Bible Dictionaries
Lord's Supper, the

The American Church Dictionary and Cyclopedia

(See HOLY COMMUNION.) In regard to the use of the words "Lord's Supper" as a name for the Holy Communion, we reproduce the following from The Annotated Prayer Book, which is worth considering: "The term (the Lord's Supper) is borrowed from 1 Cor. 11:21, where St. Paul applies it to the Agape or love-feasts which then accompanied the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. How the singular and inexact use of it which is handed down in our Prayer Book arose, it is difficult to say; and it is a transference of a Scriptural term from one thing to another which cannot be wholly justified. The name thus given to the Holy Sacrament has led many to confuse the Lord's Last Supper with the institution of the Sacrament itself, which it is expressly said took place 'after supper' (St. Luke 22:20) and 'when He had supped'" (1 Cor. 11:25).

Bibliography Information
Miller, William James. Entry for 'Lord's Supper, the'. The American Church Dictionary and Cyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​acd/​l/lords-supper-the.html. 1901.