Patristic sources often call the Christian Eucharist a sacrifice (thusia; prosphora etc.). In many cases, mostly from the 3rd cent. onward, the sacrificial character of the Christian Eucharist is understood Christologically and related to the death of Jesus as a sacrifice. This interpretation, based primarily on the so-called “Eucharistic Words” of the Synoptic Gospels and 1Cor, understands the Eucharist as a surrogate or metaphor of cultic practice (e.g., M. Douglas, B. Chilton) and, consequently, determines its ritual character in relation to the Jerusalem temple.
Recent studies (A. McGowan; M. Klinghardt; D. E. Smith; H. Taussig), however, suggest that the ritual background of early Christian meals was the (Greco-Roman) symposium which has no connection to, nor bears any resemblance to, the Jerusalem temple or to any other sacrificial cult.
Along these lines, the presentation will demonstrate that the “cup after dinner” is best understood as the libation which was typical for any symposium. In the libation, the symposiasts withdraw part of the wine from common use and offer it as a gift to the deity. Thus, the libation is a sacrificium in the classical meaning that fully explains why the early Christian meal is called a “sacrifice”. Consequently, the meaning of the Eucharistic Words “over the cup” changes considerably: As literary interpretations of the libation offering they are addressing the identity of the sympotic group rather then Jesus’ “sacrifice”.
No comments:
Post a Comment