Kevin Künzl: Adopting teaching as eating and drinking: Origen, “spiritualizing tendencies”, and the Last Supper

The paper seeks to advance our understanding of the concept “spiritual nourishment” in the early Patristic era. Most typically, this concept is linked to Origen—particularly with what is called his “spiritualizing” approach of the Eucharist of the church (cf. the fundamental treatment Lies 1982; expanded e.g. by Buchinger 2007; Buchinger 2015; Hällström 2017). Departing from insights into the metaphoric network of the “bread of life” discourse in John 6 (pioneered by Borgen 1965; recently Heilmann 2014. 2018), the paper wants to sharpen the hermeneutical framework of interpretation. It is demonstrated how “spiritual nourishment” in Origen can be understood by means of the basic conceptual metaphor (cf. Lakoff/Johnson 1980) that expresses processes of adopting teaching, understanding, and reading through the vehicle of eating and drinking—a metaphor broadly‑attested in Antiquity and in no way specifically Christian.The paper interprets selected passages from Origen utilizing this approach, but also includes some instructive evidence from other early Patristic writers (Clement of Alexandria; Tertullian) to highlight its broader heuristic potential. In result, it will be argued that most passages where Origen and others metaphorically conceptualize “understanding” (and related cognitive processes) as eating and drinking do not need to be read as Eucharistic allusions. Instead, they are sufficiently understood as exegetical reflections on the Biblical narratives of the Last Supper and the “bread of life” discourse with the catechetical intention to underscore the importance of getting involved with the teachings of Christ: of devouring them.