Paedocommunion and the Contextual Interpretation of 1 Corinthians 11:17-34

 One of the most abused texts in the Reformed tradition is 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. It is the locus classicus concerning the defense of the Reformed tradition's rejection of paedocommunion. Supposedly, this text teaches that each person needs to examine his own heart and life as to whether he is repentant and believing in the gospel for the forgiveness of his sins so as to be worthy enough to partake in the communion. 

Unfortunately for those who argue this way, this is nowhere close to what this text is talking about. Let's analyze the text below.

*17 Τοῦτο δὲ ⸂παραγγέλλων οὐκ ἐπαινῶ⸃* ὅτι οὐκ εἰς τὸ κρεῖσσον ἀλλʼ εἰς τὸ ἧσσον συνέρχεσθε.* 18 πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ συνερχομένων ὑμῶν ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ ἀκούω σχίσματα ἐν ὑμῖν ὑπάρχειν καὶ μέρος τι πιστεύω. 19 δεῖ γὰρ καὶ αἱρέσεις ⸋ἐν ὑμῖν⸌ εἶναι,* ἵνα °[καὶ] οἱ δόκιμοι φανεροὶ γένωνται ⸋1ἐν ὑμῖν⸌.* 20 Συνερχομένων ⸀οὖν ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ οὐκ ἔστιν κυριακὸν δεῖπνον φαγεῖν· 21 ἕκαστος γὰρ τὸ ἴδιον δεῖπνον προλαμβάνει ἐν τῷ φαγεῖν, καὶ ὃς μὲν πεινᾷ ὃς δὲ μεθύει. 22 μὴ γὰρ οἰκίας οὐκ ἔχετε εἰς τὸ ἐσθίειν καὶ πίνειν; ἢ τῆς ἐκκλησίας τοῦ θεοῦ καταφρονεῖτε,* καὶ καταισχύνετε τοὺς μὴ ἔχοντας; τί εἴπω ὑμῖν; ⸀ἐπαινέσω °ὑμᾶς;* ἐν τούτῳ οὐκ ἐπαινῶ. 

23 Ἐγὼ γὰρ παρέλαβον ⸂ἀπὸ τοῦ κυρίου⸃,* ὃ καὶ παρέδωκα ὑμῖν,* ὅτι ὁ κύριος °Ἰησοῦς ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ ᾗ παρεδίδετο ἔλαβεν ⸆ ἄρτον 24 καὶ εὐχαριστήσας ἔκλασεν καὶ εἶπεν·⸆ τοῦτό ⸉μού ἐστιν⸊ τὸ σῶμα °τὸ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ⸇· τοῦτο ποιεῖτε εἰς τὴν ἐμὴν ἀνάμνησιν.* 25 ὡσαύτως καὶ τὸ ποτήριον μετὰ τὸ δειπνῆσαι λέγων· τοῦτο τὸ ποτήριον ἡ καινὴ διαθήκη ἐστὶν ἐν τῷ ⸂ἐμῷ αἵματι⸃·* τοῦτο ποιεῖτε, ὁσάκις ἐὰν πίνητε, εἰς τὴν ἐμὴν ἀνάμνησιν. 26 ὁσάκις γὰρ ἐὰν ἐσθίητε τὸν ἄρτον τοῦτον καὶ τὸ ποτήριον ⸆ πίνητε,* τὸν θάνατον τοῦ κυρίου καταγγέλλετε ἄχρι οὗ ἔλθῃ. 

27 Ὥστε ὃς ἂν ἐσθίῃ τὸν ἄρτον ⸆ ἢ πίνῃ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦ κυρίου ἀναξίως⸇,* ἔνοχος ἔσται τοῦ σώματος καὶ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ κυρίου.* 28 δοκιμαζέτω δὲ ἄνθρωπος ἑαυτὸν καὶ οὕτως ἐκ τοῦ ἄρτου ἐσθιέτω καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ποτηρίου πινέτω· 29 ὁ γὰρ ἐσθίων καὶ πίνων ⸆ κρίμα ἑαυτῷ ἐσθίει καὶ πίνει μὴ διακρίνων τὸ σῶμα⸇. 30 διὰ τοῦτο ἐν ὑμῖν πολλοὶ ἀσθενεῖς καὶ ἄρρωστοι καὶ κοιμῶνται ἱκανοί. 31 εἰ ⸀δὲ ἑαυτοὺς διεκρίνομεν,* οὐκ ἂν ἐκρινόμεθα· 32 κρινόμενοι δὲ ὑπὸ °[τοῦ] κυρίου παιδευόμεθα,* ἵνα μὴ σὺν τῷ κόσμῳ κατακριθῶμεν. 33 Ὥστε, ἀδελφοί μου, συνερχόμενοι εἰς τὸ φαγεῖν ἀλλήλους ἐκδέχεσθε.* 34 εἴ ⸆ τις πεινᾷ,* ἐν οἴκῳ ἐσθιέτω, ἵνα μὴ εἰς κρίμα συνέρχησθε. τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ ὡς ἂν ἔλθω διατάξομαι.* 

17 "But in instructing the following I do not praise you because you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For first and foremost, when you come together in the assembly I hear there exist cliques among you and I partly believe it. 19 Since indeed it is necessary for there to be divisions among you in order that those who are tried and true might be made known among you. 20 Therefore, when you come together for the self, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper, 21 for each one prematurely grabs his own supper at the meal, one is hungry and one gets drunk. 22 Do you not have houses in which you can eat and drink? Or do you think poorly about the church of God and shame those who are without. What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you. 

