When speaking to his disciples about managing sin within the Church, Christ states the following: “For where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them” (Matthew 18:20). Here and through the rest of his mission, Jesus establishes the importance of a sense of community both in dealing with Church issues and maintaining the original meaning behind his messages. After his death, his disciples continue to embrace the value of intimacy, meeting in small groups and stressing internal as opposed to external growth. As the Church amasses more followers and expands even further by becoming the official religion of the Roman Empire, it begins to lose some of its original focus. Although through expansion the Church accumulates a greater number
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This becomes evident through dogmatic and liturgical changes in the Church. Nothing better exemplifies this than the changing role of the Eucharist. Without much time having been passed since the death and resurrection of Christ, no official doctrine of Eucharistic theology exists for the early Church. Instead, the Eucharist speaks more to the internal fulfillment symbolized by the self-giving nature of Christ through his death. Each day becomes a blessing when God loves his people so dearly and spiritual balance and selflessness are the keys to happiness (31). The bread itself had no literal meaning and usually it was held in baskets and passed around for everyone to break from at the dinner table. The same could be said for the wine. The later church however, focuses more on the attention given to the literal bread and wine as opposed to the spiritual significance behind it. More attention is paid to putting the Eucharist and wine in proper vessels (gold, silver, bone, ivory) rather than the communicative nature the Eucharist should make one think about. (114). The Christian notion of reverence transforms from living life like Christ and attempting to make the Church into this spiritual body, to making sure not to desecrate what was thought of as his literal
This becomes evident through dogmatic and liturgical changes in the Church. Nothing better exemplifies this than the changing role of the Eucharist. Without much time having been passed since the death and resurrection of Christ, no official doctrine of Eucharistic theology exists for the early Church. Instead, the Eucharist speaks more to the internal fulfillment symbolized by the self-giving nature of Christ through his death. Each day becomes a blessing when God loves his people so dearly and spiritual balance and selflessness are the keys to happiness (31). The bread itself had no literal meaning and usually it was held in baskets and passed around for everyone to break from at the dinner table. The same could be said for the wine. The later church however, focuses more on the attention given to the literal bread and wine as opposed to the spiritual significance behind it. More attention is paid to putting the Eucharist and wine in proper vessels (gold, silver, bone, ivory) rather than the communicative nature the Eucharist should make one think about. (114). The Christian notion of reverence transforms from living life like Christ and attempting to make the Church into this spiritual body, to making sure not to desecrate what was thought of as his literal