Did Paul cook up story to convert the Greeks?
Re: “Catholicism has failed to move with times on animal rights,” Have Your Say, April 7.
Jenny Moxham writes, “As a Catholic child I was taught that the Eucharist was the body and blood of Jesus. I now view that teaching as false. After all, is it really feasible that a man [by which I assume she means the officiating priest] would have the power to turn bread and wine into human flesh and blood?”
That’s not the only problem with the Eucharist. One wonders how this gruesome ritual ever managed to inject itself into Christianity. Eat the flesh and drink the blood of the deity you’re worshipping? That would not only be barbaric, it would be cannibalistic. And it’s hard to imagine how it could possibly be pleasing to the deity whose flesh and blood are being eaten. This is certainly not a Jewish idea, and we have to remember that Jesus was a Jew.
The first account we have of the Last Supper comes from Paul of Tarsus, in 54-55CE, writing in I Corinthians 11: 23-25. It is important to remember that Paul was writing before the gospels were written. He may not have had access to some of Jesus’ teachings that we have access to today. In fact, we may know more about Jesus than Paul did. The earliest gospel, Mark, came over a decade after I Corinthians, around 66-70CE. Mark’s version of the wording of the Eucharist is very close to Paul’s; and the later gospels, Matthew and Luke, echo it. They may all have gotten their wording from Paul.
Paul didn’t even know Jesus. He wasn’t present at the Last Supper, so where did he get his information? He prefaces his account with the words “For I received from the Lord that which I have handed on to you, that…” (I Corinthians 11:23) He then goes on to present his version of the Last Supper. Huh? He “received” it “from the Lord”? What does that mean? It could mean from God himself, or from Jesus. Since Paul never met Jesus in the flesh, he must be talking about some sort of supernatural revelation.
Supernatural revelations are extremely subjective (I’m sure A Bangkok Atheist will agree), and are to be treated with great scepticism by those of us who have never had one.
Paul had an agenda, to convert the Greek-speaking pagans to Christianity.
It is entirely possible that he made up the story of the Eucharist to attract them. The only question is why the pagans would have found it attractive. If they did, it doesn’t say
much about their level of civilisation.
Ye Olde Theologian
