Early Church Fathers on the Eucharist (c. 200 - c. 300 A.D.)
A few weeks ago, I posted brief snippets of the writings of the earliest Church Fathers, from the time of the Apostles until 200 A.D., showing what they believed on the Eucharist. Long story short, these men believed that the bread and wine became the Body and Blood of Christ, that this happened at the words of consecration, and that after this point, it ceased to be bread and wine. Today, I’m (finally) including the writings of those writing from c. 200-300 A.D.
I. St. Clement of Alexandria (c. 200 A.D.)
Last time, I addressed Tertullian, who bridged the second and third century (c. 160 - c. 220). St. Clement is a contemporary of his (c. 150-215), so in both cases, we’re right on the cusp between the 100s and the 200s. St. Clement’s Paedagogus (meaning The Tutor or The Instructor) is from about 189-200 A.D., and his series of books called the Stromata (Miscellanies) were probably written shortly and after Paedagogus. Origen is one of his students, and succeeds him as Bishop of Alexandria. In his writings, which I’ve mentioned before, he shows a very Catholic understanding of the Eucharist.
First, here’s what Clement says on the Eucharist in Book IV, Chapter 25 of the Stromata:
This is in reality righteousness, not to desire other things, but to be entirely the consecrated temple of the Lord. Righteousness is peace of life and a well-conditioned state, to which the Lord dismissed her when He said, “Depart into peace.” [Mark 5:34] For Salem is, by interpretation, peace; of which our Saviour is enrolled King, as Moses says, Melchizedek king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who gave bread and wine, furnishing consecrated food for a type of the Eucharist. And Melchizedek is interpreted righteous king; and the name is a synonym for righteousness and peace.
If you’re not familiar, a “type” is a prophetic prefigurement of something greater. The Passover lamb is a type of the Lamb of God. Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18-20), is a type of Christ, the Eternal High Priest, and the true King of Peace (the Book of Hebrews draws the same connections in Hebrews 5:5-10, Heb. 6:20, and all of Hebrews 7). Likewise, the consecrated bread and wine offered by Melchizedek are a type of the Eucharist, as the Mass says. That’s easy to gloss over, but pay close attention. What Melchizedek offered was a sacrifice, and he prefigures Christ, while the sacrifice prefigures the Eucharist. So we can see from his parallel that as Melchizedek offered bread and wine as sacrifice, Christ offers the Eucharist as Sacrifice.
Even clearer is Book II, Chapter 2 of the Paedagogos, in which Clement says:
And the blood of the Lord is twofold. For there is the blood of His flesh, by which we are redeemed from corruption; and the spiritual, that by which we are anointed. And to drink the blood of Jesus, is to become partaker of the Lord’s immortality; the Spirit being the energetic principle of the Word, as blood is of flesh.
Accordingly, as wine is blended with water, so is the Spirit with man. And the one, the mixture of wine and water, nourishes to faith; while the other, the Spirit, conducts to immortality. And the mixture of both— of the water and of the Word— is called Eucharist, renowned and glorious grace; and they who by faith partake of it are sanctified both in body and soul. For the divine mixture, man, the Father’s will has mystically compounded by the Spirit and the Word. For, in truth, the spirit is joined to the soul, which is inspired by it; and the flesh, by reason of which the Word became flesh, to the Word.
Starkly Catholic. We drink the Blood of Jesus. Immediately after this, lest there be any argument that Clement thought this was really just wine, Clement writes at great length against wine, saying, “I therefore admire those who have adopted an austere life, and who are fond of water, the medicine of temperance, and flee as far as possible from wine, shunning it as they would the danger of fire.” He then lists off the dangers of wine, saying it’s inappropriate for those undertaking “the divine studies,” and it leads to drunkenness, lust, mistakes and irritations.
It’s clear from the sheer contrast between the Eucharist, which he praises (and calls “the Blood of Jesus” and promises will lead us to eternal life if taken faithfully), and wine, which he calls us to flee from completely, that Clement doesn’t think that the Eucharist is wine. You can’t abstain from wine and still receive the Eucharist, unless the Eucharist isn’t wine. And it isn’t as though these are writings separated by time and place, that he had a change of heart. This is a single chapter, and he connects the two thoughts with a “therefore.” He doesn’t view this as a contradiction.
Finally, we also see Clement condemning as heretical those “employ bread and water in the oblation, not according to the canon of the Church. For there are those who celebrate the Eucharist with mere water.” So here’s what we know. Clement viewed wine as bad, and encouraged Christians to flee from it completely. But he also condemned as heretics those who attempted to consecrate water without wine at the Eucharist. Rather, wine must be used in the Eucharist, because (a) the Church requires it, and (b) it becomes the Blood of Christ (i.e., no longer wine, and no longer something to flee from). Finally, note that Clement calls the Eucharist an Oblation, that is, a Sacrifice to God. This tells us all that we need to safely say that Clement held to the Catholic view of the Eucharist, and that he obviously didn’t hold to any of the Protestant views.
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