1 Corinthians 11:21

For in eating each one taketh before other his own supper; and one is hungry, and another is drunken.

The abuse at Corinth was compound. The AGAPE, or love feast, which in early times preceded the Lord's Supper, had at Corinth been shamelessly mixed with the sacred rite to the extent of the total corruption of both. The so-called love feast was somewhat like the "dinners on the grounds" which were a feature of rural congregations throughout America in this century. However, at Corinth, the rich who brought bountiful provisions for such affairs were not sharing with the poor who had been able to bring little or nothing. Some were actually having a big feast and then returning home before the others arrived. Drunkenness and gluttony were prevalent, in addition to the pitiless disregard of the poor and needy. It may be presumed that the emblems of the Lord's Supper might have been distributed by each group to themselves at the conclusion of their feasts; but by so doing they did not eat "one bread" with their brethren, thus having no fellowship with them and totally circumventing the purpose of the Lord's Supper.

An analysis of such disorders shows that:

1. The various groups did not eat at the same time.

2. Each group ate its own provisions, instead of sharing in the "one bread" (1 Corinthians 10:17).

3. Some ate too plentifully; some ate nothing at all, for there was nothing left.

4. Some were "drunken"; and there is no need to soften the meaning of this. "Grotius gives `drunken' the milder, and Meyer the stronger sense."[43]

5. The corruption of the Lord's Supper by such practices was complete; and, according to Farrar, "This abuse led to the separation of the Agape from the Holy Communion,"[44] and to the ultimate discontinuation of the former.

[43] J. W. McGarvey, op. cit., p. 115.

[44] F. W. Farrar, op. cit., p. 364.