Rethinking Eucharistic Origins

Abstract

Accounts of Eucharistic origins have usually been driven by concern to establish the genealogy of later liturgical practices, and reflect broader narratives of early Christian history as either smooth transition or radical fall from primitive ideals. A more comprehensive account of early Eucharistic practice must give attention to Greco-Roman meal conventions, acknowledge the diversity of form and meaning in early Christian meals, and be more cautious about grand narratives. It would allow for consideration not only of the explicit theologies of prayer texts, but of implicit meanings involved in ritual, foods and other elements of meals. Such an emerging new paradigm may provide both a more adequate narrative of the development of the Christian Eucharist in classical historical terms, and richer interpretations of meals as a key aspect of early Christian practice.