Eucharist as a Sacrifice in Early Christianity

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Supporting witness

so did the Word give to the people that very precept as to the making of oblations, although He stood in no need of them, that they might learn to serve God: thus is it, therefore, also His will that we, too, should offer a gift at the altar, frequently and without intermission.

Gregory Thaumaturgus, Oration to Origen Supporting witness

while all others of us are able to express our thanksgiving and our piety only if, in return for all the blessings which proceed to us from the Father, we bring our offerings in simple dependence on Him alone, and thus present the meet oblation of thanksgiving to Him who is the Author of all things, acknowledging also that the only way of piety is in this manner to offer our memorials through Him.

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Supporting witness

“And the offering of fine flour, sirs,” I said, “which was prescribed to be presented on behalf of those purified from leprosy, was a type of the bread of the Eucharist, the celebration of which our Lord Jesus Christ prescribed, in remembrance of the suffering which He endured on behalf of those who are purified in soul from all iniquity, in order that we may at the same time thank God for having created the world, with all things therein, for the sake of man, and for delivering us from the evil in which we were, and for utterly overthrowing principalities and powers by Him who suffered according to His will.

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Supporting witness

...ed with the good and useful circumcision, and is a friend of God, and God rejoices in his gifts and offerings. But I will lay before you, my friends, the very words of God when He said to the people through Malachi, one of the twelve prophets, ‘I have no pleasure in you,' says the Lord, 'and I shall not accept your sacrifices from your hands: for from the rising to the setting of the sun, My name shall be glorified among the Gentiles; and in every place, a sacrifice is offered to My name, even a pure sacrifice: for My name is honored among the Gentiles,’ says the Lord, ‘but you profane it.’ And through David, He said, 'A people whom I have not known serve Me; as soon as they hear of Me, they obey Me.'"

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Supporting witness

...nored, who was an offering for all sinners willing to repent and keeping the fast Isaiah speaks of, breaking the violent agreements and following the other precepts he lists, which those believing in Jesus do. Additionally, you know that the offering of the two goats, required to be sacrificed during the fast, was only allowed in Jerusalem and nowhere else.

Tertullian, Against Marcion Supporting witness

... shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place sacrifice shall be offered to my name, and a pure offering.” Malachi 1:10-11 Such are the ascription of glory, and blessing, and praise, and hymns. Now, since all these things are also found among you, and the sign upon the forehead, and the sacraments of the church, and the offerings of the pure sacrifice, you ought now to burst forth and declare that the Spirit of the Creator prophesied of your Christ.

Tertullian, Against Marcion Supporting witness

...ame shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place a sacrifice is offered to my name, even a pure offering," Malachi 1:10-11, meaning simple prayer from a pure conscience, it necessarily follows that every change which comes as the result of innovation introduces a diversity in those things of which the change is made. From this diversity there also arises a contrariety. For as there is nothing that, after it has undergone a change, does not become different, so there is nothing different that is not contrary. Therefore, of that very thing there will be predicated a contrariety because of its diversity, to which there came a change of condition after an innovation. He who brought about the change, the same instituted the diversity also. He who foretold the innovation, the same also announced beforehand the contrariety. Why, in your interpretation, do you assign a difference in the state of things to a difference of powers? Why do you twist to the Creator's prejudice those examples from which you draw your antitheses, when you may recognize them all in His sensations and affections? "I will wound," He says, "and I will heal." "I will kill," He says again, "and I will make

Irenaeus, Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenæus Supporting witness

For, “from the rising of the sun even to the setting my name has been glorified among the Gentiles, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice;” as John also declares in the Apocalypse: “The incense is the prayers of the saints.” Then again, Paul exhorts us “to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” And again, “Let us offer the sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of the lips.” Now those oblations are not according to the law, the handwriting of which the Lord took away from the midst by cancelling it;

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Supporting witness

Hence God speaks by the mouth of Malachi, one of the twelve [prophets], as I said before, about the sacrifices at that time presented by you: ‘I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord;

Origen, Commentary on John Supporting witness

and while one breaks the law, not sacrificing the lamb at all, another may keep the commandment entirely, offering his sacrifice, and cooking it aright, and not breaking a bone of it.

