Ignatius and the Eucharist
We’ve been digging into the seven letters of Ignatius, and have so far discussed his convictions of Church unity, authority, and martyrdom. For this blog, we’re going to look at another topic that is often brought up when discussing Ignatius: the Eucharist. While some denominations call this Communion, or the Lord’s Supper, we’ll be addressing it as the Eucharist because that is how it is typically addressed when discussing Ignatius and the early Church.
We briefly went over how The Didache gave instructions and a prayer regarding the Eucharist. Besides The Didache, Ignatius is really the only other Apostolic Father to talk in detail about the Eucharist. While he doesn’t share his entire theology around the sacrament, it’s clear that it was crucial to him.
Examples
Toward the end of his letter to the Ephesians, Ignatius tells the congregation that he hopes to write a second letter to them. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear he ever got to write it. It seems that he wanted to further elaborate in this second letter on the Gospel and Christian faith:
Ignatius to the Ephesians 20.2: “…Especially [will I do this] if the Lord make known to me that you come together man by man in common through grace, individually, in one faith, and in Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David according to the flesh, being both the Son of man and the Son of God, so that you obey the bishop and the presbytery with an undivided mind, breaking one and the same bread, which is the medicine of immortality, and the antidote to prevent us from dying, but [which causes] that we should live for ever in Jesus Christ.
Ignatius to the Philadelphians 4: “Take heed, then, to have but one Eucharist. For there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup to [show forth] the unity of His blood; one altar; as there is one bishop, along with the presbytery and deacons, my fellow-servants: that so, whatsoever you do, you may do it according to [the will of] God.”
We previously discussed the heresy of Docetism being a concern for Ignatius in his writings. In his letter to the Smyrnaeans, he mentions some of the heretical actions they commit. In chapter 7, he states: “They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of His goodness, raised up again.”
Take note how the “flesh” of Jesus is mentioned in these passages, as this will be discussed later in the blog. Last, we’ll look at one more quote that doesn’t explicitly mention the Eucharist, but Christians who believe and defend the doctrine of Christ’s Presence being in the Eucharist will often reference:
Ignatius to the Romans 7.3: “I have no delight in corruptible food, nor in the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who became afterwards of the seed of David and Abraham; and I desire the drink of God, namely His blood, which is incorruptible love and eternal life.”
What does this mean?
For Protestants who hold to a view that the Eucharist is purely a symbolic practice, these quotes from Ignatius are sometimes seen as problematic. For those who hold to doctrines like Consubstantiation, Transubstantiation, or other views that affirm Christ’s Presence in the bread and wine, these texts are seen as proof that the early Church always believed in their tradition.
Personally, I’ve gone a bit back and forth on the issue. But regardless of where you or I stand on the Eucharist, I do think that Ignatius’ quotes have sometimes been misunderstood by both sides of the debate and the bigger point has been missed.
There are a couple key points surrounding the context of his comments that I think need to be addressed. It may be that after recognizing these points you are still convinced on where you stand regarding the Eucharist and what Ignatius has to say about it. But I hope this can give some appropriate context to Ignatius and his primary conviction will be seen.
The Eucharist, Church Authority, Unity, and Martyrdom
As discussed previously when going over the major themes in these letters, Ignatius is passionate on Christians submitting to their local bishop, being unified in Christ, addressing heresy, and his upcoming martyrdom. When quoting Ignatius, it is very common for these issues to be overlapped in his statements. In fact, there is so much overlap that I would argue that for Ignatius, all of these issues are tied together: Church unity, the Eucharist, bishop submission, heresy, and martyrdom.
Church Unity and Heresy
“Ignatius’ dominant concern in these texts is to defend the unity of the church against false teachers, who would divide the church and adulterate the faith. The believers’ main protection, he makes clear, is unswerving loyalty to the truth, particularly as represented in and by their bishop. This is the context in which his statements about the Eucharist must be placed.”
