1 Corinthians 11:27
1 Corinthians 11:2727Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
rs and Watchtower literature deploy 11:27-29 in a protective mode — the great crowd must NOT partake of the Memorial emblems lest they eat "in an unworthy manner" and bring judgment on themselves. The fear of unworthy eating is thus converted into a rule of abstinence for the majority of Witnesses. The verse becomes a prohibition rather than a regulation — you avoid judgment by not eating.
Read the passage carefully. Paul warns about eating "in an unworthy MANNER" — the adverb applies to HOW you eat, not WHETHER you eat. The next verse makes this explicit: "each one must examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup." Paul assumes everyone will eat and drink. Self-examination is preparation for partaking, not a reason for abstaining. Paul's concern is that people are eating carelessly, not that they are refusing to eat at all. At the door: "Paul is warning about HOW, not WHETHER. In verse 28 he assumes everyone examines and then eats. The Watchtower has inverted the warning — from 'examine and partake' to 'be too unworthy to partake.' That is the opposite of Paul's instruction."