The Eucharist

St. Paul writes to the Corinthians about the Eucharist and how to properly prepare for reception of it.

When speaking of the Eucharist, St. Paul uses technical terms that were specific to the Eucharist for a first century Christian.

St. Paul, for example, speaks of the "Cup of Blessing," which was a specific type of cup found in rabbinic writings that was used in the rite of the Passover meal.

Moreover, in the Eucharist, St. Paul speaks about our participation not just in the body of Christ, which could (though incorrectly) be suggested that Paul was speaking of the mystical body of Christ. For, what brings clarity and eliminates the possibility that he is speaking about a metaphor or primarily the mystical body of Christ is that he says we are also participating in the "blood of Christ," which is sacrificial terminology in the 1st century for Paul.

So, for Paul, there is definitely some real participation in Christ and in his crucifixion, not to mention, in the very life of Christ. For, in his first century context, in sacrifices, if you drink the blood of a sacrifice, you are participating in the "life" of that sacrifice (e.g. Lev. 17:11), and this was an abomination.

However, for the very reason Israelites were prohibited from drinking the blood of sacrifices in the Old Testament is precisely the reason why Christians are exhorted to drink the blood of Christ in the New: to participate in his divine life (which, as an aside, is one of the reasons why Jesus says in John 6 that if you drink his blood he will raise you on the last day -- because you have his life in you).

So, in Paul's worldview, the Eucharist is not just a vague, nebulous ritual, but an actual participation in the sacrifice of Christ and in his divine life.

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