Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 5
Marpeck’s blunt line—“Stop the semantics…What you guys are doing, it’s not the Lord’s Supper”—is aimed at churches that burn people at the stake while claiming real presence; what modern church behaviors or compromises might deserve the same verdict, and what does that suggest about God’s priorities when judging “correct” sacraments?
Another way to ask: Marpeck says, “What you’re doing isn’t the Lord’s Supper,” because those churches harmed people while claiming “real presence.” What church behaviors today might deserve the same criticism, and what does that show about what God cares about most when judging the sacraments?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
Dean’s use of Marpeck implies that God prioritizes a church actually living Christ’s life—especially love and moral integrity—over winning technical debates about presence; when a church’s actions contradict Jesus, sacramental correctness becomes meaningless.
- Dean reports Marpeck’s approach to Rome: “Stop the semantics… What you guys are doing, it’s not the Lord’s Supper,” because “You can’t be burning people at the stake and call this the real presence. Not happening.”
- He links it directly to Scripture: quoting 1 Corinthians 11, “When you come together, it’s not the Lord’s Supper.”
- He argues Corinth had “apostolic things” but “because of their morality, it doesn’t count.”
- He states the core Anabaptist contribution: “our life matters… there needs to be an incarnational grace… or it doesn’t count no matter what you say.”
- He frames this as relevant now: “which is needed today too.”