I Corinthians 11 with Metaphysical Footnotes (ASV)

^11:1Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ. ^11:2Now I praise you that ye remember me in all things, and hold fast the traditions, even as I delivered them to you. ^11:3But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. ^11:4Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoreth his head. ^11:5But every woman praying or prophesying with her head unveiled dishonoreth her head; for it is one and the same thing as if she were shaven. ^11:6For if a woman is not veiled, let her also be shorn: but if it is a shame to a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be veiled. ^11:7For a man indeed ought not to have his head veiled, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. ^11:8For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man: ^11:9for neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man: ^11:10for this cause ought the woman to have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels. ^11:11Nevertheless, neither is the woman without the man, nor the man without the woman, in the Lord. ^11:12For as the woman is of the man, so is the man also by the woman; but all things are of God. ^11:13Judge ye in yourselves: is it seemly that a woman pray unto God unveiled? ^11:14Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a dishonor to him? ^11:15But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. ^11:16But if any man seemeth to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.

^11:17But in giving you this charge, I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better but for the worse. ^11:18For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and I partly believe it. ^11:19For there must be also factions among you, that they that are approved may be made manifest among you. ^11:20When therefore ye assemble yourselves together, it is not possible to eat the Lord's supper: ^11:21for in your eating each one taketh before other his own supper; and one is hungry, and another is drunken. ^11:22What, have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and put them to shame that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you? In this I praise you not.

^11:23For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread1; ^11:24and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me. 2 ^11:25In like manner also the cup3, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood4: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. ^11:26For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord's death5 till he come.

Cf. Matt. 26:26-30; Mark 14:22-26; Luke 22:15-20,39

1. bread. Represents the “flesh of Christ,” divine substance. It is the outer form of the inner substance.
2. do this in memory of me. Everything that is done for the sake of attaining the Christ consciousness in an outer as well as an inner sense is “in remembrance” of Him, the perfect expression of the Christ idea. We take these mighty ideas into the silence and really clothe these ideas with life and substance. We have a mighty work to do here. We must actualize these ideas and realize each of these ideas is a mighty magnet functioning in God-Mind. Thus we are transforming the soul and really unfolding the divine spiritual body.
3. the cup. The cup of which Jesus drank was the cup of new spiritual life. When man affirms spiritual life, he must be prepared to incorporate that life in soul and in body. This incorporation is not always an easy task, because man's faculties are often inert and indifferent to spiritual ideas.
4. new covenant in my blood. Blood of divine life, the quickening element in creation. “The blood is the life.” The Children of Israel were commanded to pour out the blood of animals offered in sacrifice and by no means to drink it. Jesus, on the contrary, said that, unless we ate His flesh and drank His blood, we had no life in us. We are to drink, to take within ourselves, the Spirit of life that animated Him, and come into an awareness of eternal life through this Spirit.
5. proclaim the Lord's death. Spiritual communion. Through spiritually eating the body of Jesus Christ and spiritually drinking His blood, we appropriate in consciousness the imperishable substances of Spirit, and we drink of the waters of eternal life. When the mind continues in this process it will eventually raise the whole body out of death into life; then man will realize what Jesus meant when He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my word, he shall never see death.”

^11:27Wherefore whosoever shall eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner1, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. ^11:28But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.^11:29For he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh judgment unto himself, if he discern not the body. ^11:30For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep2. ^11:31But if we discerned ourselves, we should not be judged. 3^11:32But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

^11:33Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, wait one for another. ^11:34If any man is hungry, let him eat at home; that your coming together be not unto judgment. And the rest will I set in order whensoever I come.

1. in an unworthy manner. Jesus said: “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.” Prayer keeps the mind active along spiritual lines. When one's attention is directed to high ideals, the consciousness becomes so alive with spirituality that error thoughts are cast out and one is not tempted by the sensations of the flesh.
2. not a few sleep. When man affirms spiritual life, he must be prepared to incorporate that life in soul and in body. This incorporation is not always an easy task, because man's faculties are often inert and indifferent to spiritual ideas.
3. if we discern ourselves, we should not be judged. We obtain the best results by a daily going into the silence, and in the name of the great God-Demonstrator, Jesus Christ, appropriate and assimilate the substance and life of Spirit.