our need of Him, and what He
. offers to do for us, to see that the word
has no Significance except in the sense
of the closest appropriation of Him in
November, 1992 l' TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon 9
all His blessed work. Faith in Christ partake of the one is to partake of the as true as that of the emblems which
is not simply belief, resting upon the other. In the illustration which he are employed. Theeatinganddrinking
divine truthfulness; but it is trust, drawsfromtheSupper,theremustbe are both of them real acts; and they set
resting upon the divine fidelity. It is therefore a similar identification of forth a real feeding of the soul upon
not simply the mind dealing with the Christ with the elements which are Christ, by the living faith which
truth; but it is the heart dealing with chosentorepresentHirn. Thesacrifice receives Him. To the subjective faith
the promises. through which He "put away sin: was wroughtinthesoulbytheHolyGhost,
But in the Supper, faith is directed Himself. (Heb. 9:26) As this consisted by which the Savior is embraced,
exclusively to the Savior himself, as in the offering of His human life, it is there is the objective presentation of
engaged with the work for which He represented in the Supper under the Himin thatveryworkofsufferingand
became incarnate. Itlooks death by which He made
upon Him in that nature atonement for sin. In the
inwhich "He was wounded eating and in the drinking,
for our transgressions and there is a spiritual
bruised for our iniquities, communion with Christ in
"making His soul an offering His body and blood, which
forsin.(1s.53:5,1O) Not He offered in sacrifice for
only so; it looks upon His the life of the world.
body, divided into its The language which I
constituent parts of flesh have employed is, i trust,
and blood. In the Jewish sufficiently guarded to
sacrifices the two were show that this is no carnal
distinguished; the blood, eating of the Lord's body.
wherein was the life, was This could not be, unless
poured out at the altar; there was first an actual
andthebIoodIessfleshwas transmutation 6f the
eatenin thesacrificialfeast elernentsin the flesh and
So here; faith beholds the bloodofChrist. We cannot
blood, the life poured out eat His literal body, whilst
for our redemption-and only the bread is before uS;
the body risen and in heaven, the emblems of bread and wine. The nor drink the veritable blood, whilst
pledgeandsourceofalltheblessedness bread broken, sets forth His body the cup sprrkles only with the wine.
and glory we shall hereafter enjoy. In bruised underthelaw; thewinepoured Thatno ttansmutationof the elements
the specific actings of this faith as out sets forth "the blood of the new has taken place, is affirmed to us by
directedtothepersonofoursuffering covenantshedformanyfortheremission our bodily senses; fopr out of five
Lord, "the cup of blessing" in this of sins. (Matt. 26: 28) The concurring to prove that the
ordinance is termed "the communion of communicant therefore who eats the substances before us have updergone
t/te blood of Christ. " bread, symbolically eats the flesh nochange,butexhibitstilltothernost
3. We do sacramentally and represented under it; when he drinks critical detection only the properties
spiritually eat the flesh and drink the the cup, he drinks under a symbol the of bread and of wine. It will be no
blood of Christ, throu.gh the blood for which it stands. Thedesign relief from the dilemma to allege that
identification of these with the bread of the whole ordinance is to render the change is miraculous, and must
and wine in the Su.pper. The core of more real to us, through these be believed upon the authority of the
the Apostle's argument against representative emblems, the sacrifice miracle. The point. in dispute is
partidpation in heathen feasts, is the of our Lord Jesus Christ upon the precisely this, . whether any miracle
identification of the idol with the cross. The sacramental actions in hasbeenwroughtinthecase;andthis
sacrifice offered to it. In his view, to which we engage, have a significance can be only determined by evidence
10 TIlE COUNSEL ofChaicedon November, 1992
,
,
of the change alleged to have been
accomplished by it. No one denies
that a miracle sufficiently establishes
whatever it is wrought to prove. But
then it must be known that there is a
miracle in the case; and it lies in the
very nature of a miracle, that it appeals
to the observation of the senses for its
own verification. A miracle which
does not challenge the testimony of
sense, vacates its claim to the
supernatural altogether,
sinks to the level of
imposture and of magic.
