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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
.