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Supporting witness

and in every place a sacrifice is offered unto My name, even a pure sacrifice: for My name is honoured among the Gentiles, saith the Lord;

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness

For the sacrifice of the Church is the word breathing as incense from holy souls, the sacrifice and the whole mind being at the same time unveiled to God.

Methodius, Oration on the Psalms Supporting witness

children piously offer the sacrifice of praise, while profane priests are impiously indignant.Matthew 21:15

Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians Supporting witness

The sacrifice of praise will glorify Me, and a way is there by which I will show him the salvation of God.”

Lactantius, The Epitome of the Divine Institutes Supporting witness

...lachi also says in Malachi 1:10-11: "I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord, nor will I accept an offering from your hand. For from the rising of the sun even to its going down, my name shall be great among the Gentiles." Isaiah also speaks this way in Isaiah 66:18: "I come to gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see my glory." The same prophet says in another place, Isaiah 42:6-7, speaking in the person of the Father to the Son: "I the Lord have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand, and will keep You, and give You as a covenant of my people, as a light of the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring the prisoners out from the prison, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison-house."

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. James Supporting witness

The offering of peace, the sacrifice of praise.

Irenaeus, Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenæus Supporting witness

and in this respect it is pure. For we make an oblation to God of the bread and the cup of blessing, giving Him thanks in that He has commanded the earth to bring forth these fruits for our nourishment.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Background

There are two things that ought to be offered: the gift and the sacrifice. The gift is a continual offering, but the sacrifice is for a time. But among those who do not understand the nature of the Divine Being at all, a gift is anything made of gold or silver, or anything woven from purple and silk. A sacrifice is a victim, and whatever things are burned on the altar. But God makes use of neither one nor the other, because He is free from corruption, while those things are completely corruptible. Therefore, in each case, what is incorporeal must be offered to God, for He accepts this. His offering is innocence of soul. His sacrifice is praise and a hymn. For if God is not seen, then He ought to be worshipped with things that are not seen. Therefore, no religion is true except the one that consists of virtue and justice. But the way God regards the justice of man is easily understood. For if a man is just, then after receiving immortality, he will serve God forever. But that men are born for justice alone is something that both the ancient philosophers and even Cicero suspected. For when discussing the Laws, he says, "But of all the things discussed by learned men, surely nothing i

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Background

Now let us speak briefly about sacrifice itself. Plato says that ivory is not a pure offering to God. What then? Are embroidered and costly fabrics pure offerings? No. Nothing is a pure offering to God if it can decay or be secretly taken away. But although he saw that nothing taken from a dead body should be offered to a living being, why did he not also see that a bodily offering should not be presented to a being without a body? How much better and more truly Seneca speaks: "Will you think of God as great and calm, and a friend to be reverenced with gentle majesty, and always near? He is not to be worshipped with the killing of victims and with much blood—for what pleasure comes from the slaughter of innocent animals?—but with a pure mind and with a good and honorable purpose. Temples are not to be built for Him with stones piled high; He is to be consecrated by each man in his own breast." Therefore, if anyone thinks that clothing, jewels, and other things considered precious are valued by God, he is completely ignorant of what God is, since he thinks that the things pleasing to God are the very things for which even a man would rightly be praised for despising. What, then, is

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Background

...ess. Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice to God the sacrifice of praise, and pay your vows to the Most High." And in the same way throughout all the Scriptures, He refuses their sacrifices because they sinned against Him. For the sacrifices of the ungodly are an abomination to the Lord, since they offer them unlawfully. And again: "Their sacrifices are to them as bread of lamentation; all that eat of them shall be defiled." If, therefore, before His coming He desired a clean heart and a contrite spirit more than sacrifices, much more would He abolish those sacrifices, I mean the bloody ones, when He came. Yet He abolished them in such a way that He first fulfilled them. For He was both circumcised, and sprinkled, and offered sacrifices and whole burnt offerings, and used the rest of their customs. And He who was the Lawgiver became Himself the fulfillment of the law, not taking away the law of nature, but abolishing those added laws that were introduced later, though not all of them either.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Background

