Something that our priest said in Sunday School yesterday struck me as regards the recent posts about the scandal in Greece. He pointed out that, when Christ multiplied the loaves, he gave them to His disciples to give to the people, and that one of these disciples was, of course, Judas Iscariot. I don’t know about anyone else, but many times in the Gospels when the disciples or apostles are mentioned, except during the Last Supper, I don’t think about Judas being there. The point was that Christ can use unworthy vessels to work miracles, and this, I think, strengthens Sasha’s point that it is Christ who does this work, not any bishop, disciple, or pastor.

Constantinius, good catch. That’s an important point. An Orthodox or Catholic doesn’t decide to refrain from receiving in a Protestant church because he perceives important doctrinal differences. Rather, he submits to the discipline of his church and the judgment of his bishop, who is not in communion with any Protestant church. It seems to me that the doctrinal differences are a secondary rather than the immediate reason why I would not eat crackers and grape juice in the church I grew up in.