The Dismissal of unbelievers is implied simply by his acknowledgement that only the baptized person “who believes that the things which we teach are true, and … is so living as Christ has enjoined” is allowed to participate in the Eucharist offerings ( First Apology, 66). That Justin Martyr held to the ancient apostolic liturgy is sufficiently evident from his own descriptions of it. Through evidence tampering and sleight of hand the Eucharist is repeatedly collapsed into the Epiclesis to force the ancient writers to affirm an abominable sacrifice of which they knew nothing. The academic propensity to corrupt the plain liturgy as expressed in the original writings is on full display, and the effort exerted by the scholars to suppress the truth is simply breathtaking. This is an extremely long post, and it is not easy reading, but it is important for the Christian to understand the origin and longevity of the lie. It is tedious, dull, tiresome and boring. This week we pick up with the Eucharistic liturgies of Justin Martyr (150 A.D.), Irenæus of Lyons (189 A.D.) and Hippolytus of Rome (215 A.D.). Last week we analyzed the liturgy as depicted in the Didache (mid-1st century), Clement of Rome (mid-1st century) and Ignatius of Antioch (107 A.D.) and showed how the scholars and translators have handled the text so poorly. The effect has been to hide the evidence and give the impression that the ancient Eucharistic prayer was actually the Consecration, suggesting that the ancient tithe offering was really a liturgical sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ. The early liturgies have for centuries been handled in such a way-through editorializing, mistranslation, redaction and suppression-as to collapse the Eucharist into the Epiclesis, essentially combining two distinct liturgical events into one. The academic community-men of every stripe-were puzzled and confounded by that sudden shift, and instead of acknowledging and discerning its significance, opted instead to bury it. But that order changed at the end of the 4th century, and the Eucharist was moved after the Epiclesis so that consecrated bread and wine began to be offered as a liturgical sacrifice of Christ’s body and blood. The Apostolic “Amen” separated those two liturgical events. Unconsecrated food was offered as a tithe as a fulfillment of Malachi 1:11 and consecrated food was consumed as a memorial meal, in accordance with the instruction of Christ at His Last Supper. What was consumed in the Lord’s Supper was consecrated bread and wine. What was offered in the Eucharist was simply the unconsecrated first-fruits of the harvest and the grateful prayers of the saints. For three centuries, the Eucharist-which is to say, the tithe offering-was followed by an “Amen” in accordance with 1 Corinthians 14:16, at which point bread and wine were taken from the tithe offering and consecrated for the Lord’s Supper. We continue now with our series on the liturgical shift that occurred in the latter part of the 4th century, three hundred years after the Apostles. The Eucharistic Anaphora of Hippolytus (215 A.D.) “Likewise, if someone makes an offering of cheese … “
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |