Justin Time!

Yesterday I identified some of the common features recognizable by Catholics in St. Justin’s description of the Second Century liturgy. There were two other comments I wanted to make about the extract we studied last night in the JP2 Group from Justin’s First Apology.

Accept no imitations

It is popular these days to assert that Christianity just stole ideas from all the other religions around it. It is fortuitous, therefore, that we have the testimony of Justin asserting that it was the Mithras cult which imitated the Christian Eucharist and not the other way around:

“This the wicked devils have imitated, commanding the same thing to be done in the mysteries of Mithras. There, in the mystic rites of initiation, bread and a cup of water are placed amid certain incantations. This you already know or can discover”

Now, whether you choose to believe Justin’s assertion is another matter, but it is significant that we have a Christian writing to a Pagan Emperor trying to set the record straight.

Family Mealtimes

One of the complaints you often hear from non-Catholic Christians relates to the Catholic Church’s restrictions concerning Holy Communion and inter-communion with non-Catholics. There are requirements laid down by the Catholic Church which must be met in order for someone to receive Communion. That’s today in 2012, but what did the Church say in AD 150?

“This food we call Eukaristia [the Eucharist]. No one is allowed to partake but he who believes that our doctrines are true, who has been washed with the washing for the remission of sins and rebirth, and who is living as Christ has enjoined”

Justin gives us three conditions for receiving communion:

1. Doctrinal unity (“…who believes that our doctrines are true…”)
Justin writes that the communicant must hold to Christian orthodoxy. The doctrines which must be believed would include what Justin says about the Eucharist:

“We do not receive these as common bread and drink…we have been taught that the food blessed by the prayer of his word…is the flesh and blood of Jesus who was made flesh.”

2. Baptized (“…who has been washed with the washing for the remission of sins and rebirth…”)
Those who had not been baptized were not allowed to receive the Eucharist. In fact, in the Early Church, those preparing for baptism (“catechumens”) did not remain for the Eucharistic liturgy.

3. Right living (“…who is living as Christ has enjoined…”)
Today we would call this “living in a state of grace”. In the Early Church serious sin was seen as an impediment to reception of the Eucharist.

So that’s what the Church believed in AD 150…and these are basically the same conditions which must be met today! In order to receive Holy Communion one must be baptized, in union with the Church, believe in Jesus’ real presence in the Eucharist and be in a state of grace.

I’ve probably got one more post to write concerning Justin. Next week I’ll be writing about Hippolytus of Rome…