<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><DIV>Attached is a message from a friend regarding Buzz Aldrin taking "communion" on the moon.</DIV>
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<DIV>Actually, I DID know that one of the astronauts took some "communion" bread with him to the moon, but I didn't realize he also had wine. I didn't pay too much attention to who it was but assumed he must have been an Episcopalian.</DIV>
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<DIV>Now, this message indicates he was a Presbyterian, but it doesn't say what kind.</DIV>
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<DIV>Depending on the particular kind of Presbyterian, I think their beliefs range from a purely symbolic nature of their "communion" to one that thinks Jesus is present is some vaguely spiritual way. Exactly what Aldrin believed about communion is not completely clear from this message. He does say:</DIV>
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<DIV><FONT color=#000080 size=4>"And so the pastor consecrated a communion wafer and a small<BR> vial of communion wine. And Buzz Aldrin took them with him out of the Earth's orbit and on to the surface of the moon."</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT color=#000000>I don't what he meant by "consecrated." What exactly does that term MEAN to the particular Presbyterian denomination Aldrin belongs to?</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT color=#000000>At no point does he refer to the body and blood of Jesus, so I don't know what Aldrin thinks the minister DID to the bread and wine.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT color=#000000>The next question would be: Assuming he thinks the minister did something to the bread and wine, maybe creating a spirtual presence of Jesus in the elements, where did the minister receive the power and authority to do this?</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT color=#000000>To the best of my knowledge, Presbyterians do not claim apostolic succession--</FONT><FONT color=#000000>how could they?--or consider ordination to be a sacrament. (If my understanding of Presbyterianism is not accurate, I hope one of the participants in our Apologetic Group will correct me.) </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV>So, how could Aldrin's minister "consecrate" (whatever that means) the bread and wine?</DIV>
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<DIV>If the answer is that Presbyterians believe in the ministerial priesthood of ALL believers, then that would mean that Aldrin or any other member of that church could have "consecrated" the elements. Why would Aldrin ask his minister to do that if he could have done it himself?</DIV>
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<DIV>(By the way, a Catholic priest is prohibited from consecrating the bread and wine outside of Mass. It would be valid to do so, but definitely illicit.)</DIV>
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<DIV>Of course, Aldrin obviously thought he was doing SOMETHING religious on the Moon and deserved credit for his faith. Since Presbyterians do not have valid orders or valid sacraments, Jesus was not present in his bread and wine. But God was surely pleased that Aldrin was expressing his Christian beliefs as well as he could.</DIV>
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<DIV>But I found the story to be theologically interesting and thought I would pass it along to you for any information you might have about this matter, as it relates to Presbyterianism.</DIV>
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<DIV><STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff size=3>Art</FONT></STRONG></DIV><BR>--- On <B>Thu, 2/18/10, Art Kelly <I><akelly@americantarget.com></I></B> wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid"><BR>From: Art Kelly <akelly@americantarget.com><BR>Subject: FW: Subject: On the Moon (I never knew this)<BR>To: "Art Kelly" <arthurkelly@yahoo.com><BR>Date: Thursday, February 18, 2010, 5:43 PM<BR><BR>
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<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> Foudy, Michael [mailto:mfoudy@aimsworldwide.com] <BR><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, February 16, 2010 9:06 PM<BR><B>To:</B> JO ANNE ASCHENBRENER; SAJ5@aol.com; Jerry Naylor; Ssbalich@aol.com; ivana nechanicka; Art Kelly<BR><B>Subject:</B> FW: Subject: On the Moon (I never knew this)<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">From:</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"> OHara, Nicholas [mailto:nicholas.ohara@co.ramsey.mn.us] <BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Tuesday, February 16, 2010 1:43 PM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> FW: Subject: On the Moon (I never knew this)</SPAN></FONT></DIV></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal><U><FONT face="Lucida Handwriting" color=navy size=5><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Handwriting'">Subject: On the Moon (I never knew this)</SPAN></FONT></U><FONT face="Lucida Handwriting" color=navy size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Handwriting'"><BR><BR> How many of you knew? I will have to admit...I didn't.<BR> Too bad this type news doesn't travel as fast as bad.<BR><BR> Communion on the Moon: July 20th, 1969 Jul 19, 2009<BR> Forty years ago today two human beings changed history by walking <BR> on the<BR> surface of the moon. But what happened before Buzz Aldrin <BR> and Neil Armstrong exited the Lunar Module is perhaps <BR> even</SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Lucida Handwriting" color=blue size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Handwriting'"> </SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Lucida Handwriting"
color=navy size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: 'Lucida Handwriting'"> more amazing, if only because so few people know about it<BR><BR> I'm talking about the fact that Buzz<BR> Aldrin took communion on the surface of<BR> the moon. Some months after his return,<BR> he wrote about it in Guideposts magazine.<BR> And a few years ago I had the privilege<BR> of meeting him myself. I asked him<BR> about it and he confirmed the story to<BR> me, and I wrote about in my book<BR> Everything You Always Wanted to Know<BR> About God (But Were Afraid to Ask).<BR> <BR>The background to the story is that<BR> Aldrin was an elder at his Presbyterian<BR> Church in Texas during this period in his<BR> life, and knowing that he would soon be<BR> doing something unprecedented in human<BR> history, he felt he should mark the<BR> occasion somehow, and he asked
his pastor<BR> to help him. And so the pastor<BR> consecrated a communion wafer and a small<BR> vial of communion wine. And Buzz Aldrin<BR> took them with him out of the Earth's<BR> orbit and on to the surface of the moon. <BR><BR>He and Armstrong had only been on the<BR> lunar surface for a few minutes when<BR> Aldrin made the following public<BR> statement: "This is the LM pilot. I'd<BR> like to take this opportunity to ask<BR> every person listening in, whoever and<BR> wherever they may be, to pause for a<BR> moment and contemplate the events of the<BR> past few hours and to give thanks in his<BR> or her own way." He then ended radio<BR> communication and there, on the silent<BR> surface of the moon, 250,000 miles from<BR> home, he read a verse from the Gospel of<BR> John, and he took communion. Here is his<BR> own account of what happened:
<BR> <BR>"In the radio blackout, I opened the<BR> little plastic packages which contained<BR> the bread and the wine. I poured the wine<BR> into the chalice our church had given me.<BR> In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the<BR> wine slowly curled and gracefully came up<BR> the side of the cup. Then I read the<BR> Scripture, 'I am the vine, you are the<BR> branches. Whosoever abides in me will<BR> bring forth much fruit.. Apart from me<BR> you can do nothing.<BR><BR> I had intended to read my communion<BR> passage back to earth, but at the last<BR> minute [they] had requested that I not<BR> do this. NASA was already embroiled in<BR> a legal battle with Madelyn Murray<BR> O'Hare, the celebrated opponent of<BR> religion, over the Apollo 8 crew<BR> reading from Genesis while orbiting the<BR> moon at Christmas. I agreed<BR> reluctantly. I ate the tiny
Host and<BR> swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for<BR> the intelligence and spirit that had<BR> brought two young pilots to the Sea of<BR> Tranquility .. It was interesting for<BR> me to think: the very first liquid ever<BR> poured on the moon, and the very first<BR> food eaten there, were the communion<BR> element And of course, it's interesting to think<BR> that some of the first words spoken on<BR> the moon were the words of Jesus Christ,<BR> who made the Earth and the moon - and<BR> Who, in the immortal words of Dante, is<BR> Himself the "Love that moves the Sun and<BR> other stars."<BR><BR> WOW!!!!</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
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