--- title: "1 Supper Simply Quotes By Ben Witherington III" description: "1 Supper Simply quotes by Ben Witherington III. Plus more from Ben Witherington III and more Supper Simply sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/634/ben-witherington-iii-33766_baptism_sometimes-silences-are-pregnant-and-some_212212.jpg" --- > [“Sometimes silences are pregnant and sometimes not. It is hard to know what to make of the silence of much of the New Testament about the Lord’s Supper. Perhaps it is simply an accident of time and circumstance. There was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-witherington-iii/sometimes-silences-are-pregnant-and-sometimes-not-it-is-hard-to-know/) [Ben Witherington III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-witherington-iii/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/634/ben-witherington-iii-33766_baptism_sometimes-silences-are-pregnant-and-some_212212.jpg) ## More by Ben Witherington III > [“Is the Lord’s Supper only for Christians? Whenever I ask this question I immediately remember the character of those that partook of the Last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-witherington-iii/is-the-lord-s-supper-only-for-christians-whenever-i-ask-this-question/) [Ben Witherington III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-witherington-iii/) > [“The ritual of the blood on the lintel of the door, which protected the Israelites from the angel of death, is an apotropaic (avoidance)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-witherington-iii/the-ritual-of-the-blood-on-the-lintel-of-the-door-which-protected-the/) [Ben Witherington III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-witherington-iii/) > [“Sometimes silences are pregnant and sometimes not. It is hard to know what to make of the silence of much of the New Testament…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-witherington-iii/sometimes-silences-are-pregnant-and-sometimes-not-it-is-hard-to-know/) [Ben Witherington III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-witherington-iii/) > [“Who should serve the Lord’s Supper? Well in the early church, considering Acts 2 and 1 Corinthians 11, the host of the home presumably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-witherington-iii/who-should-serve-the-lord-s-supper-well-in-the-early-church/) [Ben Witherington III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-witherington-iii/) > [“When one gets to Clement or Hippolytus, we are clearly a long way from what we find in Paul and the Gospels, where the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-witherington-iii/when-one-gets-to-clement-or-hippolytus-we-are-clearly-a-long-way-from/) [Ben Witherington III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-witherington-iii/) > [“It required an understanding of theology, and ethics, and ancient religions and philosophies. You had to have a working knowledge in a plethora of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-witherington-iii/it-required-an-understanding-of-theology-and-ethics-and-ancient/) [Ben Witherington III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-witherington-iii/) > [“Too often scholars have thought and even suggested that what happened during and after Constantine was that the church sought to replace the pagan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-witherington-iii/too-often-scholars-have-thought-and-even-suggested-that-what-happened/) [Ben Witherington III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-witherington-iii/) > [“Christ did not exalt himself in a world full of self-promotion; rather he stepped down and served others, which most, especially the elite, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-witherington-iii/christ-did-not-exalt-himself-in-a-world-full-of-self-promotion-rather/) [Ben Witherington III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-witherington-iii/) > [“We have seen some gatekeeping or fencing-the-table language already beginning to rear its head in this context. One needed to be baptized to take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-witherington-iii/we-have-seen-some-gatekeeping-or-fencing-the-table-language-already/) [Ben Witherington III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-witherington-iii/) > [“The reference in 1 Corinthians 11:27 is to Christ’s actual body, which was crucified, as the reference to blood makes evident. Anaziõs has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-witherington-iii/the-reference-in-1-corinthians-11-27-is-to-christ-s-actual-body-which/) [Ben Witherington III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-witherington-iii/) > [“Verse 12 \[of Ex. 12) tells us that the judgment of Yahweh is not only on the Egyptians but also on their deities. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-witherington-iii/verse-12-of-ex-12-tells-us-that-the-judgment-of-yahweh-is-not-only-on/) [Ben Witherington III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-witherington-iii/) > [“When exactly did this all change, and what were the social and theological factors that led to the change? The answer seems to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-witherington-iii/when-exactly-did-this-all-change-and-what-were-the-social-and/) [Ben Witherington III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-witherington-iii/) > [“One of the things that happened when the church moved from meetings in homes to having purpose-built buildings beginning before, but accelerated during, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-witherington-iii/one-of-the-things-that-happened-when-the-church-moved-from-meetings/) [Ben Witherington III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-witherington-iii/) > [“At this juncture it is important to say something about Exodus 12:7. This verse implies that we are dealing with a ritual that did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-witherington-iii/at-this-juncture-it-is-important-to-say-something-about-exodus-12-7/) [Ben Witherington III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-witherington-iii/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/supper-simply/ben-witherington-iii/#itemlist", "name": "1 Supper Simply Quotes By Ben Witherington III", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Sometimes silences are pregnant and sometimes not. It is hard to know what to make of the silence of much of the New Testament about the Lord’s Supper. Perhaps it is simply an accident of time and circumstance. There was not a felt need to address the matter. What we should not likely conclude is that it was not seen as an important matter in the latter part of the first century A.D. What we can observe is that the Lord’s Supper continued to be an in-home ceremony taken in the context of a fellowship meal. We also now know it was important in both Gentile and Jewish contexts in the church in the second half of the first century, and beyond. We see no evidence anywhere in this material that clerics of any kind are in charge of the meal and its distribution. Even in the Didache, prophets, who were mouthpieces for God, are only allowed to say the thanksgiving prayer as often as they like. The low ecclesiology, coupled with the ever-present eschatology, suggest that the Didache does indeed go back to the end of the first century A.D. But one precedent in the Didache does stand out: the Lord’s Supper is for baptized Christians, and in particular for those who repent of their sins. 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