Dave Bartosiewicz, a former Catholic, former Latter-day Saint, former Evangelical Protestant, who is now an Eastern Orthodox catechumen, has a new video:
In this video, Bartosiewicz argues that Luther made a mistake with his reformation.
I note this as Bartosiewicz has done a 180 on many important issues; after all, as he is now (for the time being anyway) involved in the EO, he now holds to baptismal regeneration, transformative justification, and many other doctrines that are, well, "Mormon" than Evangelical Protestant. See, for example, this article I wrote in response to Dave when he was a Protestant:
If it were possible, I would love if we could get the Dave Bartosiewicz of 2016 to debate the Dave Bartosiewicz of 2017 on Sola Scriptura, the Eucharist the nature of the atonement, baptismal regeneration, Mariology, etc.
Dave is dead-wrong in claiming that Mal 1:11 is a prophecy of the Eucharistic sacrifice. It should be noted, as Dave has not explicated this in any of his videos, the Eastern Orthodox view of the Eucharist, namely, that it, as it is in Roman Catholicism, a propitiatory sacrifice and re-presentation of the sacrifice of Calvary. As one EO author put it:
The Elements of Bread and Wine are “changed” into the Body and Blood of Christ. This sanctification of the Elements is called change, transelementation, and depends mainly on the meaning of the words of Scripture: “This is my body”, and “this is my blood”. These words of Christ do not mean “my body” is present in the Bread, and “my blood” is present in the Wine. In reality the Elements of Bread and Wine become in substance the very Body and very Blood of Christ These words of Christ signify the actual “change” of the Elements rather than the co-existence of visible and invisible parts . . . The institution of the Holy Eucharist as Sacrifice took place on the Cross. Christ is the Sacrificer and the Sacrifice, for He offered His very Body and Blood to God the Father for the remission of the sins of the world. Christ instituted Holy Eucharist as Sacrifice in the two Elements, bread and wine, presenting explicitly the mystic separation of the Body from the Blood. This institution manifests Holy Eucharist as Sacrifice, for “Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat: this is my body’. and he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for may for the forgiveness of sins’”, Mt. 26:26-28. These words of Christ were spoken in the present tense and declare that this Sacrifice is ever-present—the bloodless Crucified-sacrifice . . . This is the very belief of the Church from the very beginning and is verified by an Ecumenical Synod: “The lamb of God is placed on the Holy Table, He Who lifted the sin of the world and is offered by the officiators of God as blood sacrifice” . . . The institution of the Holy Eucharist as the remembrance of the Crucified-Sacrifice is a re-enactment of the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. However, it is not merely a reflection of the historical fact; it is a real Sacrifice inasmuch as Christ is present in the Eucharist. Both the Sacrificer and the victim is Christ Himself, on the Cross and in the Holy Eucharist. The former wrought the salvation of man; the latter, wrought man’s personal appropriation. The Sacrifice of the Eucharist is offered in remembrance of the Passion of Christ, and bears all the elements of every sacrifice: victim, sacrificer, purpose, destruction or change of what is offered. The Sacrifice in the Eucharist is a re-enactment of the Sacrifice on the Cross inasmuch as Christ is present in the Eucharist, accomplishing on earth what He accomplishes in heaven. The Eucharist brings forth the same fruits as the Cross, the source of divine Grace and all spiritual gifts. This Sacrifice, which is the propitiatory Sacrifice for the living and the dead, is simultaneously a sacrifice of praise and intercession. (Rev. George Mastrantonis, A New-Style Catechism on the Eastern Orthodox Faith for Adults [St. Louis, Miss.: The OLogos Mission, 1969], 123-24, 127-28, 128-29; emphasis in original)
As for Mal 1:11, speaking of the then-future New Covenant and incorporation of Gentiles (“heathens”) therein, reads:
For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place (בְכָל־מָק֗וֹם) incense (מֻקְטָר) shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering (מִנְחָ֣ה טְהוֹרָ֑ה); for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of Hosts.
Some traditions, especially Roman Catholicism, have appealed to this verse as bring a prophecy of the Eucharist being a propitiatory sacrifice. Some of the reasons. According to Catholic apologists (e.g. Dave Armstrong) Malachi speaks of a sacrifice being offered “in every/all places” in the Hebrew. This cannot be the sacrifice of Calvary, as that was performed in one location in one time. However, the Mass/Eucharistic Sacrifice is performed on a daily basis and in many geographical locations. Therefore, the Catholic Mass is the fulfilment of Mal 1:11.
There are a number of problems with this interpretation. Fundamentally, the biblical texts that speak of Christ’s offering always presents it as a once-for-all action, and not one that can be repeated, whether in an unbloody manner or not per Catholic dogma.
