1. Why is institution narrative “better“ than Didache 9-10?
On cognitive attraction of authorized eucharist
Vojtěch Kaše (Masaryk University, Brno)
Vojtech.kase@seznam.cz

2. Theoretical Framework
● Background: scientific, explanatory approach to history (...Is Hempel really dead?...)
● Explanandum: the development of Christian meal practice from initial
diversity to final authorized unifictation on the level of transmission of mental
representation
● Explanans: cognitive and social mechanisms as the explanatory causes
– Premise: cognitive mechanisms of human mind are important for the historical
processes in macroscopic perspective
● Specific concern: conceptualization of mental reprezentation of bread as
the element in ritual
● Hypothesis: The authorized form of eucharist is more
cognitevely attractive (i.e. has better potential to
cultural transmission) than the form of this ritual
prescribed in the Didache.

3. Theoretical framework
● Cognitive historiography of religion
● History of distribution of mental representations
● Epidemiology of beliefs

4. Meals in the Greco-Roman World
(A seminar of the Society of Biblical Literature)
● Project of Redescribing Christian Origins
● Social functionalism
● Social experimentation by creating early
Christian identities
(1999) (2003) (2009)

5. Meals in the Greco-Roman World
Andrew McGowan, „Seven Theses on Eucharistic Origins“ (2007):
● FORM: Drinking accompanied or preceded (rather than following) some early
Christian meals, apparently following some versions of Jewish custom.
● FOOD AND DRINK: Food and drink in early Christian meals varied beyond the
familiar bread and wine, largely in relation to ascetic and sacrificial concerns.
NOMENCLATURE: “Lord’s Supper” was not a name for early Christian banquets.
● DISCOURSE: The “institution narratives” (stories of the Last Supper, used as prayer
texts) were not the original forms of Eucharistic prayer but were interpolated in the
3rd century or after.
● MEAL TYPES: “Agape” (Love-feast) was not a distinct meal separate from the
Eucharist, but a term applied to Christian banquets in some communities.
● SUBSTANCE: The Eucharist remained a substantial meal into the third century.
● DIVERSITY: Diversity of early Christian meal practice was real but limited, its variety
largely determined by ascetic concerns.

6. Meals in the Greco-Roman World
Andrew McGowan, „Seven Theses on Eucharistic Origins“ (2007):
● FORM: Drinking accompanied or preceded (rather than following) some early
Christian meals, apparently following some versions of Jewish custom.
● FOOD AND DRINK: Food and drink in early Christian meals varied beyond the
familiar bread and wine, largely in relation to ascetic and sacrificial concerns.
NOMENCLATURE: “Lord’s Supper” was not a name for early Christian banquets.
● DISCOURSE: The “institution narratives” (stories of the Last Supper, used as prayer
texts) were not the original forms of Eucharistic prayer but were interpolated in the
3rd century or after.
● MEAL TYPES: “Agape” (Love-feast) was not a distinct meal separate from the
Eucharist, but a term applied to Christian banquets in some communities.
● SUBSTANCE: The Eucharist remained a substantial meal into the third century.
● DIVERSITY: Diversity of early Christian meal practice was real but limited, its variety
largely determined by ascetic concerns.

7. Sources
● First Epistle to the Corinthians 11:17-29 (50-60)
● Didache 9-10 (60-150)
● Apostolic Tradition, ch. 4, 36, and 37
● (other sources: Ignatios, Justin...)

8. Church orders – „living literature“
text fluidity, improvenment in oral
performance
Bradshaw 2002: 76

9. First Epistle to the Corinthians
(11:23) For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you,
That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
(24) And when he had given thanks (εὐχαριστήσας), he broke it, and said,
Take, eat: this is my body (τοῦτο μού ἐστιν τὸ σῶμα), which is broken for
you: this do in remembrance of me. (25) After the same manner also he took
the cup...
(26) For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do show the
Lord's death till he comes. (27) Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread,
and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and
blood of the Lord. (28) But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of
that bread, and drink of that cup. (29) For he that eats and drinks unworthily,
eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

10. First Epistle to the Corinthians
(11:23) For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you,
That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
(24) And when he had given thanks (εὐχαριστήσας), he broke it, and said,
Take, eat: this is my body (τοῦτο μού ἐστιν τὸ σῶμα), which is broken for
you: this do in remembrance of me. (25) After the same manner also he took
the cup...
(26) For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do show the
Lord's death till he comes. (27) Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread,
and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and
blood of the Lord. (28) But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of
that bread, and drink of that cup. (29) For he that eats and drinks
unworthily, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's
body.