23 For I received from the Lord what I also have passed on to you that on the night in which the Lord Jesus was handed over, 24 he took bread and giving thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this as a reminder of me." 25 Likewise, also the cup after the meal, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, as a reminder of me." 26 For as often as you might eat this bread and drink the cup, you herald the death of the Lord until he comes. 

27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in a way that does not suit it will be considered guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a person evaluate himself and in this manner eat of the bread and drink of the wine. 29 For the one who eats and drinks judgment upon himself when he eats and drinks without evaluating the body. 30 Because of this, many among you are sick and ill and quite a few have fallen asleep. 31 But if we evaluate ourselves, we will not be condemned; 32 but when judged by the Lord we are disciplined in order that we might not be damned with the world. 33 So, my brothers, when you come together to eat wait for one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, he is to eat at home in order that you might not be judged when you come together. What is remaining I will put in order when I come."

Let's summarize the argument.

1. There are cliques where one group is taking all of the elements because they are hungry and so eating and drinking all of it as though it is their own personal dinner. Hence, some are hungry and some are drunk, i.e., some people are getting all of the communion and some people are getting none.

2. Because of this inconsideration of other believers, those who get to the elements last are not getting to partake in the Lord's supper.

3. The Lord's supper was implemented by the Lord for the purpose of communicating the gospel of the new covenant of which all Christians are included.

4. When it is taken in a way that excludes other Christians from partaking in it, it is being taken in a way that is not fitting to the message, proclaiming that the gospel does not cover, and is not for, the group that is excluded.

5. Therefore, every person is to examine himself, which is parallel to examining the body, i.e., his body, so that he does not do what is condemned above. In other words, if he is eating in a gluttonous or drunken manner then that means he is taking too much of the bread and wine and not leaving enough for those who "have not" (v. 22).

6. Therefore, if anyone is hungry, he is to eat at home rather than coming to the supper and be tempted to take too much. 

As we can see from the argument in this text, it has absolutely nothing to do with whether someone is evaluating his heart and lifestyle and understanding the mysteries of the gospel. What it is talking about is that no one who partakes in the communion should hoard it in a way so as to exclude other Christians from participating in it because this is contrary to the message of the gospel expressed in the communion meal. Paul just laid out this analogy of the supper with eating things sacrificed to idols in 1 Corinthians 10:16-18. Those who partake in the meal communicate that they have a part with Christ and the entire body is communicated as one with Christ and with one another through it.

16 Τὸ ποτήριον τῆς ⸀εὐλογίας ὃ εὐλογοῦμεν,* οὐχὶ κοινωνία ⸉ἐστὶν τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ⸊;* τὸν ἄρτον ὃν κλῶμεν, οὐχὶ κοινωνία τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐστιν; 17 ὅτι εἷς ἄρτος,* ἓν σῶμα οἱ πολλοί ἐσμεν, οἱ γὰρ πάντες ἐκ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἄρτου ⸆ μετέχομεν. 

16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because we, the many, are one bread, one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 

Notice the parallel between the one bread and the one body. The entirety of the Christian church is one body and here it is said to be one bread because it all partakes of the one bread. So the fact that all Christians are united into one body is communicated from the fact that they all partake in the one bread. They participate in Christ and his death through their participation in the communion which represents the gospel. It is a picture of the truth of the entire church's participation in Christ and his death for the forgiveness of their sins in the same way that the sacrifices in the Old Testament are pictures of the participation of the Old Testament believer in the one community of Israel. To be excluded from the participation of the sacrifices would be a picture of exclusion from the salvation of Israel. Likewise, to be excluded from participation in the communion, i.e., the sacrifice of Christ, would be to communicate that one is excluded from the salvation of Christ. 

To, therefore, give a picture in one's taking of communion that one who is saved by Christ is excluded from him and his salvific work is a rejection of the gospel. The one who rejects the gospel becomes guilty of the death of Christ, and therefore, is judged for it in the temporal sense of being made sick or killed as a discipline for distorting the message of the gospel and thus preaching a false religion to the community of the church, which in the law, carries with it the penalty of death.

This is the context of the passage. Hence, the statement that is continually ripped out of context, "Each person is to examine himself" refers to whether he is hoarding the communion so that others do not get to partake. It is parallel to his "examining the body" in v, 29. 

27 Ὥστε ὃς ἂν ἐσθίῃ τὸν ἄρτον ⸆ ἢ πίνῃ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦ κυρίου ἀναξίως⸇,* ἔνοχος ἔσται τοῦ σώματος καὶ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ κυρίου.* 28 δοκιμαζέτω δὲ ἄνθρωπος ἑαυτὸν καὶ οὕτως ἐκ τοῦ ἄρτου ἐσθιέτω καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ποτηρίου πινέτω· 29 ὁ γὰρ ἐσθίων καὶ πίνων ⸆ κρίμα ἑαυτῷ ἐσθίει καὶ πίνει μὴ διακρίνων τὸ σῶμα

"So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner is guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a person is to examine himself and in that manner he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For the one who eats and drinks eats and drinks judgment upon himself when not examining the body."

So examining oneself is to make sure a person is eating and drinking a particular way, and that particular way is by examining one's body so that he does not eat and drink it in a way that excludes other Christians from the picture of Christ's death covering the entire Christian community by eating and drinking too much of the communion elements. 

You can see, therefore, that the practice that would exclude Christians (i.e., the little children who Christ told his disciples to allow to come to him) from the communion is the only practice guilty of this, an irony since those who do not exclude certain members of the church from communion are the ones often accused of violating these divine instructions.

The real issue is whether children are considered Christians. Any church that agrees that they are but bars them from the table runs the risk of being guilty of what Paul is arguing here absent of a robust federal headship argument where the children partake in the communion through the parents. But that is for another post.