Early Christian Beliefs About the Lord's Supper

Didache, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles Direct teaching

But every Lord's day gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure.

Didache, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles Direct teaching

Now about the Thanksgiving, or Eucharist, give thanks in this way. First, about the cup: "We thank You, our Father, for the holy vine of David Your Servant, which You made known to us through Jesus Your Servant. To You be the glory forever." And about the broken bread: "We thank You, our Father, for the life and knowledge that You made known to us through Jesus Your Servant. To You be the glory forever." Just as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and then was gathered together and became one, so let Your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Your kingdom. For Yours is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ forever. But let no one eat or drink of your Thanksgiving, or Eucharist, except those who have been baptized into the name of the Lord. For about this also the Lord has said, "Do not give what is holy to dogs." Matthew 7:6

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. James Direct teaching

This do in remembrance of me; for as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do show forth the Lord's death, and confess His resurrection, till He come.

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. Mark Supporting witness

This do in remembrance of me; for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show forth my death and acknowledge my resurrection and ascension until I come.

Justin Martyr, The First Apology Direct teaching

that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, “This do ye in remembrance of Me, this is My body;” and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, “This is My blood;” and gave it to them alone.

Justin Martyr, The First Apology Direct teaching

And this food is called among us [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined.

Luke 22:20 Direct teaching

Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

1 Corinthians 11:26 Direct teaching

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

1 Corinthians 11:25 Supporting witness

After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

Luke 22:19 Direct teaching

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

1 Corinthians 11:23 Supporting witness

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,

1 Corinthians 11:24 Supporting witness

and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Justin Martyr, The First Apology Direct teaching

This food is called among us [the Eucharist], and only those who believe that our teachings are true, have been washed with the washing for the remission of sins and renewal, and live as Christ instructed, are allowed to partake. We do not receive these as common bread and drink, but in the same way that Jesus Christ our Savior became flesh by the Word of God and had flesh and blood for our salvation, we have been taught that the food blessed by His word and prayer, which nourishes our blood and flesh through transformation, is the flesh and blood of Jesus who became flesh. The apostles, in the writings they composed, which are called Gospels, have passed down to us what Jesus instructed them: that He took bread, gave thanks, and said, "Do this in remembrance of Me, this is My body;" and in the same way, after taking the cup and giving thanks, He said, "This is My blood;" and gave it to them alone. The wicked devils have imitated this in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same actions. You either know or can learn that bread and a cup of water are used with certain incantations in the mystical rites of someone being initiated.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Direct teaching

...er change their opinion or stop offering the things just mentioned. But our opinion agrees with the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn supports our opinion. For we offer to Him His own, consistently announcing the fellowship and union of the flesh and Spirit. For just as the bread, which is produced from the earth, when it receives the invocation of God, is no longer common bread but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly and heavenly; so also our bodies, when they receive the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, having the hope of the resurrection to eternity.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Direct teaching

When, therefore, the mixed cup and the made bread receive the Word of God, and the Eucharist of the blood and body of Christ is formed, from which the substance of our flesh is grown and sustained, how can they claim that the flesh is incapable of receiving the gift of God, which is eternal life, when this flesh is nourished from the body and blood of the Lord and is a part of Him? Just as the blessed Paul states in his letter to the Ephesians, that “we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.” He does not speak of some spiritual and invisible person, for a spirit does not have bones or flesh; but he is referring to the arrangement by which the Lord became an actual man, consisting of flesh, and nerves, and bones,—that flesh which is nourished by the cup that is His blood, and grows from the bread that is His body. And just as a branch from the vine planted in the ground bears fruit in its season, or as a grain of wheat falling into the earth and breaking down, rises with abundant growth by the Spirit of God, who holds all things, and then, through the wisdom of God, serves human use, and having received the Word of God, becomes the Eucharist, which is the body and

Tertullian, Against Marcion Direct teaching

...h what He meant by the bread when He called the bread His own body. Likewise, when He mentioned the cup and made the new testament to be sealed in His blood, Luke 22:20 He affirms the reality of His body. For no blood can belong to a body that is not a body of flesh. If any kind of body were presented to our view that was not one of flesh, then, not being fleshly, it would not possess blood. Thus, from the evidence of the flesh, we get proof of the body, and proof of the flesh from the evidence of the blood. However, so that you may discover how long ago wine was used as a figure for blood, turn to Isaiah, who asks, "Who is this who comes from Edom, from Bosor, with garments dyed red, so glorious in His apparel, in the greatness of His might? Why are your garments red, and your clothing like his who comes from treading the full winepress?" The prophetic Spirit looks at the Lord as if He were already on His way to His passion, clothed in His fleshly nature. And since He was to suffer in it, the Spirit presents the bleeding condition of His flesh under the picture of garments dyed red, as if reddened in the treading and crushing of the winepress, from which the workers come down r

