PURITAN NEWS WEEKLY

www.puritans.net/news/

05/06/05

 

 

THE COMMON CUP

 

By J. Parnell McCarter

 

 

Historically Christian churches have used a “common cup” to administer the wine in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.  However, many modern churches do not use a common cup.  One rationale often cited is that the “common cup” is unsafe for use.  But this objection fails for the following reasons:

 

  1. Jesus Christ would not have used the “common cup” with His disciples as a precedent for the Apostolic church if the “common cup” was not reasonably safe.  In other words, those who assert that its use violates the command to preserve life ultimately are impugning Jesus Christ’s character in a manner that no Christian should accept.

 

  1. The Apostolic church also used a common cup, so a charge against the use of the common cup is an unwarranted attack against the Apostolic church.

 

  1. The “common cup” has symbolic value in displaying the communion of the saints.  Hence, it is dubious it can be argued that it was a mere circumstance of worship in the Apostolic church.  Hence, its non-use is arguably a violation of the regulative principle of worship.

 

 

Besides these Biblical reasons, it is highly questionable that “modern science” itself even confirms the notion that the “common cup” is unsafe.  See the article at http://www.puritans.net/news/commoncup.pdf .