Preparing for the Lord’s Supper

Preparing for the Lords Supper presents practical instruction from two Puritans. William Bradshaws contribution explains the dangers of taking Communion unworthily and how to prevent it. His work concludes with a set of questions to aid Christians in self-examination as they prepare for the Lords Supper. Bradshaws piece is supplemented with Arthur Hildershams thorough catechetical tool for understanding and properly partaking of the sacred meal. These treatises exemplify what Puritan ministers taught to common people in ordinary, obscure towns and villages as they prepared to take the Lords Supper. They are a similar challenge to us today to prepare ourselves thoughtfully and prayerfully before coming to the Lords Table. In the broadest sense, they supply a helpful guide for proving our faith through self-examination. As Bradshaw says, The duty of trying and examining a mans self is of use to the best of Christians.