5. Over the centuries the faithful’s attitude toward the Eucharist shifted considerably. Compare and/or contrast the laity’s approach to the Eucharist from the early church to the late middle ages citing Scripture, Origen and your textbook to support your answer.
Eucharist in Greek means “to give thanks”. According to the synoptic gospels, this is what Jesus did when he shared the last meal with his dispels. He broke the bread and blessed the cup of wine and, giving thanks, he gave them to drink. (Mark 14:22-25). This is also what he commanded his disciples to do in memory of him (Luke 22:19). Paul who gives the earliest recorded references to early Christian Eucharist, recalls the same traditional story of the last supper. Both Paul’s teaching on the Eucharist and the synoptic gospels account of the last supper suggest that the Eucharist was understood to be a celebration of expectation concerning the return of the messiah and the coming of Gods kingdom (Matt 26:29, Mark 14:25, Luck 22:16, 18). In addition, the first Eucharist had its roots in the celebration of Passover. …show more content…
It is a festival of remembrance concerning the loving kindness of God toward his people during their stay in the desert but it is also a celebration of anticipation when all God’s people will enjoy liberty. According to the synoptic gospels, Jesus’s Last Supper with his disciples was the Jewish Passover meal. With that meal, Jesus anticipated his death and reinterpreted the Passover symbols: “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20). In other words, in the early Church, Christians celebrate their covenant relationship with God as they await the experience of the fullness of that covenant in God’s kingdom. However, the attitude and view on the Eucharist was shifted during the middle ages. The reality of the presence of Christ’s body and blood in the bread and wine was taken very seriously. For an example, tales were told about hosts that bled or visions of the child Jesus in the hands of the priest. As a result, many made of the formal definition of transubstantiation as the way in which the change in the frequently avoided receiving it, out of the fear or receiving it unworthily. By this time lay people were no longer allowed the Eucharistic wine at all, which was reserved to the clergy. Furthermore, Origen expressed that when we consume the bread it can become body by the virtue of prayer has become body. …show more content…
This sanctifies those who use it with a sound purpose. The Eucharist is "a certain holy body which sanctifies those who partake of it with a pure intention." He refers to the reverence shown to the Eucharist and designates the Eucharist the Logos Himself. In the Contra Celsus he writes: "We give thanks to the Creator of all and, along with thanksgiving and prayer for the blessing we have received, we also eat the bread presented to us; and this bread becomes by prayer a sacred body, which sanctifies those who sincerely partake of it." In other words, he illustrates the importance of the Eucharist because it is an allegory to Christ. Additionally, Origen further illustrates the bodily feeding of the Eucharist becomes a symbol of spiritual feeding of the Word. Meaning, this is equated with intellectual and moral nourishment in the body and could be found particularly in Scripture
Eucharist in Greek means “to give thanks”. According to the synoptic gospels, this is what Jesus did when he shared the last meal with his dispels. He broke the bread and blessed the cup of wine and, giving thanks, he gave them to drink. (Mark 14:22-25). This is also what he commanded his disciples to do in memory of him (Luke 22:19). Paul who gives the earliest recorded references to early Christian Eucharist, recalls the same traditional story of the last supper. Both Paul’s teaching on the Eucharist and the synoptic gospels account of the last supper suggest that the Eucharist was understood to be a celebration of expectation concerning the return of the messiah and the coming of Gods kingdom (Matt 26:29, Mark 14:25, Luck 22:16, 18). In addition, the first Eucharist had its roots in the celebration of Passover. …show more content…
It is a festival of remembrance concerning the loving kindness of God toward his people during their stay in the desert but it is also a celebration of anticipation when all God’s people will enjoy liberty. According to the synoptic gospels, Jesus’s Last Supper with his disciples was the Jewish Passover meal. With that meal, Jesus anticipated his death and reinterpreted the Passover symbols: “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20). In other words, in the early Church, Christians celebrate their covenant relationship with God as they await the experience of the fullness of that covenant in God’s kingdom. However, the attitude and view on the Eucharist was shifted during the middle ages. The reality of the presence of Christ’s body and blood in the bread and wine was taken very seriously. For an example, tales were told about hosts that bled or visions of the child Jesus in the hands of the priest. As a result, many made of the formal definition of transubstantiation as the way in which the change in the frequently avoided receiving it, out of the fear or receiving it unworthily. By this time lay people were no longer allowed the Eucharistic wine at all, which was reserved to the clergy. Furthermore, Origen expressed that when we consume the bread it can become body by the virtue of prayer has become body. …show more content…
This sanctifies those who use it with a sound purpose. The Eucharist is "a certain holy body which sanctifies those who partake of it with a pure intention." He refers to the reverence shown to the Eucharist and designates the Eucharist the Logos Himself. In the Contra Celsus he writes: "We give thanks to the Creator of all and, along with thanksgiving and prayer for the blessing we have received, we also eat the bread presented to us; and this bread becomes by prayer a sacred body, which sanctifies those who sincerely partake of it." In other words, he illustrates the importance of the Eucharist because it is an allegory to Christ. Additionally, Origen further illustrates the bodily feeding of the Eucharist becomes a symbol of spiritual feeding of the Word. Meaning, this is equated with intellectual and moral nourishment in the body and could be found particularly in Scripture