THE TEACIJING OF TNE T\VELVE APOSTLES part 10

3ó THE TEACIJING  OF TNE  T\VELVE  APOSTLES

APPENDIX D.

Jus f’l« MAR"i“YR (Apology i. 6 i).—Ba ’risc AND The
EUCHARIST.

Chap. 6 i. " How we dedicated ourselves to God, being creatcd anew through Christ, I will explain, lest if I omit this I shah seem to bc deceiving in my explana- tion. 

All who are persuadcd and believe that the things which are tauglit and aífirmed by us are true, and who

}iromise to be able to live accordingly, are taugh t to pray and entreat God with fasting to grant thein forgiveness of their former sins ; and we pray and fast with theni. Tiien we bring tliem to wlierc there is water ; and after the saine manner as we werc ourselves also regenei’atcd they are regenerated ; for in the name of God the l*ather and Lord of all things, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Ghost, they then receivc the washing of water ; for indeed Christ also said, Except ye be born a¿ain ye shall not enter into the kingdom of lieaven. . . .

“ And we have receivcd ícom the Apostles the follow- ing reason for so doing : Since we were ignorant of our first bii th . . . and were brought up in cvil customs and wicked training, in order that we rnigh t not remain thc children of necessity and ignorance, but of clioice and knowledge ; and that we miçht obtain in the water remission of the sins that we had formerly committed, tliere is spoken ovcr him who chooscs the ncw bírth and who repents of li is sins the Namc of God the Father and Lord of all things ; and calling Him by this iiame alone we bring this person to be washed to the laver. . . .

Now this wasliing is called Illumination, * because they who learn the meaning of these things are enlightened in their minil. And in the name of Jesus Clirist who was crucified under Pontius Pilatc, and in the name of the Holy Gliost who by the prophets for etold all thesc things about Jesus, does he who is enligh tened receive his tvasliing.”

9“HE TEACHING  Ofi THE  "FWEL\*E  APOS4“LES 37

Chap. -5 “ But after thus   wash ing   h iin   who   has

professed and given  his assent, we  bring  him  to  those who are called brethrcn, where they arc gathered together, to offer prayers in  common both  for  oursclvcs and for  thc  person  who  has received  illumination,  atid for all others in all places, with  all  our  hearts, that we might   be vouchsafed   now we have lcar nt the truth, by our deeds also  to be found  good citizens and  kee}›ers of the Command ments that we may  obtain  eternal  salva- tion.  

  We salute one  another with a kiss when we have

concluded the prayers , then is brough t to the presidcnt *   of the brethren bread and a cup of mingled water and

wine, which lie receives, and offers up  praise and  glory to the Father of all  things through  the name of  His  Son

and of’ the Holy G most ; and lie makes a thanksgiving I at   length for the bestowal of these gifts by H inn. W lien

he has concluded the prayers and thanksgiving, all the people present give assent, saying  Amen. ["I“hc  word Amen   iii   Hebrew  signifies  8o  3r  it. }   And   when  the pr esident has offered his thanksgiving } and all the people have  given assent, those who  are called deacons § among us give ta each of those present a portion of the bread of thanksgiving and of the wine anal water , and they carry [sonnet away to those who are not present.

Chap. 66. And this food is called among us a Thanks- giving or Eucharist, of which no  one  is  allowed to par- take save him  who  believes  the  truth of  our  doctrines, and who has been washed in baptism for tli• remission of sins and for regeneration, and who lives even as Cir i ist directed us.

 For we do not receive these [elements] as ordinary food or ordinary drink ; but  as  by the Word of God Jesus Christ our Saviour was made flesJi, and took upon Him flesh  and  blood  for  our salvation ;  even  so also the food which has been blessed  in  prayer  by that same Word  of  His, and from which  our  fresh and  blood by assimilation derive nourishment, we are taught  to believe to be both the flesh  and  blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. For the Apostles, in the memoirs they

38 THE TEACHING   OF  ’I“1IE   T\VELV E   APOSTLES

coir}aosed which are called Gospels, have left it on record that the) were commandcd to do after this manner Jesus, they say, took bread, and when He had given thanks He said, ‘ Do this for a remembrance of Me ; this is My Body.’

Likewise also lie took t lie cup, and when He had given thanks He said, This is My Blood, anal gavc it to them alone.” . . .

Chap. 6 y. “ hut we after these things do continually rem ind one another of them ; and those of us who have the means, assist all who are in need ; and wc are al ways together ; and in all our oblations we bless the Maker of

all thinA s, th rough His Son Jesus Christ and through the Holy Ghost.

And on the day which is called Sunday all who live in cities or in the country sether together into one place, where the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read as long as we have time. "I“li en, when the reader has ended, the president instructs verball) , and exhorts us to the imitation of these excellent things. T hen we all rise up together and pray , and, as I said 1 efore, when we have ended our prayer, bread is brought and wine and water , and th e president in like manri er offers up prayers and thanksgiving to the best of It is power ; and the people give assent by say iiig, Amen.

A nd there is a d istribution to each, and every one par- takes of the Eucharistic elements ¡ and to those who are not present they are sent by the Jiands of the deacons. And such as are wealthy, and desire so to do, give what they will, each man as he is disposed.

 And that which is collectcd is givcn into the president’s hands , and he assists the orphans and widows, and all who through sickness or any other cause are in need : and to those who are in botids, and to strangers sojour ning among us, and in a word to all that are in need he is a protector.