11. What is really prescribed?
● Agent: ordained person?
● Action: prescribed prayer?
● Participants: baptism as the enabling ritual for
participants?
● Frequency?
● Bread as metaphor for Jesus
● Institution narrative as etiological myth

12. Didache 9-10
(9:1) As for thanksgiving (Περὶ δὲ τῆς εὐχαριστίας), give thanks this way.
(9:2) First, with regard to the cup...
(9:3) And with regard to the fragment (Περὶ δὲ τοῦ κλὰσματος): We thank you, our Father, for the life
and knowledge which you made known to us through Jesus your servant (διὰ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ
παιδός σου)). To you be glory forever.
(9:4) As this fragment (κλάσμα) lay scattered upon the mountains and became a single [fragment]
when it had been gathered, may your Church (σου ἐκκλησία) be gathered into your kingdom from the
ends of the earth. For glory and power are yours, through Jesus Christ, forever.
(9:5) But no one eat or drink of your thanksgiving (ἀπὸ τῆς εὐχαριστίας ὑμῶν), unless have been
baptized into the name of the Lord (ἀλλ'οἱ βαπτισθέντες εἰς ὄνομα κυρίου); since the Lord has said,
"Do not give to dogs what is holy to dogs (Μὴ δῶτε τὸ ἃγιον τοῖς Κυσί)."
(10:1) When you have had your fill, give thanks this way:
(10:2) We thank you, holy Father, for your holy name...
(10:3b); … But you graced us with spiritual food and drink (πνευματικ ὲν τροφὴν κα ὶ ποτ ὸν) and
eternal life through your servant...
(10:6) If anyone is holy, let him come (Εἴ τις ἅγιός ἐστιν, ἐρχέσθω); if anyone is not, let him repent.
Maranatha. Amen.

13. Didache 9-10
(9:1) As for thanksgiving (Περὶ δὲ τῆς εὐχαριστίας), give thanks this way.
(9:2) First, with regard to the cup...
(9:3) And with regard to the fragment (Περὶ δὲ τοῦ κλὰσματος): We thank you, our Father, for the life
and knowledge which you made known to us through Jesus your servant (διὰ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ
παιδός σου)). To you be glory forever.
(9:4) As this fragment (κλάσμα) lay scattered upon the mountains and became a single [fragment]
when it had been gathered, may your Church (σου ἐκκλησία) be gathered into your kingdom from the
ends of the earth. For glory and power are yours, through Jesus Christ, forever.
(9:5) But no one eat or drink of your thanksgiving (ἀπὸ τῆς εὐχαριστίας ὑμῶν), unless have been
baptized into the name of the Lord (ἀλλ'οἱ βαπτισθέντες εἰς ὄνομα κυρίου); since the Lord has said,
"Do not give what is holy to dogs (Μὴ δῶτε τὸ ἃγιον τοῖς Κυσί)."
(10:1) When you have had your fill, give thanks this way:
(10:2) We thank you, holy Father, for your holy name...
(10:3b); … But you graced us with spiritual food and drink (πνευματικὲν τροφὴν καὶ ποτὸν) and
eternal life through your servant...
(10:6) If anyone is holy, let him come (Εἴ τις ἅγιός ἐστιν, ἐρχέσθω); if anyone is not, let him repent.
Maranatha. Amen.

14. What is really prescribed?
● Agent: ordained person?
● Action: text of prayer
● Patient: baptism as the enabling ritual for participants
● Frequency: Didache 14...
● Bread as a metaphor for the Church
● No etiological myth
● Exclusivism of community and special
quality of blessed bread!

15. The Apostolic tradition
(4:2) Then the deacons shall present the oblation to him [new bishop], and he shall lay his
hand upon it, and give thanks (gratias agens), with the entire council of elders, saying:
(4:3) The Lord be with you. And all reply: And with your spirit. (…)
(4:9) [Jesus] taking the bread, and giving thanks to you, said, "Take, eat, for this is my
body which is broken for you (Accipite, manducate, hoc est corpus meum quod pro vobis
confringetur)." Likewise the chalice, saying, „This is my blood which is shed for you.
(4:10) Whenever you do this, do this (in) memory of me.“
(ch. 36) The faithful shall be careful to partake of the eucharist before eating anything
else. For if they eat with faith, even though some deadly poison is given to them, after this
it will not be able to harm them.
(ch. 37) All shall be careful so that no unbeliever tastes of the eucharist (ut non infidelis
gustet de eucharistia), nor a mouse or other animal, nor that any of it falls and is lost. For
it is the Body of Christ, to be eaten by those who believe, and not to be scorned (Corpus
enim est Chr(ist)i edendum credentibus et non contemnendum).

