Communion, pt. 11 | Table of Contents

Communion, pt. 11 | Table of Contents

Communion
Table of Contents (TOC)

1. Introduction and Key Themes CLICK

I discover that the East develops an understanding of the Spirit very early. I also discover that the doctrine of transubstantiation is not fully supported in the earlier liturgies. Rather there is an understanding of communion as a sacrifice made by the laity, a true thanksgiving offering, and a mystery.

Early Influences

2. Chaburah and Berakah CLICK

Scriptural accounts of the first communion fit into the outline of a formal chaburah dinner. Jesus breaks bread at the beginning, blesses it, and adds His own new meaning.  He later blesses “the cup of blessing” and adds His new meaning.  Our Lord now institutes the New Covenant. In order to understand the prayers of the Eucharist, it may be necessary to begin with the Jewish meal that precedes it.

3. Early Church Liturgy CLICK

“In the early church, the central meaning of the Eucharist was to give thanks for the living, dying, and rising again of Jesus, looking forward to the coming again of Christ to establish his kingdom.” (Robert Webber, Ancient-Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World, Baker Books, 110)

4. Didache, Clement of Rome, and Ignatius CLICK

The Didache is essentially a call for unity in the church, to gather the church. The Didache’s prayers for the agape or the Eucharist can be offered extemporaneously.

5. Justin Martyr CLICK

“Justin’s description of the bread and wine as the body and blood of the Lord was neither the later Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation nor the Protestant concept of memorialism . . . Justin’s understanding may be described as ‘real presence.’” (Robert Webber, Worship Old and New: A Biblical, Historical, and Practical Introduction, Rev. ed., Zondervan, 239)

6. Irenaeus and Hippolytus CLICK

“Some Eastern Orthodox theologians aver that all of theology is but a series of footnotes to Irenaeus.” (Roger E. Olson, The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition and Reform, IVP Academic, 69)

Definitive Eastern Liturgies

7. The Liturgy of SS. Addai and Mari CLICK

“And may there come, O my Lord, Thy Holy Spirit and rest upon this oblation of Thy servants, and bless and hallow it that it be to us, O my Lord, for the pardon of offenses and the remission of sins and for the great hope of resurrection from the dead and for new life in the kingdom of heaven with all those who have been well-pleasing in Thy sight.” SS. Addai and Mari (Dom Gregory Dix, The Shape of the Liturgy, 3rd ed., Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 179)

8. Emerging Recognition of the Spirit CLICK

“For where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God, and where the Spirit of God is, there is the Church and every kind of grace.” Irenaeus (Pope Benedict XVI, The Fathers of the Church: From Clement of Rome to Augustine of Hippo, Wm. B. Eerdmans, 18)

9. Sarapion, St. James, and Cyril CLICK

Earlier authors may or may not imply the identification of Christ, but Sarapion takes strides to develop the doctrine.

10. Discussion CLICK

This research makes it clear.  The Primitive Church establishes the rite of communion in prayers of thanksgiving. In the early Edessan Eastern rite, the epiklesis calls upon the Holy Spirit to transform us so that we are able to receive the elements.

For more on Communion in the Early Church from the Archives CLICK

pic credit: Priscilla Du Preez | A person takes communion at a Christian church service | 11.15.18 | unsplash