Howmuchmoreanalleged
miracle which is not only
unattested by the senses,
but which has to be
accepted against theprotest
of them all?
Stripped of needless
mystery, thetruthissimply
this: in the Supper we eat
the bread; as bread, it is
received into the system
and is assimilated to it. Its
strengtheningpower, asfood, depends
precisely upon this fact. Because it is
inwardly digested, its constituent
properties are distributed throughout
the body, giving nutriment to the
blood, the muscle, the flesh and the
bone of which thatbodyiscomposed.
So, by faith, the soul receives Christ in
his atoning work as objectively
presented in the bread and in the
wine-refreshes its sense of pardon
by resting upon the blood through
which this pardon was procured;-
and feeds its hopes of eternal life by
looking upon the body of Christ once
bruised for sin, but now risen and
reigning in glory. Who shall say, tl1at
the one feeding is not as real as the
other? They differ only as the organs
differ, by which the representative
acts are performed. The body is
material, and its eating is gross and
materiallikeitself: thesoulisspiritual,
and its eating is spiritual like itself. In
the one, sense recognizes bread, and
is nourished by it; in the other, faitll
recognizes tlle Redeemer's atoning
sacrifice, and is nourished by it.
Perhaps, it may be ret1dered plainer
through an illustration. We read an
allegory, or a fable, which is utterly
insipid, as long as the thought is
fastet1ed upon the grotesque narrative
alone: but themomentitis recognized
as the mere costume in whose drapery
a spiritual UUth is hidden, it has an
inexpressible charm for us. The
emblem, which at first served as a
vehicle to convey tlle truth, becomes
the dress which adorns it. So witll the
symbols employed in the ordinance
oftheSupper-faithcutsrighttlrrough
to the truth, which they are intended
to represent. The external sign is laid
aside, when it unveils to us the thing
signified; which is instantly seized as
the food of the soul. This
unquestionably is what the Apostle
intends, when he speaks of "not
discerning the Lord's body;" and of tllose
being "guilty of the body and blood of the
Lord," who "eat the bread and drink the
cup unworthily." The sign and the
thing signified are blended together,
so that to enjoy or to profane the one,
is to enjoy or to profane the other.
And this gives the clue by which to
interpret our Lord's remarkable
language in the Gospel of] 000: "the
bread that I will give will be my flesh,
which I will give for the life oIthe world.
Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man,
and drink His blood, ye have no life in
you."Qohn6:51,53) "Thecornmunion
of the blood of Ch rist," which we
outwardly manifest by
drinking of the cup, is to
experience within our
hearts therealityof Christ's
satisfaction for sin, as
applied by the Holy Spirit
in the expiation of our
guilt before God. "The
communion of the body of
h r i s ~ " as manifested in
the eating of the bread, is
to realize in our own souls
thefactofour living union
with His body; upon
which depend our sanctification in
this world, and the glory which shall
follow in the world to come. by the
consenting act of our will we accept
the blood as our ransom, and the flesh
as ourfood. As Father, Son and Holy
Spirit consent to His substitution for
us, so we COl1Set1t to accept Christ as
that substitute. We become thus, in
law and in fact, one body and one
blood with Christ. It is His death, and
it is our death; it is His blood, and it is
our blood-1lnd thatbytheconcurrent
choice of all parties concemed-1lnd
therefore it avails to our redemption.
It is hard to see how we could more
partake of Christ, tl1an when we truly
eat His flesh and drink His blood.