Koine Greek has a word that denotes “finality” (εφαπαξ). It is predicated upon the accomplished work of Christ in the Greek New Testament (emphasis added):
For in that he died, he did unto sin once (εφαπαξ); but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. (Rom 6:10)
Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once (εφαπαξ), when he offered up himself. (Heb 7:27)
Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once (εφαπαξ) into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption. (Heb 9:12)
By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once (εφαπαξ) for all. (Heb 10:10)
Furthermore, in the Eucharistic theology of the New Testament authors, there are many indications that they did not hold to the substantial presence of Jesus in the Eucharist or the concept the Eucharist itself was a propitiatory sacrifice. For instance, in 1 Cor 11:26, Paul admonishes the Corinthians that, “. . .as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.” Firstly, notice that Paul refers to the bread, after consecration, as still being “bread,” not the literal body of Christ under the appearance of bread. Furthermore, the term the KJV renders as “shew” is the Greek verb καταγγελω which means, not “to show” as some may think, but “to proclaim.” Such is an oddity if Catholic dogma is correct, and that the Eucharist is where Christ is substantially present in its celebration and His sacrifice is being re-presented to God the Father. Instead, believers are commanded to proclaim, not re-present, Christ until the Parousia (the second/final coming).
As for Mal 1:11 and its fulfilment in the New Covenant, Christians are said to offer “spiritual sacrifices” to God. In 1 Pet 2:5, we read:
Ye also, as lively stones are built upon a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
In this text, believers are said to “offer up” (αναφερω; a sacrificial term in both the LXX and NT and used of Jesus “offering” of himself [e.g. 1 Pet 2:24]) themselves as “spiritual sacrifices" (πνευματικὰς θυσίας). This is echoed in Paul’s epistle to the Romans:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service. (Rom 12:1)
The dedication of one’s body to God is said to be a sacrifice (θυσια) to God the Father, notwithstanding it not being a literal (in the sense of propitiatory/expiatory) sacrifice for sin. Such “spiritual sacrifices” can be prayers, petitions, and other godly actions for our fellow man (cf. 1 Tim 2:1-4) as well as the sacrifice of a broken heart and contrite spirit (cf. Psa 34:18; 51:17; Isa 57:15; 66:2; also see 2 Nephi 2:7; Helaman 8:5; 3 Nephi 9:20; 12:19; Ether 4:15; Moroni 6:2 in the Book of Mormon).
There is no sound exegetical warrant for interpreting Mal 1:11 as a prophecy of the Eucharist as being a propitiatory sacrifice as in later Roman Catholic dogma. Instead, it is to be understood as an Old Testament promise of the inclusion of the Gentiles into God’s covenant people and the universality of the covenant, as well as the spiritual sacrifices believers in this covenant engage in.
In an early Christian text, attributed to Irenaeus of Lyons (it is debated if this is genuine or pseudepigraphical, though it is early, regardless of its providence) that does not hold that the Eucharist as a propitiatory sacrifice is prophesied by Mal 1:11, but instead, the prayers and other “spiritual sacrifices” of New Covenant believers, one of which is the Eucharist (the author clearly did not believe prayers of New Covenant saints to be a sacrifice that propitiates the wrath of God!)
Section 37 of this writing reads as follows (taken from this Webpage, though one can find it in print in vol. 1 of the Ante Nicene Fathers by Schaff):
Those who have become acquainted with the secondary (i.e., under Christ) constitutions of the apostles, are aware that the Lord instituted a new oblation in the new covenant, according to [the declaration of] Malachi the prophet. For,
from the rising of the sun even to the setting my name has been glorified among the Gentiles, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice;Malachi 1:11 as John also declares in the Apocalypse:
The incense is the prayers of the saints.Then again, Paul exhorts us
to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.Romans 12:1 And again,
Let us offer the sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of the lips.Hebrews 13:15 Now those oblations are not according to the law, the handwriting of which the Lord took away from the midst by cancelling it; Colossians 2:14 but they are according to the Spirit, for we must worship God
in spirit and in truth.John 4:24 And therefore the oblation of the Eucharist is not a carnal one, but a spiritual; and in this respect it is pure. For we make an oblation to God of the bread and the cup of blessing, giving Him thanks in that He has commanded the earth to bring forth these fruits for our nourishment. And then, when we have perfected the oblation, we invoke the Holy Spirit, that He may exhibit this sacrifice, both the bread the body of Christ, and the cup the blood of Christ, in order that the receivers of these antitypes may obtain remission of sins and life eternal. Those persons, then, who perform these oblations in remembrance of the Lord, do not fall in with Jewish views, but, performing the service after a spiritual manner, they shall be called sons of wisdom.
For more on the Eucharist, see my articles listed here:
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