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Asklepius Temple
 These ruins are of the temple of
Asklepius. Here the person hoping to secure
healing would offer a sacrifice to Asklepius and share the meal with him.
As the sign there indicates: "The ritual repast (meal), that is
the consumption of meat from the scarified animal, from the sanctified food
which was offered to the god invited to the communal meal, was the very ancient
magical action which, through feeding the god, secured strength and therefore
health and happiness for the believer too."
How is this significant for understanding the world
of Paul?
Worship of Askelpius, as did many pagan religions, included sacrificial and
communal meals. Some trace Christian communion practices to such meals.
Sounds quasi-Christian!
How is Christian communion different than sacrificial
meals, especially those of Asklepius?
For Paul, our own sacrifice never made us right with God; this came about
through the work of Jesus, the benefit of which is given to us in faith:
They are now justified by his grace as a gift, through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of
atonement by his blood, effective through faith. (Letter to the Romans,
chapter 3:24-25)
Second, Paul never viewed communion as our own feeding of Jesus, but rather
Jesus giving to us:
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to
you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread,
and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that
is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." (First letter to the
Corinthians, chapter 11:23-24)
Third, Paul always viewed the meal as a communal, not individual activity:
For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead
with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk. What!
Do you not have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the
church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you?
Should I commend you? In this matter I do not commend you! (First letter
to the Corinthians, chapter 11:21-22)
Lastly, taking part in communion was not an elixir against all problems and a
quick-fix for health and wealth. In fact, Paul must warn against this
thinking by reminding the Corinthian congregation that the early Isrealites also
took God's sacraments and were not spared the consequences of their
actions.
...all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food,
and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.
Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness.
Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did.
(First letter to the Corinthians, chapter 10:2-6)
Indeed, communion connects us not with our earthly health but rather the death,
resurrection and ultimate return of Christ:
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup,
you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. (First letter to the
Corinthians, chapter 11:26)
source:
info on Asklepius healings:
placards at archeological site, July 2006.
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