4.InthesacramentoJtheSupper,
we have fellowship with the mystical
Christ, as all believers are equally
one body and blood with Him. This
November, 1992 ~ IRE COUNSEL of Cltalcedon ~ 11
defmes exactly the unity of the
Church-not a collective unity, but
organiC. It is not the aggregation of
units, made one as those are brought
together and thenrnassed: butitisthe
oneness of a common life, diffused
through all the members from a
common Head. Believers are united
each to Christ; and the life
communicated to them by the Holy
Spirit in the new birth, is that
purchased by Him and treasured in
Him as the trustee of His people. This
is symbolized in the Supper, and is
definitely expounded by the ApOstle
in the passage before us. We eat the
bread: what was just now bread, is
noW'ourseIves; weare thus one bread.
So aIlwhospiriruallyfeeduponChrist
whoisrepresentedundertheemblem,
become one body and blood with
Him, and are of necessity one body as
between themselves. "For we, being
many, are one bread and one body. for
we are all partakers of that one bread
(v.l7)
Itis well to see clearly in what this
spiritual unity of believers really
consists--that it springs out of their
relation to Christ as redeemed by His
blood, outof theirunionwith Himby
the faith which receives Him and rests
upon Him alone for salvation, and by
that spirituailife dispensed from Him
. through the quickening energies of
the Holy Spirit. It is of this true
spiritual unity, our LordspeakSin His
priestly prayer: "Neitherpray Iforthese
alone, but for them also which shall
believe on me through their word; that
they all may be one, as thou, Father, art
in me, and I in thee, that they also may be
one in us:--l in them, and thou in me,
that they may be made peifett in one.
(Jolm 17:20; 23) Consider well the
separate clauses just recited. Those
for whom this intercession is offered
form a class by themselves in every
age, consisting only of such as "believe
in Olrist through theword. Theyareto
beone,afterthernanneroftheadorable
God-head-"asthou, Father, artin me,
andlinthee: And finally, this oneness
between themselves proceeds from
their antecedent relations to the Son
and to the Father-"I in them, and thou
in me, that they may be made peifect in
ane."
What a deplorable letting down of
the thought, to sink this inward unity
of the spiritual life into the outward
unity of churchly organizations!
Almost every truth has its external
formin which it rnanifests itseH to the
world; andthereisa constant tendency
. to over -estimate this necessarily
imperfect expression of a truth, so
that it shall hide out of sight that
whichitonlyrepresents. Theshadow
becomes so imposing as to eclipse the
substancewhichcastsit. Thepopular
idolatry of the day is just this
exaggeration of external union
Christians, and the utter
confounding of this with that unity
which forms the burden of the High
Priest'sprayer. TheroUingtogetherof
behevers into massive organizations
isnotunion, butconglorneration: and
when effected by the suppression of
important testimonies, it is the
counterfeit of that which itself is but a
representative image of something
infinitely better. The real unity of the
Church, ever asserting itseH in the
inner life of its members, shines
through the outward diversities of
thought and opinion which obtain;
and is often made conspicuous by the
contrast,showingtheagreementtobe
no mere conformity enforced by
authority, but the free concurrence of
separate experiences in the reception
and enjoyment of the same blessed
12 T TIlE COUNSEL ofOtalcedon T November, 1992
truths. It is the design of the Lord's
Supper, in part, to signalize this
communion of believers with each
other, in the Lord. All differences are
merged at His table. The only fact
there known, is their common union
with their living Head. The cup of
blessing is the token of their joint
communion in the blood, by which
they have all been equally redeemed
from death.
5. The worship of Christ in the
Supperis peculia!, in that it is at once
a memorial, a prophetic, and a
covenimtingordinance. ItwouIdtake
a large discourse to expand these
topiCS, which involve an exhaustive
exposition of the whole ordinance. I
group them together as exhibiting the
natureoftheserviceinwhichwethere
engage. 'This do in remembrance of
me," said Jesus as He distributed the
bread. Also after the cup, "this do ye,
as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of
me: for as often as ye eat this bread and
drink this CLIp, ye do show the Lord's
death till He come: (I Cor. 11 :24-26)
The Supper was designed therefore to
beahistoricalmonurnentoftheSavior
death-it is intended ,to show this
forth in all generations, till the end
shall come. Besides the benefit
accruing to the. communicants
themselves, it has this further use to
the world without,-thatit
alive the rememprance of the great
fact upon which its salvation turns. It
holds forth the Redeemer to the
acceptance of such as hitherto have
rejected Him, with the witnesses
present who testify to the completeness
of the provisions of Divine mercy to
meet all the necessities of the sou!. It
is indeed a most precious and useful
ministry, thus to declare the salvation
of God to sinning men.
