Branch Davidian views of the Lord's Supper

The Branch Davidian Seventh day Adventists ("The Branch") (not to be confused with the Seventh-day Adventist Church from whom they divided, or with David Koresh's faction) are distinct from most other Christian churches in their understanding of the "Lord's Supper", basing their belief on the Bible only, and rejecting all later traditions. They point out that

1) only the verb form, eucharisteo ("gave thanks") is in the Bible, and never a noun form, "eucharist." Thus they see in it an action and not a thing;

2) that it is written that at the Last Supper when Jesus "gave thanks" while holding the bread or wine, He also blessed, (Greek - eulogeo– "to speak well of"), and that in doing so He was not only blessing (speaking well of) the Lord in accordance with the common Jewish tradition, and the commandment in Deuteronomy 8:10 "When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee," and was not blessing the articles of food, but was also expanding said common blessing to include a rememberancer that He was the provider of their sustance, and of His sufferings and return in glory;

3) that in the only place where the term "the Lord's Supper" occurs in most English Bibles (1 Corinthians 11:20), the Greek texts do not contain the article "the," and thus the text should read "a supper of the Lord." Therefore, they see that in that chapter the apostle Paul was commenting on the unChristian character some were bringing into their common Love Feast Agape (a supper of the Lord), their daily breaking of bread, by reminding them of the origin and purpose of their fellowship meal. and was not speaking of any sort of priestly ritual, nor of any change in the nature of the bread or wine;

4) that when Paul was admonishing the Corinthians to examine themselves before partaking of their communal feast so they wouldn't be in danger of "not discerning" the Lord’s body" he was referring to the "body," the brotherhood, of the church, which he elsewhere defined as being the Lord's "body" and "bread", and not at all to the memorial bread itself, as many have been given to believe; and,

5) that at no time did Jesus "bless" either the bread or the wine or any other articles of food, nor did He ever pray over such in order to consecrate them. In support of this, they point to the fact that in the places where Jesus is said to have taken the bread and "blessed it," the word "it" is not in the Greek texts, but is inserted in some places in italics at the whims of the translators in order to give validity to their customs. Thus they conclude that Jesus was not blessing any thing, but instead, was pronouncing a blessing (speaking well of), was giving "thanks" to the Lord in accordance with the common Jewish tradition; and

6) that the Bible uses the word "communion" only in the sense of "fellowship," and not as a liturgical performance or a thing to take or receive.

In their multi-part study, The Lord's Supper, from the Table to the Altar, and Back, they cite numerous church histories and commentaries, Protestant, Catholic, and others, that admit that what became known as the Eucharist, or "the Lord's Supper," was originally held with the Love Feast Agape, or was actually the feast itself

They also cite church histories which show that the priestly/sacrificial character was interjected into the simple custom towards the end of the 1st century through the influence of some Gentile church leaders blending heathen "mysteries" with the teachings and practices of the church, and through some Jewish church leaders attempting to maintain a semblance of the hierarchy of the Jewish priesthood.Thus, they see that it was through those influences that the simple act of giving thanks (eucharista) at their daily breaking of bread was considered to be a priestly/sacrificial act with the emphasis upon the person performing the act, and his purported authority to consecrate the bread and wine in earthly sanctuaries, rather than on Christ's own work in the heavenly sanctuary and the Holy Spirit's power to consecrate the believers.

Practice of open communion

Though the Branch Davidian SDAs teach that only a true believer should be allowed to offer the thanksgiving and bless the Lord after Jesus' example, they also follow His example of allowing both believers and non-believers to partake in the meal, as He did with the 4000 and the 5000, and in His eating with "publicans and sinners".

Footwashing

As the Branch Davidian SDAs consider every meal to be "a supper of the Lord" they do not teach the need of having the footwashing proper before every meal. They teach that the footwashing is an antitype of the ancient sin offering of the Hebrew economy. They say that as there was no sin offering ordained as a daily ritual, but only on the new moons and other Biblical feast days, or when necessary, they say that there shouldn't be a need for a formal footwashing on a daily basis. That is, in accordance with the belief in the ability of God to keep the repentant from falling into sin on a regular basis, they say that true believers who are abiding in Christ, by the Holy Spirit shouldn't be sinning and repenting on a daily basis.

They also follow Jesus' example of giving "thanks" (eucharista) and "blessing" the Lord both before and after their meals (suppers of the Lord), and in obedience of the commandement in Deuteronomy 8:10. Catholics and Jews also teach that thanksgiving should be said after their daily meals, though relatively few practice it.

See also

• Branch Davidian
• Eucharist