:: St. Stephen's Musings ::

:: Wednesday, March 12, 2003 ::

Open Communion: An Oxymoron?

I have been discussing the issue of "open communion" with more than one person as of late...

(Check out Evan's blog as well as Tripp)

It is a topic that is dear to many of my non-Orthodox friends and family and the practice of closed communion by both the Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox continues to be a problem for many of them. While I believe, and have articulated many times, that Orthodox sacramental theology can not be understood in the juridical way most of western sacramental theology has been portrayed, it seems we are still talking past one another.

With St. Paul's warnings in 1 Cor 11:27-29 in mind, I would like to hear a defense of the practice of "open communion" from my readers (especially my non-Orthodox and non-Catholic readers).

At this point, I am honesty curious how anyone could defend this practice without ignoring the complete and total repudiation of it by the Church Fathers, the absence of it in pre-Schism Church history, and the radical shift in incarnational theology that must take place to accept it. Even the Reformers rejected this teaching!

Readers, enlighten me!

:: Karl :: 12:11:00 PM [Link] ::