But the Supperis no less prophetic,
than declarative. It is instituted to
"show forththe Lord'sdeath till He come.
His distinct promise to Hissorrowing
. Disciples, was, that He would "come
againand receive them to Himself. Oohn
14:3) This reappearing of Christ
upon earth was armounced by the
angels at the time of His ascension:
"this same Jesus, whiLh is taJun from you
into heaven, shall so come in like manner
as ye have seen Him go
break, is itnot the communion of the body
of Christ?" The distinction of the
elements and the communication in
each,havetheirsignificance. Theone
points backward to the death of the
sacrifice, through which sin is atoned:
the other points forward to the life
treasured in me body of the Mediator
above, to be communicated in the
sanctification upon earth and in the
glory of heaven.
the most solemn transaction in which
the soul can engage; dealing with all
that is dreadful in law, and with all
thatis tender in grace; acceptingunder
the sanction of an oath, all the
provisiOns of mercy, and binding our
ownobediencewithcordstothehorns
of the altar, (Ps.118: 27) as a sacrificial
offering to Him who offered Himself
as a sacrif'iceforus. (Heb 9: 26-28) It
is therefore, under every aspect, an act
into heaven. " (Acts 1:11)
'Whom the heavens must
receive,"saysPeter, "until
the times of restitution of
The Festal Character
of Sacramental Worship
of worship as unique as
it is solenm, which is
all things, whU:h Godhath "We approach this table in order that we may
spokenbythemouthofall 'with joy draw water out of the wells of
intended to beconveyed
in the interrogatory of
the text; "thecupcfolt:ssing
which we bless, is it not the
communion of the blood if
Christ?"
His holy prophets since salvation. '(Is J Z: 3) We are here that we may
the world began." (Acts hide the sins which trouble us, beneath the Thissubject, beloved
3:21) TheGospelsand covering of the blood. Weareherethatwemay brethren, will find its
the Epistles are alike full talce large draughts of spiritual life from the own application in the
of testimonies to the open side, whence issues the full stream of life meditations you will
seconc;l coming of our upon all the redeemed. Sadness of heart does yourselves indulge,
Lord: "FortheSonofMan not belong to the bride who is 'adorned for her whtlstsittingatthistable.
shall come in the glory of husband.' The responsibility of the consecra. With all thesolernnityof
His Father, with His the service, sometimes
tion may be great; but it will only cause the
angels, and then shall He throwing the shadow
heart to throb with a stronger pulse ofjoy. n
reward every man upon the soul of
according to his works: '---------------------' something like fear, you
(Matt. 16: 27; 24: 30) "For the Lord The feature, however, which will nevertheless esteem the privilege
himselfshalldescendfromheaven, with involves the greatest responsibility on to be great of this complete
a shout, with the voice of the archangel, our part, is its federal or covenanting identification with the Master whom
and wit'll the trump of God: (I Thess. obligation. It is tlle seal of God's you love. Lettllehumilitybeprofound
4:16; II Thess. 1: 7,10) It is needless gracious covenant with us, according as it may, and the penitence deep as a
either to multiply the testimonies, or to the definition of a Sacrament in our true sense of sin can make it-but let
to show this second coming of our Standards;"aholyordinanceinstituted neither me one, nor the other, dim the
Lord to be an essential part of His byChrist-wherein,bysensiblesigns, festal character of this worship. We
mediatorial work, equally wim me Christ and the benefits of the new approach this table in order that we
first. It is only necessary to observe covenant are represented, sealed and may "with joy drawwateroutoftheweUs
how admirably this ordinance is fitted applied to believers." But in every of salvation." (is. 12:3) We are here
to preserve the knowledge of a truth covenant there are two parties, wim that we may hide the sins which
so likely to be forgotten, in me long mutual stipulation. In the Supper, we trouble us, beneath the covering of
absence of Cluist in the heavens. The renew our engagement to be the the blood. We are here that we may
nature of the communion proclaims Lord's-openly accepting Him, as I take large draughts of spiritual life
the fact that He still lives, and mat He have before shown, in all His offices as from the open side, whence issues the
lives to return: "The bread which we theRedeemerofHisseed.ltistherefore full stream of life upon all the
November, 1992 t TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon t 13
redeemed. Sadnessofheartdoesnot
to the bride who is "adorned
for'her hwiJand.." (Rev. 21:2) The
respOnsibility of theconsecration may
be great; but it will only cause the
heart to throb with a stronger pulse
of joy.
