Evangelicals are Discovering the Eucharist & the Church Fathers
Dr. Gavin Ortlund, Francis Chan, and other devout Christian pastors are embracing a belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist
Dear Barrel Aged Christians,
Happy Tuesday! I am happy to say that more and more of my brothers and sisters in Christ are rediscovering the golden nectar of Ancient Christianity… a belief in Christ’s Real Presence in Holy Communion or the Eucharist. This is a key flavor or central note of our Barrel Aged Faith, and this belief is everywhere in the church fathers. Evangelicals are beginning to see that there is unanimous (or near unanimous) agreement among the church fathers (from Spain to Rome to Ethiopia to India) that Christ wanted to continually give us His Divine Life as a healing remedy and source for reconciliation with Him and others in this sacrament. Of course, all of the ancient, apostolic churches have always maintained this belief (Catholic, Orthodox, Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Assyrian Church of the East, etc), which has always been central to the Church’s worship or liturgy. If Christ truly makes an appearance to us in the form of bread and wine, then it really does transform the whole order and meaning of our worship gatherings. The songs, the prayers, the readings, the offerings and the sermon point to the summit or finale of the gathering which is a theophany or true appearance of Christ among us!
Recently, Dr. Gavin Ortlund, a Baptist pastor and professor of church history who I really admire for his humble and thoughtful approach, released a video explaining his belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Unless you are Anglican or Lutheran, this is generally a rare belief among Protestants today, and it is even more of an exotic doctrine among Baptists. I would know, because I grew up Baptist (SBC; Southern Baptist Convention). We tended to have the most symbolic and non-sacramental approach to Baptism and the Lord’s Supper among all of the Protestant denominations. Because I enjoyed Gavin’s video so much, I wanted to share parts of it with you (and a few clips from another video with Pastor Francis Chan) as well as give meaningful feedback from the perspective of the ancient, apostolic churches.
Also, do not forget that the first module of my course is being released tomorrow evening for my paid subscribers (pray about upgrading from free subscriber to paid)! I am amazed how Tolkien and Lewis packed their fictional worlds and stories with so many references to Christ in the Eucharist. They are truly synthesizing and organizing the symbolic world of Scripture, the Church Fathers, and the medieval age into beautiful, literary masterpieces. I think you are really going to enjoy the course and will want to share it with others afterwards!
Be entirely His,
-Kyle
