In the June 2006 edition
of the local newspaper “Christianity” which belongs to the heretical
Pentecostal movement “Free Apostolic Church of the Pentecost”, there is
an article titled “Holy Communion as the basis of the life of
the Church”.
This is an article which -
after being evaluated from the Orthodox aspect – clearly shows the
confusion and the deception that exists, regarding the Sacrament of the
Divine Eucharist, and also the attempts made by the aforementioned
Pentecostal group to formulate their own teaching on the sacrament.
We shall pause on two
points only. The first point is that they resort to using Orthodox
phraseology when referring to the sacrament. They use the term “Holy
Communion”, when in fact during their congregations and in their
literature, they normally refer to the Divine Eucharist using terms like
“breaking bread”, or simply “remembrance”.
The second and more
important point however, is an admission-confession that they themselves
have stated. It is an admission that shows the degree of change and
downfall that certain Pentecostal groups have undergone. What do they
mention in their article? Characteristically, the following:
"The
practice of certain churches to use small wafers in place of bread, and
any kind of juice in place of wine, has a devastating effect on the
church”
We see here an example of
the worst kind of mistreatment and disregard for both the historical
facts as well as the very founding words of the Lord, with regard to
this sacrament. And yet,
the Pentecostal
groups (who
supposedly have a “eucharist” but prefer to use wafers and juice instead
of leavened bread and wine), always insist that they “receive the Holy
Spirit” and that the presence of the Spirit is manifest during their
assemblies.
Judging by the above, it
is not difficult to understand what kind of “spirit” is manifest in
their premises....
Further comments on the subject are unnecessary.