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Supporting witness

Since the apostle has not declared against the essence of flesh and blood, saying it cannot inherit the kingdom of God, the same apostle has consistently used the term "flesh and blood" regarding the Lord Jesus Christ. This is partly to assert His human nature (as He referred to Himself as the Son of man) and partly to affirm the salvation of our flesh. For if the flesh were not able to be saved, the Word of God would not have become flesh in any way. And if the blood of the righteous were not to be accounted for, the Lord would certainly not have had blood in His being. Since blood has spoken since the world's beginning, God said to Cain, after he had killed his brother, “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me.” And as their blood will be accounted for, He said to those with Noah, “For your lifeblood I will require a reckoning, from every beast;” and again, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.” Similarly, the Lord said to those who would later shed His blood, “All righteous blood shall be required that is shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom you killed between the temple and the altar

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Direct teaching

...did not redeem us with His blood, nor is the cup of the Eucharist a communion of His blood, nor the bread we break a communion of His body. Blood can only come from veins and flesh, along with everything else that makes up the substance of a person, just as the Word of God was truly made. He redeemed us by His own blood, as His apostle states, "In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the remission of sins." Since we are His members, we are also nourished by the creation (which He Himself grants us, as He causes His sun to rise and sends rain when He wishes). He has recognized the cup (a part of creation) as His blood, from which He nourishes our blood; and the bread (also part of creation) He has established as His body, from which He nourishes our bodies.

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Supporting witness

...g in the listener.’ It is clear that this prophecy refers to the bread our Christ gave us to eat in remembrance of His becoming flesh for His believers, for whom He also suffered; and to the cup He gave us to drink in remembrance of His own blood, with giving of thanks. This prophecy shows that we will see this very King in glory, and it clearly states that the people who were foreseen to believe in Him were also foreseen to diligently pursue the fear of the Lord. Moreover, these Scriptures clearly say that those who claim to know the Scriptures and hear the prophecies have no understanding. And when I hear, Trypho," I said, "that Perseus was born of a virgin, I understand that the deceiving serpent also copied this.

Tatian, The Diatessaron Direct teaching

The Jews then argued with one another and said, “How can this man give us his body to eat?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if you do not eat the body of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in yourselves. Whoever eats of my body and drinks of my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my body truly is food, and my blood truly is drink. Whoever eats my body and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will also live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. It is not like the manna that your fathers ate and then died. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever.” He said this in the synagogue while he was teaching in Capernaum. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This word is hard. Who can hear it?”

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Supporting witness

For the vine produces wine, as the Word produces blood, and both drink for health to men — wine for the body, blood for the spirit.

Origen, Commentary on John Supporting witness

He that eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him,— then the flesh thus spoken of is that of the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world;

Origen, Commentary on John Supporting witness

For My flesh is meat indeed and My blood is drink indeed.

Gregory Thaumaturgus, Connection to John 6:55 Supporting witness

and, "My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed; "

Cyprian, Epistles Direct teaching

...sm. But by the example of His own authority, He also taught that the cup should be mixed by joining wine and water together. For when He took the cup on the night before His passion, He blessed it and gave it to His disciples, saying, "Drink all of this; for this is my blood of the New Testament, which shall be shed for many, for the remission of sins. I say to you, I will not drink from now on of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I shall drink new wine with you in the kingdom of my Father." Matthew 26:28-29 In this passage we find that the cup which the Lord offered was mixed, and that what He called His blood was wine. From this it is clear that the blood of Christ is not offered if there is no wine in the cup, nor is the Lord's sacrifice celebrated with a proper consecration unless our offering and sacrifice correspond to His passion. But how shall we drink the new wine of the fruit of the vine with Christ in the kingdom of His Father, if in the sacrifice to God the Father and of Christ we do not offer wine, nor mix the cup of the Lord according to the Lord's own tradition?

