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First Apology

About this book
Chapter 66

And this food is called among us Εὐχαριστία [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. 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 in remembrance of Me, 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.

Texts in conversation

Compare Didache 9:5 and Justin Martyr, First Apology 66.1

Early Christian

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Summary

In the Didache, an early church manual, only the baptized may eat and drink the Eucharist. The Christian theologian Justin Martyr requires the same limit but, unlike the Didache, calls the food the flesh and blood of Jesus.

Passages

Didache 9:5

Early Christian
1 Regarding the Eucharist, conduct the Eucharist in this way: 2 First, concerning the Cup, say: 'We thank You, our Father, for the Holy Vine of David Your servant, which You revealed to us through Jesus Your Son; may You be glorified forever.' 3 Concerning the broken Bread, say: 'We thank You, our Father, for the life and knowledge that You revealed to us through Jesus Your Son. May You be glorified forever.' 4 'Just as this broken bread was scattered over the hills and then gathered together and became one, so let Your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Your kingdom. Yours is the glory and power through Jesus Christ forever.' 5 Only those who have been baptized in the Lord's Name may eat or drink from your Eucharist. For the Lord also said, 'Do not give what is holy to dogs.'
90–120 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Didache

Justin Martyr, First Apology 66.1

Early Christian
And this food is called among us Εὐχαριστία [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.
155–160 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Justin Martyr, First Apology

References

“... We can only speculate as to the precise content of the Eucharistic prayers, which probably did not include the words of institution (Buchanan 2007a: 236) and to which Justin refers as being improvised (1 Apol. 67.5, see above). This is a significant difference from the Didache discussed above. Similarly to Justin (1 Apol. 66.1), the Didache is ex plicit in restricting the consumption of the Eucharist to those who have been baptized. As a reason for this restriction, the author refers to a saying ascribed to the Lord: ‘Do not give the holy (to hagion) to dogs’ (Did. 9:5). We do not have conclusive evidence to de cide whether what we are dealing with here is primarily a social norm, signifying group exclusivism, or a belief in the Eucharist as equipped with a special quality. While the historical context may support the first option (see Sandt 2015), drawing on the theor etical framework elaborated above, we should not exclude the second. Since the rigidity of the prayers counts among those aspects of ritualization which intuitively contribute to a ritual being evaluated as more effective, the blessing of the bread and wine by a fixed (rather than improvised) prayer can easily come to be perceived as the prayer somehow altering the elements. The Eucharistic theology advanced by the author of the Didache suffers from a ser ious disadvantage, however. Contrary to the rest of the sources discussed here, the meal elements are not related to, compared to or identified with the body and blood of Jesus. ...”
Vojtěch Kaše, “Meal Practices,” in The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Ritual, ed. Risto Uro, Juliette J. Day, Richard E. DeMaris, and Rikard Roitto (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019), 421.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Didache 9:5 and Justin Martyr, First Apology 66.1

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