 J3ut Sri nday is the day on wJi ich we all hold our common asscmbl) , because it is the first day on which God, when lie transformed darkness and matter, created the worlcl, and Jesus Christ our Saviour on thc same day rose from th e dead ¡ for on the day before Saturn’s day He was

THE TEAC IIING  OF  THE  TWELVE  APOS4“LES 39

crucified, and on  thc  day following it, which  is  Sunday, He sh owed Himself to his apostles and disciples, and taught them th ose th iiigs which we have delivered to you also for your consideration.”

D  IA LOG U E   WITH    JRYP HO•

Chap. 4 i . “ God speaks thus by MalacJii of the sacri- fices then offered by the Jcws, of whom Try plio is one : I havc no pleasure iii you saith thc Lord, neither will I accept your offerings at your hands ; for from the rising of the suit evcn unto the going down of the same My name hath been glorified among the Gentiles , and in every place inceiisc is offered unto My namc, and a pure offering, for My name is great among the   heathen saitli the Lord, but ye profane it.’ Now with regard to those sacrifices which arc offered to Him in every place by us Gentiles, that is of the E ucliaristic brcad and likewise of t he E ucliaristic cup, He then foretold t fiat we, the Gentiles, of whom Justin is one, should glorify His

name, but that you should profane it.”

IRENAEUS also comments on ñlalacli i i. i o- i z, as being fulfilled iii the Eucharist.     He la) s the same stress that , wc find in the D idaclie, on th e fact that the offering in the   Eucharist is of tlic fruits of the earth.     In   his

f‹›urth book, ch• P. r,   he says : “ When   Christ   was giving directions  to  His disciples and  bidding  them offcr to  God  the first-fruits  of  His  creatures,  not  as  though

God needed anything but to show that they were them-                     selves   not   unfruitful   or   url thankful, He   took   of   His

creature Bread, and gave  thanks,  saying, ‘ This is  My Body , ’ and  in likc manner  the  Cup, which  also belongs to the creation of this our world, declaring it to  be His Rlood : and th us Lle taught us the new oblation of the New Covenant or Testament, which oblation   the Church receiving from the apostles, offers throughout the world to God, who gives us food, the first-fruits of H is gifts in the  New  Covenant, concerning  which  covenant

40 THE TEACHING  OF THE  TWELVE  APOSTLES

Malachi in the twelve prophetic books thus propliesied, In every place incense shall be offered,’ dc. rhcrefore the Church ’s oblation which the Lord taught us should be offered th rougJiout the world, is accounted a pure sacrifice before God, and is accepted by Him ; not that He needs any sacrifice from us, but because he who offers it is hiinself honoured in his offering when his gift is accepted.”

Iii a furtlier passage the view of the Eucharist as a thanksgiving for creation is even rriore clearly expressed. He is speaking of tlic Gnostics who deny that God is the Creator, and asks “ How can these men consistently declare (/«o maJo constabit eis) that this B read over which thaii kS/ iVil' 6 iS offcred is their Lord’s Body, and that the

Cup is the cup of His J3lood, if they refuse to admit that

He is Hirrisclf the Son of the Creator of the world—that is to say that He is the Word [of God] whereby the tree bears fruit, and the waters flow, and ‘.the earth brings fortli first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear ’ ! ”

The only ' sacrifice ’ in the Eucharist known to the Church of the Apostolic and sub-Apostolic age is that which is described in such passages as these, and in the portion of the Didache which they illustrate. " It may be said generally that for zoo } ears (i.r., until Cyprian) the Church never spoke of a sacrifice in the Eucharist except as an offcring to Crod of the fruits of the earth, or as an offering of prayer and praise. In these senses the fathers before Cyprian call it habitually an oblation or

.sacrifice, but in no other.”

 [Cf. Norris, “ Rudiments of Theology,” and Bishop Harold Browne on the " Thirty- first Article.”]

IcNA+iUs.—On the threefold order of the ministry. The following extract from his “ Letter to the Trallians ” may be considcred genuine, though the whole question of the authenticity of the seven epistles is still sub judice.

That he wi ote epistles—six to certain churches and one to Polycarp—during his journey from Antioch to

41 THE   TEACHING  OF  THE  TWELVE  APOSTLES

Rome is accepted as fact ; but the first docuirients have been subjected to such vigorous “ editing ” that it is doubtful how much of the original text survives.  There is a Syriac version, and two Greek recensions, a shorter and a longer : the longer is by a later hand.

Ed. AD TRALLIANOS, Chap. ii. “ For when you submit yourselves to your B ishop * as to Jesus Christ, you appear to me to be living not according to man but according to Jesus Ch rist who died for us, in order that by believing in His death ye might escape from death. It is necessary therefore, even as is your custom, do nothing w ithout your B ishop.

  J3 ut submit yourselves

also to the Presbytery as to tlic Apostles of Jesus Christ †   who is our Hope, in whom may we be found abiding !

The Deacons also, being * ni inis’ters of the m ysteries of Jesus Christ must please [Html in all things. For tlicy † are not ministers onl y of meats and drinks, but servants of the Cliurch of God. They m ust therefore avoid all imputations of evil as they would avoid fire.”

Chap. iii. “ In like manner let all reverence the deacons as a commandment of Jesus Christ ; and the Bishop as Jesus Christ Himself the Son of the Father ; and the Presbyters as a Council of God and as a society of apostles. Without these a Church has no right to be so called.”

pv«Tppftur. The tezt of the zhottcr recession gives drzet pvw•r{pvov I glen Xpi4zop —a strange reading, but supported by chap, iii. coli 6inxSrovs

‹is iwrokfJv ' Iy‹ roS Xpi‹rzoJ.  It may be rendered " [the d eaconsj being an outward vi sible sign of Jesus Christ," i.r., an ordin ance of the Church on earth typical of an ordinance in heaven. Compare Didache xi. i i , and

Part 9     part 1