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#79 The First Apology of Justin - Part 15
By Justin Martyr, from The Ante-Nicene Fathers
Chapter 65 - Worship After Baptism
After we have thus washed the person who has been convinced and has agreed to
our teaching, we bring them to the place where those who are called brothers and
sisters are assembled. We offer sincere prayers in common for ourselves, for the
baptized person, and for all others everywhere, that having learned the truth we
may by our works also be found good citizens and keepers of the commandments, so
that we may be saved with an everlasting salvation.
Having ended the prayers, we greet one another with a kiss. Then bread and a cup
of wine mixed with water are brought to the president of the brothers and
sisters. Taking them, he gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe
through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and offers lengthy thanks
for our being counted worthy to receive these things from him.
When he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all the people present
express their agreement by saying Amen. This word "Amen" in the Hebrew language
means "So be it."
When the president has given thanks and all the people have expressed their
agreement, those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present to
share in the bread and wine mixed with water over which the thanksgiving was
pronounced, and to those who are absent they carry away a portion.
Chapter 66 - About Communion
The food we partake of during communion is called among us Εὐχαριστία
(Eucharistia — Thanksgiving), which no one is allowed to share in except the
person who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been
washed with the washing that is for the forgiveness of sins and unto
regeneration, and who is living as Christ commanded.
For we do not receive these as common bread and common drink. But just as Jesus
Christ our Savior was made flesh by the Word of God and had both flesh and blood
for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food which is blessed by
the prayer of His word is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.
For this food nourishes our own flesh and blood as it is transformed into part
of our bodies.
Note: Justin draws a parallel between two transformations: (1) the Word of God
became flesh in the Incarnation, and (2) the consecrated bread and wine nourish
and become part of our physical bodies through digestion. His point is that the
Eucharist is not ordinary food — it is set apart by Christ's own words of
blessing and is received as the flesh and blood of the incarnate Jesus. The
Greek word he uses (metabole) refers to the change that food undergoes when it
nourishes the body, not the later medieval doctrine of transubstantiation — the
belief, formally defined by the Catholic Church in 1215 AD, that the bread and
wine literally cease to be bread and wine and become the actual body and blood
of Christ in their inner substance, while retaining only the outward appearance
of bread and wine.
For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them which are called Gospels, have
delivered to us what was commanded of them: that Jesus took bread, and when He
had given thanks, said, "This is my body, which is given for you: this do in
remembrance of me." And that after the same manner, having taken the cup and
given thanks, He said, "This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is
shed for you," and gave it to them alone.
The wicked demons have imitated this in the mysteries of Mithras (Persian god
of light and truth, whose mystery cult was popular in the Roman Empire),
commanding the same thing to be done. For bread and a cup of water are placed
with certain words in the rituals of one who is being initiated - as you either
know or can learn.
View all episodes
By Timeless FaithBy Justin Martyr, from The Ante-Nicene Fathers
Chapter 65 - Worship After Baptism
After we have thus washed the person who has been convinced and has agreed to
our teaching, we bring them to the place where those who are called brothers and
sisters are assembled. We offer sincere prayers in common for ourselves, for the
baptized person, and for all others everywhere, that having learned the truth we
may by our works also be found good citizens and keepers of the commandments, so
that we may be saved with an everlasting salvation.
Having ended the prayers, we greet one another with a kiss. Then bread and a cup
of wine mixed with water are brought to the president of the brothers and
sisters. Taking them, he gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe
through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and offers lengthy thanks
for our being counted worthy to receive these things from him.
When he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all the people present
express their agreement by saying Amen. This word "Amen" in the Hebrew language
means "So be it."
When the president has given thanks and all the people have expressed their
agreement, those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present to
share in the bread and wine mixed with water over which the thanksgiving was
pronounced, and to those who are absent they carry away a portion.
Chapter 66 - About Communion
The food we partake of during communion is called among us Εὐχαριστία
(Eucharistia — Thanksgiving), which no one is allowed to share in except the
person who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been
washed with the washing that is for the forgiveness of sins and unto
regeneration, and who is living as Christ commanded.
For we do not receive these as common bread and common drink. But just as Jesus
Christ our Savior was made flesh by the Word of God and had both flesh and blood
for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food which is blessed by
the prayer of His word is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.
For this food nourishes our own flesh and blood as it is transformed into part
of our bodies.
Note: Justin draws a parallel between two transformations: (1) the Word of God
became flesh in the Incarnation, and (2) the consecrated bread and wine nourish
and become part of our physical bodies through digestion. His point is that the
Eucharist is not ordinary food — it is set apart by Christ's own words of
blessing and is received as the flesh and blood of the incarnate Jesus. The
Greek word he uses (metabole) refers to the change that food undergoes when it
nourishes the body, not the later medieval doctrine of transubstantiation — the
belief, formally defined by the Catholic Church in 1215 AD, that the bread and
wine literally cease to be bread and wine and become the actual body and blood
of Christ in their inner substance, while retaining only the outward appearance
of bread and wine.
For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them which are called Gospels, have
delivered to us what was commanded of them: that Jesus took bread, and when He
had given thanks, said, "This is my body, which is given for you: this do in
remembrance of me." And that after the same manner, having taken the cup and
given thanks, He said, "This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is
shed for you," and gave it to them alone.
The wicked demons have imitated this in the mysteries of Mithras (Persian god
of light and truth, whose mystery cult was popular in the Roman Empire),
commanding the same thing to be done. For bread and a cup of water are placed
with certain words in the rituals of one who is being initiated - as you either
know or can learn.