We may all think we’re going to Hell. I can prove it.
From Open Communion / Intercommunion on Wikipedia:
Those practicing open communion generally believe that the invitation to receive communion is an invitation to Christ’s table, and that it is not the province of human beings to interfere between an individual and Christ. Some traditions maintain that there are certain circumstances under which individuals should not present themselves for (and should voluntarily refrain from receiving) communion.
… exceptions (to open communion tradition) include the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, conservative Churches of Christ, and some Reformed tradition churches. All these typically practice some form of closed communion.
From the Wikipedia entry on Closed Communion:
A Catholic priest would deny permission for a Catholic to receive communion in a Protestant church, since according to Catholic teaching the Eucharist in Protestant Churches is considered invalid, on the grounds that the minister was not ordained by a bishop in a line of valid succession from the apostles (referred to as Apostolic Succession). The Roman Catholic Church also rejects the apostolic succession of the Anglican Communion
(time to note that I am a Catholic who regularly attends an Anglican church and receives the host on occasion, that is whenever I wake up early enough to include myself in that part of the procession. Hoo boy, tsk tsk tsk on me. But I did receive Catholic communion today, so am I okay?)
From Catholic.com:
The Church sets out specific guidelines regarding how we should prepare ourselves to receive the Lord’s body and blood in Communion. To receive Communion worthily, you must be in a state of grace, have made a good confession since your last mortal sin, believe in transubstantiation, observe the Eucharistic fast, and, finally, not be under an ecclesiastical censure such as excommunication. . . A mortal sin is any sin whose matter is grave and which has been committed willfully and with knowledge of its seriousness. Grave matter includes, but is not limited to, murder, receiving or participating in an abortion, homosexual acts, having sexual intercourse outside of marriage or in an invalid marriage, and deliberately engaging in impure thoughts (Matt. 5:28–29). Scripture contains lists of mortal sins (for example, 1 Cor. 6:9–10 and Gal. 5:19–21). For further information on what constitutes a mortal sin, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
(Sex outside of marriage is a mortal sin? NO, GET OUT!)
and finally, to bring it on home, a passage from Galatians 5:19-21 (The Bible itself, King James Version):
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
(shit, man, drunkenness? Fornication? Adultery? Errr, fornication? And just for extra fun, vanity?)
End result: burn, baby, burn!