...e saw them neglecting righteousness and the love of God, and thinking that God could be appeased by sacrifices and other rituals, Samuel spoke to them: “God does not desire burnt offerings and sacrifices, but He wants His voice to be heard. Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and to listen is better than the fat of rams.” David also says: “You did not desire sacrifice and offering, but you opened my ears; burnt offerings for sin You did not require.” He thus teaches them that God desires obedience, which keeps them secure, rather than sacrifices, which do nothing for righteousness; and he also prophesies the new covenant at the same time. He speaks even more clearly in Psalm 50: “For if You had desired sacrifice, I would have given it: You do not delight in burnt offerings. The true sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart You, God, will not despise.” Since God needs nothing, He says in the previous Psalm: “I will take no calves from your house, nor goats from your folds. For all the animals of the forest are Mine, the herds and the oxen on the mountains: I know all the birds of the skies, and the creatures of the field are Mine. If I were hungry,

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Background

And Malachi the prophet plainly exhibits God saying, I will not accept sacrifice at your hands.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Background

likewise anything which is woven of purple and silk: a sacrifice is a victim, and as many things as are burnt upon the altar.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Background

There are two things which ought to be offered, the gift and the sacrifice;

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Supporting witness

For such alone Christians have undertaken to offer, and in the remembrance effected by their solid and liquid food, whereby the suffering of the Son of God which He endured is brought to mind, whose name the high priests of your nation and your teachers have caused to be profaned and blasphemed over all the earth.

Ignatius, Epistle to the Philadelphians (Short Version) Supporting witness

Take care, then, to have only one Eucharist. For there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup to show the unity of His blood; one altar; as there is one bishop, along with the presbytery and deacons, my fellow-servants: so that, whatever you do, you may do it according to the will of God.

1 Corinthians 11:26 Supporting witness

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Hippolytus, Exegetical Fragments Supporting witness

Asher received the regions around Ptolemais and Sidon. Therefore he says, "His bread shall be rich, and he shall provide delicacies for princes." We understand this as a figure of our calling, for "fat" means rich. And whose bread is rich, if not ours? For the Lord is our bread, as He Himself says: "I am the bread of life." John 6:35 And who else will provide delicacies for princes except our Lord Jesus Christ? He does this not only for the believers among the Gentiles, but also for those of the circumcision, who are first in the faith, that is, the fathers, the patriarchs, the prophets, and all who believe in His name and passion.

Tertullian, On Prayer Supporting witness

...these shall be added," Matthew 6:33. Although we may rather understand, "Give us this day our daily bread," spiritually. For Christ is our Bread, because Christ is Life, and bread is life. He says, "I am the Bread of Life," John 6:35. And, a little above, "The Bread is the Word of the living God, who came down from the heavens," John 6:33. Then we find, too, that His body is counted in bread: "This is my body," Matthew 26:26. And so, in asking for daily bread, we ask for perpetuity in Christ and indivisibility from His body. But because that phrase can also be understood in a bodily sense, it cannot be used that way without the religious remembrance of spiritual Discipline as well. For the Lord commands that bread be prayed for, which is the only food necessary for believers. For all other things the nations seek after, Matthew 6:32. He teaches the same lesson both by examples and repeatedly in parables, when He says, "Does a father take away bread from his children, and hand it to dogs?" And again, "Does a father give his son a stone when he asks for bread?" For in this way He shows what sons expect from their father. No, even that man knocking at night knocked for bread, Luke

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Supporting witness

Further, the Word declares that He Himself is the bread of heaven. For He says, "Moses did not give you that bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. And the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." Here the mystery of the bread should be noted, since He speaks of it as flesh, and therefore as flesh that has risen through fire, just as wheat springs up out of decay and germination. And truly, it has risen through fire for the joy of the Church, like bread that is baked. But this will be shown more clearly a little later in the chapter on the resurrection. But since He said, "And the bread that I will give is My flesh," and since flesh is moistened with blood, and blood is figuratively called wine, we are instructed to understand that, just as bread, crumbled into a mixture of wine and water, takes in the wine and leaves the watery part, so also the flesh of Christ, the bread of heaven, absorbs the blood. That is, it takes in those among men who are heavenly, nourishing them to immortality, and leaves only the desires of the flesh

Didache, Connection to 1 Corinthians 11:26 Supporting witness

We also, our Father, thank Thee for the precious blood of Jesus Christ, which was shed for us and for His precious body, whereof we celebrate this representation, as Himself appointed us, "to show forth His death."

