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| Chapter LXVI.—Of the Eucharist.
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Chapter LXVI.—Of the Eucharist.
And this food is
called among us Εὐχαριστία1910
[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. For not as
common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as
Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had
both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught
that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which
our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and
blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.1911
| 1911 This passage is claimed alike by Calvinists, Lutherans,
and Romanists; and, indeed, the language is so inexact, that each party
may plausibly maintain that their own opinion is advocated by it. [But
the same might be said of the words of our Lord himself; and, if such
widely separated Christians can all adopt this passage, who can be
sorry?] The expression, “the prayer of His word,” or of the
word we have from Him, seems to signify the prayer pronounced over the
elements, in imitation of our Lord’s thanksgiving before breaking
the bread. [I must dissent from the opinion that the language is
“inexact:” he expresses himself naturally as one who believes
it is bread, but yet not “common bread.” So Gelasius, Bishop
of Rome (a.d. 490),
“By the sacraments we are made partakers of the divine nature, and
yet the substance and nature of bread and wine do not cease to be in
them,” etc. (See original in Bingham’s Antiquities,
book xv. cap. 5. See Chryost., Epist. ad. Cæsarium, tom. iii. p.
753. Ed. Migne.) Those desirous to pursue this inquiry will find the
Patristic authorities in Historia Transubstantionis Papalis, etc.,
Edidit F. Meyrick, Oxford, 1858. The famous tractate of Ratranin
(a.d. 840) was published at
Oxford, 1838, with the homily of Ælfric (a.d. 960) in a cheap
edition.] | For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them,
which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined
upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said,
“This do ye in remembrance of Me,1912
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. Which the wicked devils have imitated in the mysteries of
Mithras, commanding the same thing to be done. For, that bread and a cup
of water are placed with certain incantations in the mystic rites of one
who is being initiated, you either know or can learn.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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