Communion, pt. 7 | The Liturgy of SS. Addai and Mari For more on Communion in the Early Church from the Archives CLICK So far in this series, we have been exploring Early Influences in communion, various Greek Fathers or the Primitive Church. Many of the Fathers so far are well loved by both the East and the West churches. For instance, Justin Martyr writes in Greek, but he is in the West. Now we turn our attention to Definitive Eastern... Read more
Communion, pt. 6 | Early Influences, Irenaeus and Hippolytus For more on Communion in the Early Church from the Archives CLICK Irenaeus of Lyons Irenaeus of Lyons is discipled by Polycarp, who is discipled by John. He is a Presbyter in Gaul {France} around 177 and eventually Bishop after a persecution claims the life of the presiding Bishop.[1] He writes in Greek and influences both East and West churches, but especially the East. “Some Eastern Orthodox theologians aver that all of... Read more
Communion, pt. 5 | Early Influences, Justin Martyr For more on Communion in the Early Church from the Archives CLICK Justin Martyr, The First Apology Justin enters Rome around A.D. 135, gains a following of students, and addresses the emperor about the Christian faith in The First Apology.[1] Justin writes of the offertory: “Then bread is ‘offered’ (prospheretai, perhaps better translated here ‘presented’) to the president and a cup of water mingled with wine . . . the sacrifices which are... Read more
Communion, pt. 4 | Early Influences, Didache, Clement of Rome, and Ignatius Didache The Didache is considered by some to be a very early church document, and a later one by others (first or second century respectively). However it offers guidelines that appear to be formative for the early church. Robert Webber looks at the form prayer suggested by the Didache and states that it is essentially a call for unity in the church, to gather the church.[1] The Didache’s... Read more
Early Influences, Early Church Liturgy We know the church of Acts practices communion. “1 Cor. expresses that tradition in a more primitive form [than Mark], roughly at the stage when S Paul first learned it – within ten years at the most of the last supper itself, perhaps within five.”[1] chaburah, agape, and table fellowship meals Paul’s form of communion would be recognized by the Jewish Christians as a new meaning to a chaburah meal. Earle Cairns explains the typical... Read more
Early Influences There are up to seven actions of the Eucharist in Scripture. However Dom Gregory Dix contends that a four-action shape emerges across the church. He believes it is from the primitive church. “(1) The offertory; bread and wine are ‘taken’ and placed on the table together. (2) The prayer; the president gives thanks to God over bread and wine together. (3) The fraction; the bread is broken. (4) The communion; the bread and wine are distributed together.”[1] Dix... Read more
Introduction and Key Themes This research flows from an exploratory problem I pursued in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Sacraments in History, Asbury Theological Seminary. The syllabus states the problem as: “The doctrine of the ‘epiklesis’ in the Eastern Rite provides a more adequate place for the work of the Holy Spirit in worship than was found in the Western Rite.” I took the position in favor of this. There are factors that make this line of research difficult. ... Read more
Sanctification | Falling for Julian “For if we never fell, we should not know how feeble and how wretched we are of our self, and also we should not fully know that marvellous love of our maker.” Julian of Norwich, Showings, chapter LXI Friends of Julian of Norwich JulianOfNorwich.org My first reaction to this quote is I’m not sure falling is the best way to get to know the love of God. In a way, it seems like we’re putting God... Read more
With Each Passing Year… Sometimes it’s good to have a little conversation. At this point in my journey, it doesn’t take much to set me on the right course if I veer off a little. With each passing year… …my hopes of future research seem to be a stretch. I’ve had publishers review my work. They have made comments about some of my previous studies, particularly on the Gospel of John and on early liturgical prayers in the Primitive Church.... Read more
Reflections on Irises Years ago while I was taking a Psychology minor in my undergrad, my wife worked in a large, privately owned franchise (if that’s the right word) of group homes, all over the Bay Area. I would drop into the counselor’s office at times for shop talk. She had a very large lithograph of Irises in a beautiful frame. I was mesmerized by the work, so she eventually gifted it to me. As I share some reflections now,... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In