Cyprian, Epistles Direct teaching

...Christ bore all of us, since He also bore our sins, we see that the water means the people, and the wine shows the blood of Christ. But when the water is mixed with wine in the cup, the people are made one with Christ, and the assembly of believers is joined and united with Him in whom it believes. This union and joining of water and wine is so mixed in the Lord's cup that the mixture can no longer be separated. Therefore, nothing can separate the Church—that is, the people established in the Church, faithfully and firmly continuing in what they have believed—from Christ, so as to keep their undivided love from always remaining and clinging to Him. Thus, in consecrating the cup of the Lord, water alone cannot be offered, just as wine alone cannot be offered. For if anyone offers only wine, the blood of Christ is separated from us. But if the water is alone, the people are separated from Christ. But when both are mixed and joined to one another in close union, a spiritual and heavenly sacrament is completed. Thus the cup of the Lord is not water alone, nor wine alone, unless each is mixed with the other. In the same way, the body of the Lord cannot be flour alone or water alone,

Cyprian, Epistles Direct teaching

...lthough in the morning only water is clearly offered, yet when we come to supper we offer the mixed cup? But when we eat supper, we cannot call the people together to our meal, so that we may celebrate the truth of the sacrament in the presence of all the brothers. Still, it was not in the morning, but after supper, that the Lord offered the mixed cup. Should we then celebrate the Lord's cup after supper, so that by constantly repeating the Lord's Supper we may offer the mixed cup? Christ had to offer it toward the evening of the day, so that the very hour of the sacrifice might show the decline and evening of the world, as it is written in Exodus 12:6, "And all the people of the synagogue of the children of Israel shall kill it in the evening." And again in the Psalms, "Let the lifting up of my hands be an evening sacrifice." But we celebrate the Lord's resurrection in the morning.

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

...inebriating cup, how excellent it is!" Now the cup that causes intoxication is certainly mixed with wine, for water cannot intoxicate anyone. And the Lord's cup intoxicates in the same way that Noah also was intoxicated by drinking wine, in Genesis. But the intoxication of the Lord's cup and blood is not like the intoxication of the wine of this world. Since the Holy Spirit said in the Psalm, "Your inebriating cup," He added, "how excellent it is," because without doubt the Lord's cup so intoxicates those who drink it that it makes them sober. It restores their minds to spiritual wisdom. Each one is brought back from that worldly taste to the understanding of God. And just as, by ordinary wine, the mind is loosened, the soul is relaxed, and all sadness is put away, so also, when the blood of the Lord and the cup of salvation have been drunk, the memory of the old man is put away. There arises a forgetting of one's former worldly way of life, and the sorrowful and grieving heart, which before was weighed down by tormenting sins, is relieved by the joy of the divine mercy. For only that can bring joy to the one who drinks in the Church which, when it is drunk, keeps the Lord's tru

Cyprian, Epistles Direct teaching

But how shall we drink the new wine of the fruit of the vine with Christ in the kingdom of His Father, if in the sacrifice of God the Father and of Christ we do not offer wine, nor mix the cup of the Lord by the Lord's own tradition?

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

Assuredly, therefore, mention is made of wine, that the Lord's blood may be understood, and that which was afterwards manifested in the cup of the Lord might be foretold by the prophets who announced it.

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

which thing the Lord, completing and fulfilling, offered bread and the cup mixed with wine, and so He who is the fullness of truth fulfilled the truth of the image prefigured.

Cyprian, Epistles Direct teaching

2. Know then that I have been admonished that, in offering the cup, the tradition of the Lord must be observed, and that nothing must be done by us but what the Lord first did on our behalf, as that the cup which is offered in remembrance of Him should be offered mingled with wine.

Justin Martyr, The First Apology Supporting witness

And when the president has given thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present to partake of the bread and wine mixed with water over which the thanksgiving was pronounced, and to those who are absent they carry away a portion.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

In like manner also He took the cup, and mixed it of wine and water, and sanctified it, and delivered it to them, saying: Drink all of this;

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

...re able, and we carry out His constitution. For on the same night in which He was betrayed, He took bread in His holy and undefiled hands, and looking up to You, His God and Father, He broke it and gave it to His disciples, saying, "This is the mystery of the new covenant. Take of it, and eat. This is my body, which is broken for many, for the remission of sins." In the same way, He also took the cup, mixed it with wine and water, sanctified it, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink all of this, for this is my blood, which is shed for many, for the remission of sins. Do this in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you show my death until I come. Therefore, remembering His passion, death, resurrection from the dead, return into the heavens, and His future second appearing, in which He is to come with glory and power to judge the living and the dead, and to repay everyone according to his works, we offer to You, our King and our God, according to His constitution, this bread and this cup. We give You thanks through Him, because You have counted us worthy to stand before You and to sacrifice to You. And we beg You to look mercifully upon these gi