Category Archives: Early Church

Who Can Say “Jesus is Anathema”?

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St. Basil the Great (died AD 379) offers the prayers of the Eucharist at the altar. The Church at prayer was thought to be the clearest revelation of the Holy Spirit. Typically, the scroll in his hands indicates the first few words of the prayer the priest says quietly for himself at the offertory of the Eucharist.


You know that as Gentiles you were marched away to mute idols, however you were led. For this reason I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says “Jesus is anathema!” and that no one can say “Jesus is Lord!” except by the Spirit of God. (1 Cor. 12:1-3)

“Anathema” was sometimes used by pagans to mean an offering was no longer available for human use but it was used in the Old Testament to mean a thing was cursed (Deut. 7:26) and therefore should not be touched. In Christian use, the word “anathema” came to mean an idea or opinion or person was outside the broad range of acceptable theological ideas or ethical behavior considered appropriate for Christians. “Arius is anathema” was common after the first ecumenical council at Nicea in AD 325.

Each slogan–Jesus is anathema/Jesus is Lord–is only two words long in Greek: anathema Iesous and kyrios Iesous. Evidently differing factions of the Corinthian parish used these slogans to identify themselves. Why would a Corinthian Christian say, “Jesus is anathema?” Presumably, this was what the Roman authorities wanted the Christians to say when they were arrested and asked to deny Christ. Perhaps some in the Corinthian parish who had gnostic tendencies used the phrase to denigrate the earthly Jesus because they thought “spiritual” experiences were more important; this might explain the hostility between those with certain “spiritual gifts” or “spiritual experiences” and the rest of the parish that St. Paul deals with in other portions of his epistle.

“Jesus is Lord!” was probably a quote from the baptism service in which a new believer affirmed their faith in Christ and was immersed in the water to die and rise with Christ. This affirmation-confession of faith was impossible without the prompting of the Holy Spirit. It has become a quick summary of classic teaching about the Holy Trinity to say that the Father is revealed by the Son and the Son is revealed by the Holy Spirit while the Holy Spirit is revealed by the Church. (Readers might be interested to read Vladimir Lossky’s thoughts on this here or here.)

Shameless self-promotion: However, the Holy Spirit was not always recognized as a distinct person apart from Christ or the Father. For an easy-to-read description of how the Holy Spirit was recognized and the Holy Trinity proclaimed, see Chapter 3 in my introduction to church history, which is also available here.

Whoever Eats or Drinks in an Unworthy Manner

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This icon of Melchizedek is one of several that I painted many years ago. You can see the curls of the challah bread in his hand reflected in the curls of his beard. He wears the turban of a high priest and the crown of a king, as he was both priest of God Most High and king of (Jeru-)Salem. His sacrifice of bread and wine (described in Genesis 14 and Psalm 110) is considered an anticipation of the Eucharist.


Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself…. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgement upon himself. (1 Cor. 11:27-29)

The apostle’s words are blunt and sharp. Whoever shares in the Eucharist unworthily brings condemnation on themselves. Although meant to be life-giving, the Holy Gifts can bring judgement and condemnation because the presence of God is a two-edged sword: his light exposes and reveals the truth, whatever that truth might be. If it reveals our honest struggle to live in fellowship with him, we share the fellowship we seek. If it reveals either no such struggle or even active struggle to avoid his light, then we are judged because our partaking of the Eucharist reveals that we knew better, that we turned our back on our own words by refusing to even attempt to live up to the words we said at our baptism and at the celebration of the Eucharist.

“What does it mean to receive unworthily? To receive in mockery, to receive in contempt.”

St. Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 227

How do we mock the Eucharist? When we dare to consume the Eucharist when we are allowing ourselves to be consumed with greed, or anger, or malice. These attitudes are what make us unworthy to receive the Holy Gifts. It was these attitudes–especially greed and selfishness–on display among the Corinthians that made them refuse to wait for one another at the parish dinners, some eating too much and getting drunk while others were going hungry.

To struggle against our greed, anger, or malice is a sign of life and God honors that struggle by remaining in fellowship with the one who struggles. If we give up the struggle against these attitudes, we are already spiritually dead, even if we are physically still alive.

“Do you work wonders for the dead? Will those who have died stand up and give you thanks?” (Psalm 88:11) This question in the psalms concerns not just those dead and buried in the ground but those spiritually dead, still walking around the surface of the earth. In hell, there is no Eucharist; the spiritually dead, in need of Resurrection, are equally outside the Eucharist. “For in death, no one remembers you; and who will give you thanks in the grave?” (Psalm 6:5)

The dead, those who have surrendered to their greed-anger-malice, are incapable of giving thanks or honest participation in the Eucharist. These are the people who mock the Eucharist and receive it with contempt. Struggling against these attitudes are what make us capable of giving thanks and honest participation in the Eucharist; even if we fail and must renew our struggle time-after-time-after-time-after-time, this is the behavior of a person who honors the Eucharist and avoids bringing judgement and condemnation upon themselves.

One Goes Hungry While Another Gets Drunk, Part 2

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Judith with the head of Holofernes, Lucas Cranach The Elder. (c. 1530) In the Book of Judith, the Jewish heroine enters the tent of the Assyrian general Holofernes, gets him drunk and chops off his head to save her town. Judith, who is “the pride of all our people and the glory of our race” is considered to be a type of the Mother of God: As Judith beheaded Holofernes, so also is Mary the woman who by her divine pregnancy and childbearing (of Jesus) crushed the head of the serpentine demon, the Devil. Read more about Judith as a type here.


For in eating, each one by preference takes his or her own meal; and one goes hungry while another gets drunk. Don’t you have houses for eating and drinking? (1 Cor. 11:21-22)

The apostle condemns the parish members who are better off bringing their own food and wine to parish dinners and then refusing to share, getting drunk while other people at dinner are going hungry. The meal that was meant to erase and heal social divisions only exposed these divisions and made them worse.

The contrast between the “haves” and the “have nots” is a classic theme of Greek and Roman writers. Pliny complained that some hosts served “cheap and paltry” food and wine to guests that they thought less important while having “elegant dishes” served to themselves and a few special guests. Pliny thought this was sordid behavior. (Epistle 2.6)

Other writers, like Juvenal, made fun of hosts who did this. The host was not refusing to spend money, Juvenal said; the host just wanted to cause his guests pain. “What comedy … is more amusing than a disappointed stomach?” A host who did this was truly malicious, Juvenal thought.

Socrates insisted that meals be truly communal experiences. Plutarch warned against disorder at meals and dinner parties. Nevertheless, drunkenness was so common at common meals that Sparta and Crete outlawed dinner parties. Even in the Old Testament, hosts were urged to take care of their guests before sitting down at the table themselves. The host who is generous with food is blessed and guests were expected to help others before helping themselves to the meal. (Sirach 31-32)

Alas, the misbehavior of the Corinthians at dinner had a long pedigree. Their misbehavior revealed that they despised the Church rather than loving their brothers and sisters, as they claimed. Actions always speak louder than words.

Paul reminds us that the Master gave up everything, including himself, for us. But we are reluctant to even share a little food with our fellow believers…. Do not dishonor your brothers or neglect them in their hunger. Do not get drunk. Do not insult the Church. When you come together, give thanks for what you have to eat and do not cut yourself off from your neighbors.

St. John Chrysostom, Homily 27 on 1st Corinthians