From Jerusalem to Rome

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From Jerusalem to Rome FROM JERUSALEM TO ROME The Jewish origins and Catholic tradition of liturgy Michael Moreton 2018 Copyright © 2018, Estate of Michael Moreton All rights reserved. This work may be freely redistributed, but not modified in any way except by the copyright holders I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come: That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and that he should show light unto the people, and to the Gentiles. Acts 26:22,23 And the night following, the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified concerning me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. Acts 23:11 Contents Preface ix Acknowledgements xiii Editorial note xv Abbreviations xvi 1 Israel and the Church 1 2 Synagogue and Church 7 3 The Daily Prayer of Israel and the Church 15 (i) The Tefillah: the sanctification of time 15 (ii) The Lord's Prayer 27 (iii) Prayer in the catechumenate in the second century 30 (iv) Daily prayer in the third century 31 (v) Daily prayer in the basilica 35 (vi) Monastic prayer 37 (vii) The dis-integration of the Church's prayer 40 (viii) Reform 42 4 The Faith of the Church 47 (i) The Christ event and Christology 47 (ii) The content of the faith and baptism 49 (iii) Catechesis, the contract, and the baptismal formula in the East 53 Synopsis: The Creed in the East 58 (iv) Catechesis, the contract, and the baptismal formula in Apostolic Tradition and related documents 62 Synopsis: The contract and creed in Apostolic Tradition and related documents 64 (v) The catechumenate, the 'return' of the creed, and the baptismal interrogations in the West 68 Synopsis: The Creed in the West 72 (vi) The conciliar creed and baptism 73 (vii) The conciliar creed and the eucharist 75 (viii) The creed in the daily prayer of the Church 76 (ix) Dis-integration in the credal tradition 78 v 5 The Origin and Early Development of the Baptismal Liturgy 81 (i) Antecedents in Judaism 81 (ii) Baptism in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts 83 (iii) Baptism in the Johannine writings 85 (iv) Baptism in the Pauline Epistles, other Deutero-Pauline Epistles, and in the Apostolic Fathers 87 (v) The baptismal liturgy in the Apologists and Cyprian 90 Synopsis: The baptismal liturgy in the Apologists and Cyprian 97 (vi) The Jewish and gnostic environment of the early baptismal liturgy 98 6 The Baptismal Liturgy in the East 101 (i) Two main lines of tradition 101 (ii) The Church Orders 101 (iii) Apostolic Tradition and the Sacramentary of Serapion 102 Synopsis: The baptismal liturgy in Serapion, Apostolic Tradition and related documents 107 (iv) Didascalia Apostolorum, the Acts of (Judas) Thomas, and the Liturgical Homilies of Narsai 113 (v) The liturgies and fathers of Jerusalem, Antioch and Byzantium 116 Synopsis: The Baptismal Liturgy in Jerusalem, Antioch, Byzantium, and East Syria 124 7 The Baptismal Liturgy in the West 131 (i) The catechumenate and Lent 131 (ii) The baptismal formula from the fourth to the eighth centuries 132 (iii) The baptismal formula from the eighth to the eleventh centuries 138 (iv) The basic rite of baptism and chrismation with the laying on of the hand 140 (v) Baptism, presbyteral and episcopal chrismation, with the laying on of the hand, at the Easter Vigil 142 Synopsis: The baptismal liturgy in the West: Milan and Rome 145 (vi) Baptism and presbyteral chrismation in the absence of the bishop 148 (vii) The disintegration of the baptismal liturgy 149 8 Liturgy on Sabbath and on Sunday 153 (i) The Sabbath morning liturgy of the synagogue 153 (a) The canon and lectionary 153 (b) The sermon 156 (c) The prayers 156 (d) The benediction of the priests 158 (e) Psalmody 158 (ii) The transition from synagogue to the church in New Testament times 159 (a) Mark-Matthew 159 (b) Luke-Acts 160 (c) John 160 (d) Paul 162 (e) Conclusion 162 vi Contents (iii) The Scriptural synaxis in the pre-Nicene Church 163 (a) Justin 163 (b) Tertullian 165 (iv) The subsequent development of the Scriptural synaxis 165 (a) The lessons 165 (b) Psalmody 168 (c) The sermon 169 (d) The prayers, the salutation of peace, and dismissals 171 In the East 171 In the West 174 9 Origin and Development of the Anaphoral Liturgy 177 (i) The post-exilic Jewish renaissance and the age of suffering and martyrdom 177 (ii) The Shema` and the preceding and following benedictions 180 Synopsis: The Shema` and the preceding and following benedictions 182 (iii) The Sabbath meal and the Church's supper 203 Synopsis: The Sabbath meal and the church's supper 205 (iv) The Jewish and Christian community of prayer in the Shema` 209 (v) The Shema` and the anaphoral prayer 211 (a) The 'Syrian' group of texts (Jerusalem, Antioch, Byzantium, East Syria) 212 Synopsis: The 'Syrian' anaphoral prayer - Summary of Contents 222 (b) The Egyptian group of texts (Greek, Coptic) 228 (1) Apostolic Tradition and Serapion 228 (2) The anaphoral prayer of St Mark and its antecedents 231 Synopsis: The Egyptian anaphoral prayer - Summary of Contents 236 (c) The Western texts 244 (1) The Roman canon (Milan and Rome) 244 Synopsis: The Western anaphoral prayer - Milan and Rome 251 (2) The orationes and vere dignum 253 (vi) The setting of the anaphoral prayer 258 (a) Offertory 258 (1) Offertory gifts 258 (2) Offertory prayers 266 (3) Summary 270 (b) Communion 272 (vii) The dis-integration of the anaphoral liturgy 277 vii 10 Order 285 (i) Liturgy and order in the Temple 285 (ii) Liturgy and order at Qumran, and among the scribes and Pharisees 286 (iii) The emergence of the apostolate in the Church 287 (iv) The transition of categories of order in Judaism to the Apostolic Church after AD 70 290 (1) Priest 290 (2) Rabbi 291 (3) Presbyter 292 (4) The wider context 293 (v) Major and minor orders in the Church 295 Synopsis: Orders in the East 297 Synopsis: Orders in the West 298 (vi) Priesthood in the Church 300 (vii) The dis-integration of order 305 11 The Canon of Scripture 309 (i) The canon of the Old Testament 309 (ii) The Gospel canon 311 (iii) The Epistle corpus 315 (iv) The canon of the New Testament 317 Synopsis: The canon of the New Testament (2nd-3rd centuries) 321 (v) The Scriptural canon and tradition 322 (vi) Dis-integration in the use of Scripture 325 12 The Re-integration of Tradition 327 A Select Bibliography – Texts 331 (I) Scriptural: canonical and non-canonical. 331 (ii) Liturgical: Sacraments 333 (a) Collections 333 (b) Editions: Eastern texts 333 (c) Editions: Western texts 334 (iii) Liturgical: Daily Prayer 336 (a) Eastern 336 (b) Western 336 (c) Jewish 336 (iv) Creeds 336 A Select Bibliography – Studies 337 with reference to chapters Index 347 viii Preface This study is devoted to the transmission of the kerygma of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from Jerusalem to Rome, from the Apostolic Age to the time of the hegemony of Byzantium in the East and Rome in the West. It draws upon two theological disciplines that are usually pursued in separation from one another, namely the critical study of Scriptures both of the Old Testament and of the New, and the critical study of Liturgy both in the East and the West. The reason for thus seeking to integrate these distinct disciplines is that the tradition of Christ cannot be received in its wholeness without both. In short, the key to the understanding of Christology is prayer. The understanding of Christ, that is to say, is not a purely intellectual exercise, in which the arbiter is the latest stage of the critical study of the Old and New Testaments. Such a study is at once unavoidable in modern scholarship and indispensable to sound faith. But the intellect needs to acknowledge its limitations, and this it does in prayer. Most of the epistles of the New Testament begin with the mention of prayer, and the synagogue and Temple form the liturgical background of the whole of the Gospel tradition. The mystery of Christ - that which is disclosed in history and that which remains hidden in God - requires to be approached by both exegesis and prayer. The contemporary new quest of the historical Jesus brings its own enrichment to our knowledge of the first Christian century. But it represents an interest which is different from the interest which the first Christians had in their own times. Their overwhelming interest was in the death and resurrection of Christ. We ourselves may ask what happened; but they asked what was going on. St Paul distinguished between a knowledge of Christ in the flesh and a new mode of knowledge of him in consequence of his resurrection from the dead.1 To be in Christ is to be incorporated into his humanity in his death and resurrection. And this incorporation is effected both in faith and also by means of baptism and participation in Christ's bread and cup. In the Gospels historical reminiscence, for all its precious testimony, is again and again overshadowed by the kerygma. Indeed so closely interwoven are kerygma and event, that it is virtually impossible to distinguish between them in such a way as to leave event standing in credible isolation, just as it happened. When it comes to the death of Christ, it can be viewed in this light or that, from the standpoint of the Jerusalem Council or of the Roman Procurator.
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