Didache, Connection to Luke 22:19 Supporting witness

For this reason do you also, now the Lord is risen, offer your sacrifice, concerning which He made a constitution by us, saying, "Do this for a remembrance of me; "

Didache, Connection to Luke 22:19 Supporting witness

And concerning the broken bread: We thank Thee, our Father, for the life and knowledge which Thou modest known to us through Jesus Thy Servant; to Thee be the glory for ever. Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and was gathered together and became one, so let Thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Thy kingdom; for Thine is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ for ever. But let no one eat or drink of your Thanksgiving (Eucharist), but they who have been baptized into the name of the Lord;

Tertullian, On Prayer Supporting witness

When the Lord's Body has been received and reserved each point is secured, both the participation of the sacrifice and the discharge of duty.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

... that honor for Himself, but was appointed to it by the Father. Having become man for our sake, and offering the spiritual sacrifice to His God and Father, before His suffering He gave to us alone the charge to do this, although there were others with us who had believed in Him. But the one who believes is not immediately appointed a priest, or given the dignity of the high-priesthood. But after His ascension we offered, according to His constitution, the pure and unbloody sacrifice, and ordained bishops, and presbyters, and deacons, seven in number. One of these was Stephen, that blessed martyr, who was not inferior to us in his pious disposition of mind toward God. He showed such great piety toward God by his faith and love toward our Lord Jesus Christ that he gave his life for Him, and was stoned to death by the Jews, the murderers of the Lord. Yet even this very great and good man, fervent in spirit, who saw Christ at the right hand of God and the gates of heaven opened, nowhere appears to have performed functions that did not belong to his office as a deacon. Nor did he offer the sacrifices, nor lay hands on anyone, but kept the order of a deacon to the end. For it was fitt

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

And accept them, to the honour of Your Christ, and send down upon this sacrifice Your Holy Spirit, the Witness of the Lord Jesus' sufferings, that He may show this bread to be the body of Your Christ, and the cup to be the blood of Your Christ, that those who are partakers thereof may be strengthened for piety, may obtain the remission of their sins, may be delivered from the devil and his deceit, may be filled with the Holy Ghost, may be made worthy of Your Christ, and may obtain eternal life upon Your reconciliation to them, O Lord Almighty.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

who stand at the altar of the Lord your God, and offer to Him reasonable and unbloody sacrifices through Jesus the great High Priest.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

...n out. As for the deacons, after the prayer is over, let some of them attend to the oblation of the Eucharist, ministering to the Lord's body with fear. Let others watch the crowd and keep them silent. But let that deacon who is at the high priest's side say to the people, "Let no one have any quarrel against another; let no one come in hypocrisy." Then let the men give the men, and the women give the women, the Lord's kiss. But let no one do it deceitfully, as Judas betrayed the Lord with a kiss. After this let the deacon pray for the whole Church, for the whole world and its several parts, and for its fruits; for the priests and the rulers, for the high priest and the king, and for the peace of the universe. After this let the high priest pray for peace upon the people and bless them, as Moses commanded the priests to bless the people, in these words: "The Lord bless you, and keep you: the Lord make His face shine upon you, and give you peace." Let the bishop pray for the people, and say: "Save Your people, O Lord, and bless Your inheritance, which You have obtained with the precious blood of Your Christ, and have called a royal priesthood, and a holy nation." After this let t

Tertullian, Against Marcion Supporting witness

while the other, by being offered up for sins, and given to the priests of the temple for meat, afforded proofs of His second appearance, when (after all sins have been expiated) the priests of the spiritual temple, that is, the church, are to enjoy the flesh, as it were, of the Lord's own grace, while the residue go away from salvation without tasting it.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

Those which were then first-fruits, and tithes, and offerings, and gifts, now are oblations, which are presented by holy bishops to the Lord God, through Jesus Christ, who has died for them.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Background

You, therefore, O bishops, are to your people priests and Levites, ministering to the holy tabernacle, the holy Catholic Church;