Our pteliminary suggestion may
perhaps aSsist you in the vowS you
will here secretly make to Him, who
has bought you with His blood. This
incorpotationwith Ouistdrawsafter
. j- .
it a corresponding separation from
theworld. Itisimplied in theApostle's
enti.re out, of which the
teittistaken. WecaIinotbepartakers
ofChri$t and also of an idoL The
world has its Sacraments, as well as
the the Church. I will not specify
them here, but leave ' it to your
educatedconsciencetoascenainwhat
theyare. Thereareformsofpleasure
and pursuits of business, which are
so intensely of the world that
everybodyacceptsthemasthebadges
of the world. Thosewho engage in
thernarenaturallyconsnuedas being
of thew arid, and belonging to it,just
as those found at. the sacramental
board are construed to be followers
of Christ, and professors of His
religion. What I desire to say is, that
these two,are antagonistic. The one
excludes the other, arid we cannot
wear the badges ofboth. I desire that
your own spiritual life shall put out
its instinct of recoil from all that
would compromise the interests of
the soul. I wish only to impress you
that separation from evil is involved

the Churph of the Redeemer; itis the
body that is called from.
Consecration to something, is of
courseconsecrationfromsomething.
The call which carries you to Christ,
takes you away from leave
behind. What is it that you and I
havegivenup? Inwhatrespectsdoes
the Master say of us, "they are not of ' '
theworld,evenaslamnotciftheworld?"
Oohn 17:14) May the anointing
which wehavereceived ofHirn teach
us, this day, what this pregnant
Scripture means! ' May "the unction
from the Holy one" reveal to us all that
is involved in "the communion of the
blood of Christ," and which will not
allowus to eat of thatwhichis" offered
, in sacrifice unto idolsl"
*The first paragraph is a
paraphrase of, Paltner's first three
paragraphs by Joe Morecraft, Ill. Q' .'
COLUMims AND CORTEZ, CONTINUED
feared the Aztec's bloody deathcult.
Eidsmoe graphically describes
demonic Aztec religious practices
and convincingly argues that the
coriflict between ,Cortez and
Montezuma wasesseruiallyreligious.
Eidsmoe's work includes an
exciting natrative of the Spanish
victory over the Aztecs, Cortez'
relationshipwithhisbeautifulguide,
Dona Marina, ,and his enlightened
attempts to rebuild Mexico City.
(Cortez even persuaded the king to
ban lawyers from New Spain!)
Though he had his share of failings,
as Eidsmoe shows, Cortez was a
genuine Christian.
Ihighly recommend this book. It
is written on a popular level and is
fascinating reading. It is infonnative
and evaluates events from a straight-
forward Christian perspective.
Attacks upon Columbus, his legacy,
and European contributions to
Atnerica will reach a fever pitch in
the next months. Get this book and
be prepared.a
14 TIlE CQUNSEL of Chalcedon November, 1992