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T5 reasoning: Frequency of communion

Reasoning steps: Frequency of communion

Verdicts: T5 · Frequency of communion. Method: conventions, scoring and proximity eras. Scripture is the primary measure; fathers are weighed by era (Era I to c. 150 = 1.0, II = 0.8, III = 0.6, IV = 0.4).

T05.1: Frequency of communion

Step T05.1.1: Scripture

Acts 20:7: ‘on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread’. Acts 2:42 (devoted to the breaking of bread). 1 Cor 11:20: the Lord’s Supper as the purpose of gathering. No command fixes a frequency.

Step T05.1.2: Patristic evidence

Didache (Era I): ’every Lord’s day gather yourselves together, and break bread’. Justin (Era II): on Sunday the bread and wine are given to each present and carried to the absent. Sources: didache-t05-s1 · justin-martyr-t05-s1.

Step T05.1.3: Weighing decision

Weekly celebration with the people communing is the Era I–II norm. Verdict: consensus.

  • Confidence: High.

Step T05.1.4: Source-proximity weighing

  • Scripture (benchmark): Acts 20:7 and 1 Cor 11:20 show the Supper as the purpose of the weekly gathering; no frequency is commanded. (Scripture confidence: medium)
  • Assessment: Scripture and Era I agree on weekly practice as the pattern.

T05.2: Should the cup be given to all communicants?

Step T05.2.1: Scripture

Matt 26:27 (‘Drink of it, all of you’); 1 Cor 11:25–28 (’let a person examine himself … and drink of the cup’).

Step T05.2.2: Patristic evidence

Cyprian (Era II, On the Lapsed 25): ’the deacon began to offer the cup to those present, and … the rest received it’. The cup was given to all. Sources: cyprian-t05-s1.

Step T05.2.3: Weighing decision

Scripture and Era II agree. Withholding the cup is a later Latin practice. Verdict: communion in both kinds.

  • Confidence: High.

Step T05.2.4: Source-proximity weighing

  • Scripture (benchmark): ‘Drink of it, all of you’ (Matt 26:27). (Scripture confidence: high)
  • Assessment: Clear.

Post-750 development by tradition

Catholic

See the note below.

  • T05.1 (fathers 2/4; Scripture 2/4): Daily Mass, but lay communion required only annually (Lateran IV, 1215).
  • T05.2 (fathers 2/4; Scripture 2/4): Trent XXI ch. 1: laity ’not obliged, by any divine precept, to receive … under both species’ (verified) (practice since widened).

Orthodox

See the note below.

  • T05.1 (fathers 2/4; Scripture 2/4): Weekly liturgy; lay communion infrequent in classic practice.
  • T05.2 (fathers 4/4; Scripture 4/4): .

Oriental Orthodox

See the note below.

  • T05.1 (fathers n/a; Scripture n/a): Not assessed: practice-based; no Oriental Orthodox source on communion frequency was checked.
  • T05.2 (fathers 4/4; Scripture 4/4): .

Lutheran

See the note below.

  • T05.1 (fathers 4/4; Scripture 4/4): Apology XXIV.1: ‘masses are celebrated every Lord’s Day and on the other festivals, in which the Sacrament is offered to those who wish to use it’ (verified).
  • T05.2 (fathers 4/4; Scripture 4/4): AC XXII ‘Of Both Kinds’ (verified).

Anglican

See the note below.

  • T05.1 (fathers 2/4; Scripture 2/4): 1662 rubric: communicate ‘at the least three times in the year’.
  • T05.2 (fathers 4/4; Scripture 4/4): Art. XXX ‘Of both kinds’ (verified).

Presbyterian

See the note below.

  • T05.1 (fathers n/a; Scripture n/a): Not assessed: the Directory for Public Worship could not be fetched, and the quarterly practice was not sourced.
  • T05.2 (fathers 4/4; Scripture 4/4): .

Reformed Baptist

See the note below.

  • T05.1 (fathers n/a; Scripture n/a): Not assessed: 1689 30 sets no frequency, and practice was not sourced.
  • T05.2 (fathers 4/4; Scripture 4/4): .

General Baptist

See the note below.

  • T05.1 (fathers n/a; Scripture n/a): Not assessed: Orthodox Creed (1679) art. XXXIII says the Supper ‘ought to be often celebrated’ without stating a frequency (verified)
  • T05.2 (fathers 4/4; Scripture 4/4): .

Anabaptist

See the note below.

  • T05.1 (fathers 2/4; Scripture 2/4): GAMEO, ‘Communion’ (C. Krahn; J. D. Rempel): by the 17th century ‘usual for Mennonites in northern Europe to celebrate communion twice a year while Mennonites in south Germany and Switzerland celebrated it once a year’ (reputable scholarship)
  • T05.2 (fathers 4/4; Scripture 4/4): .