1 Corinthians 10:16–17

Context

In chapters 8–10 of 1 Corinthians, his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul addresses whether believers may eat food offered to idols. After urging them in 10:14 to "flee from idolatry," he turns in this passage to the Lord's Supper (Communion) as an example. His argument is that just as taking part in the Lord's Supper genuinely unites participants with Christ, eating food from idol sacrifices is likewise no trivial matter. This reasoning leads to the conclusion in 10:21: "Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils."

"The cup of blessing" refers to a cup over which God is praised and thanked. The expression is generally understood to be connected with language used at the Jewish Passover meal. The Greek word koinonia, rendered "communion" in the KJV (and "participation" in Korean versions), means sharing together, or fellowship.

Interpretation

Verse 16 speaks of what believers partake of in the Lord's Supper, and verse 17 of how the Supper binds the church together as one. Traditions differ on how the bread and cup relate to the body and blood of Christ.

• Roman Catholic reading: The passage is regarded as one of the texts supporting transubstantiation, the teaching that the substance of the consecrated bread and wine is changed into the body and blood of Christ.
• Lutheran reading: Following Martin Luther, Lutherans hold that the bread and cup remain what they are, while the body and blood of Christ are truly present in and with them.
• Reformed reading: Presbyterians, following John Calvin and the Westminster Confession of Faith, hold that believers commune with Christ spiritually yet truly, by faith and through the Holy Spirit. Methodists, following John Wesley, likewise value the Lord's Supper as a means of grace and generally hold a similar understanding.
• Memorial reading: This view, which originated with Huldrych Zwingli, regards the Lord's Supper as a rite in which believers remember Christ's death and confess by faith their fellowship with him. Baptists and many other churches hold a view close to this one.
• Communal reading: Focusing on verse 17, this reading holds that the shared act of partaking of one bread shows that the church is the one body of Christ. It is broadly accepted across the traditions listed above.

Debates and Issues

This passage is known to have figured in the arguments of both Luther and Zwingli during the Eucharistic controversy of the Reformation. The two men failed to reach agreement on the Lord's Supper even at the Marburg Colloquy of 1529. Grammatically, the Greek of verse 17 can be read with the first clause giving a reason ("Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body") or, as in the Korean Revised Version, as two parallel statements.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the passage was also cited in debates over online Communion. The question was whether the communal character of sharing one bread in one place could be realized across a screen.

In the Korean Church

In Communion services, the passage is sometimes read together with the words of institution in 1 Corinthians 11 or quoted during the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup. The phrase "one bread, one body" is also used in sermons on the unity of the church.

Related Passages

• 1 Corinthians 10:21
• 1 Corinthians 11:20–26
• Luke 22:19–20
• John 6:53–56
• 1 Corinthians 12:13