11. The Issue of Leavened vs. Unleavened Bread. When asked about this, I said that we use unleavened bread. We do so because that is what Jesus used at the Last Supper. Also, the very idea of “breaking bread” supports the notion that the early Christians favored unleavened bread, since this was the type of bread that “broke.” Thus, using leavened bread is a practice (a small-t tradition) that we follow in the Western wing of the Catholic Church. A handful of Eastern Catholics, and many Orthodox Christians, use leavened bread. Here is an article that goes into the subject in a bit more detail.
All that being said, I just don't see how this issue constitutes legitimate grounds for division between Christians. Can anyone add further insight to this problem?
(Woo hoo for a short answer!)
2 comments:
"When asked about this, I said that we use leavened bread"
I think you meant to write UNleavened bread.
As far as I can tell, Christians first started using leavened bread to make the point that what they were celebrating was not simply an Old Covenant meal.
Thanks for the correction, David! I indeed meant unleavened bread and am correcting the original post.
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