Theology Of Toast In Christian Life
The concept of "toast" does not appear in Christian theological discourse as a distinct doctrine or practice. However, the broader category of "bread" holds significant symbolic and theological weight within Christianity, particularly in relation to the Eucharist or Lord's Supper.
Bread is frequently mentioned in the Bible, often symbolizing sustenance and life. God is described as providing bread, and the earth yields it [2]. In the Old Testament, manna, a type of bread, sustained the Israelites in the wilderness [2]. Jesus Christ himself is identified as the "bread of life," and those who eat of this bread will live forever [4, 5]. This spiritual nourishment is linked to Christ's flesh, which he gave for the life of the world [5].
In the context of the Lord's Supper, bread represents Christ's body, which was broken for the remission of sins [7]. John Calvin emphasizes that the sacrament of the Supper seals and confirms the promise that Christ's flesh is "meat indeed" and his blood "drink indeed," nourishing believers unto eternal life [4]. Charles Hodge further explains that partaking in the Supper involves receiving "the veritable substantial life of the beloved Immanuel Himself" [6]. The act of eating the bread in the Supper is understood by Calvin as a consequence of faith, where Christ's flesh is made ours by believing [8].
The preparation of bread also carries symbolic meaning. While bread is usually leavened, unleavened bread is specifically mentioned in connection with the Passover and is used in the Lord's Supper to symbolize sincerity and truth, in contrast to the "yeast of malice and wickedness" [3].
The consumption of food and drink, including bread, is also discussed in relation to the "kingdom of God." The apostle Paul states that the kingdom of God is not about "meat and drink" but about "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" [9]. This highlights that while physical sustenance is necessary, spiritual realities hold greater importance.
The practice of giving thanks before eating, as exemplified by Christ, is also noted [1]. This act of thanksgiving extends to all aspects of life, including before taking food [1].
Sources
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Thanksgiving — Christ set an example of -- Mt 11:25; 26:27; Joh 6:11; 11:41. The heavenly host engaged in -- Re 4:9; 7:11,12; 11:16,17. Commanded -- Ps 50:14; Php 4:6. Is a good thing -- Ps 92:1. Should be offered To God. -- Ps 50:14. To Christ. -- 1Ti 1:12. Through Christ. -- Ro 1:8; Col 3:17; Heb 13:15. In the name of Christ. -- Eph 5:20. In behalf of ministers. -- 2Co 1:11. In private worship. -- Da 6:10. In public worship. -- Ps 35:18. In everything. -- 1Th 5:18. Upon the completion of great undertakings. -- Ne 12:31,40. Before taking food. -- Joh 6:11; Ac 27:35.”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Bread — Given by God -- Ru 1:6; Mt 6:11. Yielded by the earth -- Job 28:5; Isa 55:10. Made of Wheat. -- Ex 29:2; Ps 81:16. Barley. -- Jdj 7:13; Joh 6:9. Beans, millet, &c. -- Eze 4:9. Manna (in the wilderness). -- Nu 11:8. Corn ground for making -- Isa 28:28. Was kneaded -- Ge 18:6; Jer 7:18; Ho 7:4. Troughs used for kneading -- Ex 12:34. Usually leavened -- Le 23:17; Mt 13:33. Sometimes unleavened -- Ex 12:18; 1Co 5:8. Was formed into Loaves. -- 1Sa 10:3,4; Mt 14:17. Cakes. -- 2Sa 6:19; 1Ki 17:13. Wafers. -- Ex 16:31; 29:23. Was baked On hearths. -- Ge 18:6. On coal”
- 1 Corinthians “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. -- 1 Corinthians 5:8”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 99: are communicated to us. 4. Therefore, it is not the principal part of a sacrament simply to hold forth the body of Christ to us without any higher consideration, but rather to seal and confirm that promise by which he testifies that his flesh is meat indeed, and his blood drink indeed, nourishing us unto life eternal, and by which he affirms that he is the bread of life, of which, whosoever shall eat, shall live for ever—I say, to seal and confirm that promise, and in order to do so, it sends us to the cross of Christ, where that p”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 99: the efficacy and fruit of his nativity, death, and resurrection, eternal. All this Christ has elegantly expressed in these words, “The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” ( John 6:51 ); doubtless intimating, that his body will be as bread in regard to the spiritual life of the soul, because it was to be delivered to death for our salvation, and that he extends it to us for food when he makes us partakers of it by faith. Wherefore he once gave himself that he might become bread, when he g”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 70: received in a whole way. We partake not of certain rights and privileges only, which have been secured for us by the breaking of his body and the shedding of his blood, but of the veritable substantial life of the beloved Immanuel Himself, as the fountain and channel by which alone all these benefits can be conveyed into our souls. We partake not of his divinity only, nor yet of his Spirit as separate from Himself, but also of his true and proper humanity. Not of his humanity in a separate form, his 657 flesh and blood disjoined from his ”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 69: of the 628 Lord’s Supper, that to which the whole service is directed, is the remembrance of Christ’s body devoted, and of his blood shed for the remission of our sins. This remembrance, however, cannot take place without true faith. And although the things of which the service is a memorial, are not visible or present after a visible or corporal manner, nevertheless believing apprehension and the assurance of faith renders them present in one sense to the soul of the believer. He has truly eaten the bread of Christ . . . . who believes o”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 99: imagined. But there is this difference between their mode of speaking and mine. According to them, to eat is merely to believe; while I maintain that the flesh of Christ is eaten by believing, because it is made ours by faith, and that that eating is the effect and fruit of faith; or, if you will have it more clearly, according to them, eating is faith, whereas it rather seems to me to be a consequence of faith. The difference is little in words, but not little in reality. For, although the apostle teaches that Christ dwells in our”
- Romans (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Romans 14:17: For the kingdom of God--or, as we should say, Religion; that is, the proper business and blessedness for which Christians are formed into a community of renewed men in thorough subjection to God (compare Co1 4:20). is not meat and drink--"eating and drinking" but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost--a beautiful and comprehensive division of living Christianity. The first--"righteousness"--has respect to God, denoting here "rectitude," in its widest sense (as in Mat 6:33); the second--"peace"--has respect to our neighbors, denoting ”