Gillespie: it is not indifferent to omit the breaking of the bread at the Lord's Table after the consecration and distribution of it

[NaphtaliPress]

 

[C. M. Sheffield]

I'm having trouble understanding exactly what he's saying here. What is the practical import of his argument in relation to our breaking the bread? I usually break the loaf into several large pieces from which the communicates will pinch off a piece for themselves. Am I mistaken in reading him to mean that practice is wrong?

 

[TylerRay]

I'm having trouble understanding exactly what he's saying here. What is the practical import of his argument in relation to our breaking the bread? I usually break the loaf into several large pieces from which the communicates will pinch off a piece for themselves. Am I mistaken in reading him to mean that practice is wrong?

I don't think your practice is out of step with what Gillespie is saying, so long as the breaking is done as a part of the distribution of the bread. His point is that the breaking of bread is part of the sacrament.

If the bread is broken beforehand, it is not done as a sacramental action.

 

[C. M. Sheffield]

I don't think your practice is out of step with what Gillespie is saying, so long as the breaking is done as a part of the distribution of the bread. His point is that the breaking of bread is part of the sacrament.

If the bread is broken beforehand, it is not done as a sacramental action.

Ah, thank you. That makes sense.