Origins Of The Eucharist With A Focus On The New Testament...

Introduction This essay discusses the origins of the Eucharist with a focus on the New Testament and the Jewish background, it briefly summaries Bradshaw’s critic of Dom Gregory Dix’s theory of early Eucharistic practices. It then examines Dom Gregory Dix’s theory of the fourfold shape of the Eucharist. It uses Justin Martyr’s writings to provide evidence to support Dom Gregory Dix’s fourfold shape, and finally, it examines Dom Gregory Dix’s fourfold shape theory using Bradshaw’s contribution to the field. Origins of the Eucharist All the four canonical gospels account that Jesus and his disciples had an evening meal before Jesus’ death. This meal has been called the Last Supper. The synoptic gospel narratives refer to this Last Supper†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"Thanksgiving† (in Greek, â€Å"ÃŽ µÃ¡ ½ Ãâ€¡ÃŽ ±Ã ÃŽ ¹ÃÆ'Ï„Î ¯ÃŽ ±Ã¢â‚¬ ) is generally regarded as the Greek equivalent of berakah that is, the Jewish â€Å"blessing† addressed to God at meals over the food and drink. It is in this sense that the term was originally used in connection with the common meal of the early Christian community, at which the â€Å"blessing† or â€Å"thanksgiving† had special reference to Jesus Christ . Some of the Eucharistic celebrations of the early Christians included a meal called an agape feast, but it is necessary to note that this practice as well as the terminology might have been different in communities . The origin of the Eucharist might also be found from the Todah which is a thanksgiving that is done in gratitude for a favour received from God, it includes a thanksgiving and a petition. This pattern is was relevant for future Eucharistic prayers . A very important source of information for the origin of the Eucharist is the Didache, this document contains moral instructions and directions for the pattern of the Eucharist amongst other things. Bradshaw and Dix point out that the prayers in the Didache (Chapters 9 and 10) have been recognised to have some Jewish appearance and are thought to resemble the forms of Jewish table prayers and Jewish berakah in the