Baptism and the Eucharist
How the early Christians prayed, fasted and met together on the Lord’s Day.
Each row is one claim. Each name is a writer, placed at the date of the passage. Select a name to read what they said.
2 of the 3 writers here teach: “Assemble on the Lord's Day.” They answer a rival view: “Keep the old Sabbath as the church's day.”
We, however, will be innocent of this sin, and we will offer earnest prayer and petition so that the Creator of all things may keep the complete number of his elect throughout the world unbroken through his beloved child, Jesus Christ.
Ἐὰν δέ τινες ἀπειθήσωσιν τοῖς ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ δἰ ἡμῶν εἰρημένοις, γινωσκέτωσαν ὅτι παραπτώσει καὶ κινδύνῳ οὐ μικρῷ ἑαυτοὺς ἐνδήσουσιν.
Let us ask whether the Lord intended to reveal the meaning of the water and the cross. Concerning the water, Scripture says of Israel that they will refuse the baptism which brings forgiveness of sins, choosing instead to build for themselves.
Ζητήσωμεν δέ, εἰ ἐμέλησεν τῷ κυρίῳ προφανερῶσαι περὶ τοῦ ὕδατος καὶ περὶ τοῦ σταυροῦ. περὶ μὲν τοῦ ὕδατος γέγραπται ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰσραήλ, πῶς τὸ βάπτισμα τὸ φέρον ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν οὐ μὴ προσδέξονται, ἀλλ’ ἑαυτοῖς οἰκοδομήσουσιν.
It is also written concerning the Sabbath in the Ten Words, in which God spoke face to face with Moses on Mount Sinai: 'You shall sanctify the Sabbath of the Lord with clean hands and a pure heart' (Exod 20:8-11; Exod 31:13).
Ἔτι οὖν καὶ περὶ τοῦ σαββάτου γέγραπται ἐν τοῖς δέκα λόγοις, ἐν οἷς ἐλάλησεν ἐν τῷ ὄρει Σινᾶ πρὸς Μωϋσῆν κατὰ πρόσωπον: Καὶ ἁγιάσατε τὸ σάββατον κυρίου χερσὶν καθαραῖς καὶ καρδίᾳ καθαρᾷ.
Now about baptism, this is how you are to baptize: after saying all these things beforehand, baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit in living water. If you do not have living water, baptize in other water; and if you cannot do it in cold water, use warm.
Περὶ δὲ τοῦ βαπτίσματος, οὕτω βαπτίσατε: ταῦτα πάντα προειπόντες, βαπτίσατε εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ἐν ὕδατι ζῶντι.
Do not fast with the hypocrites. They fast on the second day of the week and the fifth, but you are to fast on the fourth day and the preparation day. Do not pray as the hypocrites do either.
Αἱ δὲ νηστεῖαι ὑμῶν μὴ ἔστωσαν μετὰ τῶν ὑποκριτῶν. νηστεύουσι γὰρ δευτέρᾳ σαββάτων καὶ πέμπτῃ: ὑμεῖς δὲ νηστεύσατε τετράδα καὶ παρασκευήν.
Make every effort, then, to gather more often for the Eucharist of God and for glory. For when you meet together frequently, the powers of Satan are torn down, and his ruin is dissolved by the unity of your faith. Nothing is better than peace, in which every war of heavenly and earthly things is brought to nothing.
Σπουδάζετε οὖν πυκνότερον συνέρχεσθαι εἰς εὐχαριστίαν θεοῦ καὶ εἰς δόξαν. ὅταν γὰρ πυκνῶς ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ γίνεσθε, καθαιροῦνται αἱ δυνάμεις τοῦ Σατανᾶ, καὶ λύεται ὁ ὄλεθρος αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ ὁμονοίᾳ ὑμῶν τῆς πίστεως.
If those who lived in the old ways came to a new hope, no longer keeping the Sabbath but living according to the Lord's day, on which our life also dawned through him and through his death, a death some deny, through which mystery we received faith, and because of this we endure, so that we may be found disciples of…
Εἰ οὖν οἱ ἐν παλαιοῖς πράγμασιν ἀναστραφέντες εἰς καινότητα ἐλπίδος ἦλθον, μηκέτι σαββατίζοντες, ἀλλὰ κατὰ κυριακὴν ζῶντες, ἐν ᾗ καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἡμῶν ἀνέτειλεν δἰ αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ, ὅν τινες ἀρνοῦνται, δἰ οὗ μυστηρίου ἐλάβομεν τὸ πιστεύειν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ὑπομένομεν, ἵνα…
Then we all stand together and offer prayers; and, as we said before, when we have finished praying, bread is brought forward with wine and water, and the president likewise offers prayers and thanksgivings to the best of his ability, and the people give their assent by saying 'Amen.' The distribution and reception of…
Ἡμεῖς δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα λοιπὸν ἀεὶ τούτων ἀλλήλους ἀναμιμνήσκομεν· καὶ οἱ ἔχοντες τοῖς λειπομένοις πᾶσιν ἐπικουροῦμεν, καὶ σύνεσμεν ἀλλήλοις ἀεί. Ἐπὶ πᾶσί τε οἷς προσφερόμεθα εὐλογοῦμεν τὸν ποιητὴν τῶν πάντων διὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ διὰ πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου.
Our water's sacrament is a blessed thing: washed in it, we are set free from the sins of our former blindness into eternal life. This digest will not be wasted effort.
When it is laid down that no one can attain salvation without baptism, the rule rests on the Lord's own pronouncement: "Unless someone is born of water, he will not have life" (John 3:5).
One last item before we close this material: a warning about who may give and who may receive Baptism. The right to give it belongs first to the high priest — that is, the bishop. Next come presbyters and deacons, but never without the bishop's authorization, for the sake of the Church's honor.
When He gave the law of prayer, He added these words: 'And when you stand praying, forgive whatever you have against anyone, so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your sins' (Mark 11:25).