As previously discussed, Ignatius desperately wishes to see the churches in complete harmony and bearing the fruit of Christ. The biggest threat to this in these seven letters is division, and Ignatius sees it on full display with the Docetists. Leading into the passage previously mentioned from his letter to the Smyrnaeans on how the Docetists reject the Eucharist and prayer, Ignatius also shares how the cult has no care for those in need:
“But consider those who are of a different opinion with respect to the grace of Christ which has come unto us, how opposed they are to the will of God. They have no regard for love; no care for the widow, or the orphan, or the oppressed; of the bond, or of the free; of the hungry, or of the thirsty.”
Now why would the Docetists not care for the vulnerable and marginalized? Well, if you reject that Jesus came in the flesh, actually died on the cross, and truly resurrected, it will significantly shape how you see the world. If you believe in a Jesus that didn’t suffer and wasn’t even human, then humans suffering in the world may not be seen as a priority. If you reject Jesus’s humanity, of course you’ll reject the Eucharist. Even if they promoted a Memorialist, more symbolic view of the Eucharist (which I don’t think Ignatius holds to), you still wouldn’t partake because the Eucharist is done in remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice (Luke 22:15-20).
This is part of why everything is connected in Ignatius’s writings. The false teaching leads to division, ignoring those in need, and ultimately rejecting a core Gospel truth (Klawiter, 2007, Pg. 130-131). There is far more at stake for Ignatius than how a Christian theologically understands the mystery of the Eucharist sacrament.
For Ignatius, coming together in Christ is how they not only remain fruitful but also fight the spiritual enemies:
“Take heed, then, often to come together to give thanks to God, and show forth His praise. For when you assemble frequently in the same place, the powers of Satan are destroyed, and the destruction at which he aims is prevented by the unity of your faith.”
John E. Lawyer elaborates more on this powerful quote:
“The community Eucharist promotes peace and harmony; it undoes Satan’s destructive works, chief among which no doubt were the gains made by false teachers; and it builds up the participants in the unity of faith.”
Martyrdom
An interesting aspect also seen in Ignatius’ thinking is how he connects his upcoming martyrdom to all of this. In the beginning of this blog, we looked at a quote from his letter to the Romans about how he desired the bread of God: Jesus. This is in regard to Ignatius seeking to not cling to his life on earth but willingly die to be with the Lord. (Ignatius to the Romans 7.1-3)
“At first glance, Ignatius seems here to identify bread/wine with the flesh/blood of Jesus Christ. But in context, the images of bread and wine illuminate instead the reality of Ignatius’ martyrdom. He uses these images to express the sacrificial meaning of his death.”
This does not necessarily mean, however, that Ignatius does not have the Eucharist at all in mind when talking about his martyrdom (Brent, 2009, Pg. 71-72). Lawyer argues that from Ignatius’ point of view, his martyrdom can be seen as a “Eucharist in reverse”, as Ignatius’ suffering will bring him to Christ (Lawyer, 1991, 23-24). However, when looking at Ignatius’ words such as in Romans 7.1-3, we should not isolate it from his context of suffering for Christ. In my opinion, it is not a definite theological statement on the Eucharist.
Conclusion
There is certainly more we could explore on Ignatius and his words regarding the Eucharist. Allen Brent among others have written extensively on the subject. But for this blog, I wanted to introduce the subject while also giving a little balance to the Eucharist debate. My hope is that when reading Ignatius and his words on the sacrament that we recognize his heart on the matter is not on how exactly they understood Christ’s Presence in the bread and wine, but rather on Christ Himself and Church unity.
Bibliography
Schaff, P. (2016). The Complete Ante-Nicene, Nicene and Post-Nicene Collection of Early Church Fathers. Toronto, Canada.
Lawyer, J. E. (1991). Eucharist and Martyrdom in the Letters of Ignatius of Antioch. Anglican Theological Review. Vol. 73, Issue 3.
Klawiter, F. C. (2007). The Eucharist and Sacramental Realism in the Thought of St. Ignatius of Antioch. Studia Liturgica. Vol. 37, Issue 2.
Brent, A. (2009). Ignatius of Antioch: A Martyr Bishop and the Origin of Episcopacy. New York, NY. T&T Clark International.