16. The Apostolic tradition
(4:2) Then the deacons shall present the oblation to him [new bishop], and he shall lay his
hand upon it, and give thanks (gratias agens), with the entire council of elders, saying:
(4:3) The Lord be with you. And all reply: And with your spirit. (…)
(4:9) [Jesus] taking the bread, and giving thanks to you, said, "Take, eat, for this is my
body which is broken for you (Accipite, manducate, hoc est corpus meum quod pro vobis
confringetur)." Likewise the chalice, saying, „This is my blood which is shed for you.
(4:10) Whenever you do this, do this (in) memory of me.“
(ch. 36) The faithful shall be careful to partake of the eucharist before eating anything
else. For if they eat with faith, even though some deadly poison is given to them, after this
it will not be able to harm them.
(ch. 37) All shall be careful so that no unbeliever tastes of the eucharist (ut non infidelis
gustet de eucharistia), nor a mouse or other animal, nor that any of it falls and is lost. For
it is the Body of Christ, to be eaten by those who believe, and not to be scorned (Corpus
enim est Chr(ist)i edendum credentibus et non contemnendum).

17. What is really prescribed?
● Agent: ordained bishop (ch. 3-4)
● Action: prayer using institution narrative
● Elements: magical transformed
● Participants: magical transformed by
consumation of these elements

18. Problems with socio-functionalistic
approach
Matthias Klinghardt, „The So-Called 'Eucharistic Words' in
the Context of Greco-Roman Meals...“ (2010)
● Institution narrative: „communal sense“
● Rather ecclesiology than Christology
● “This is my body' does not reflexively refer to Jesus'
own body (physical or other), but to the of his
disciples” (Klinghardt 2010: 5).
Hal Taussig, In the Beginnings was the Meal... (2009)
● “The conventional idea of ritual as esoteric gesture
(in this case, a mediavel eucharist) remained
intact and unconnected to social structures and
experimentation” (Taussig 2009: 56).
●

19. Words
of prayer
Social level:
actions

20. Words
of prayer
Social level:
Social actions
Ecological constraints
(cultural context,
authority...)
Potential effect
Cultural level:
transmission

21. Reference to supernatural agents
Words
of prayer
Social level:
Social actions
Mental Mental
representation Mental representation
of action 1 representations of action 2
expressed
in prayer
Religious
conceptuall scheme
Cognitive level:
representations
Cognitive constraints
Ecological constraints
(cultural context,
Authority...)
Potential effect
Cultural level:
transmission

22. Enabling ritual: ordination Reference to supernatural agents Enabling ritual: baptism
Words
of prayer
Social level:
Social actions
Mental Mental
representation Mental representation
of action 1 representations of action 2
expressed
in prayer
Religious
conceptuall scheme
Cognitive level:
representations
Cognitive constraints
Ecological constraints
(cultural context,
Authority...)
Potential effect
Cultural level:
transmission

23. „Eucharist“ as the transformative
magical action
Jesper Sørensen, A Cognitive Theory of Magic
● Magic:
● is about changing the state or essence of persons,
objects, acts and events through certain special and
non-trivial kinds of actions with opaque causal
mediation.
● plays a pivotal role in the development of all religious
institutions and traditions
● ritual in general and magical rituals in particular involve
conceptual blending
● Transformative Ritual: essential qualities are
transferred by means of such actions as touching and
eating

24. Important concepts 1
● Basic-level categorization
● Intuitive ontologies...
● Domain-general aspects of human categorization
– Conceptual blending (Fauconnier - Turner):
– The way of thinking, not language
– Heuristic cognitive devise
– elements and structures from two or more
mental spaces are projected into a new
space, a blended space, in which a new
emergent structure can arise
●

25. Important concepts 2
● Artefacts: predominantly judged on
external qualities, such as function and
look, with only a very weak essence
ascribed.
● Symbol/icon/index triad of sign (Peirce)
– Index: refers to an Object that it denotes
by virtue of being really affected by that
Object (e.g.: national flag: manifestation
of inner essence of nation) (comp.
Peirce)
●

26. Jesus = Bread
● Symbolic interpretation
● Jesus as the bread (many cases in early
Christian literature, e.g. Gospel of John 6)
● Iconic interpretation
● Institution narrative as the explanation of action
(1st Corinthians 11)
● Index interpretation
● The Apostolic Tradition

27. Concepts of supernatural agents
Words
of prayer
Social level:
actions
(Sørensen 2007: 99) (Sørensen 2007: 104)

28. Didache 9-10?
● Transformative magical action?
● (9:5) But no one eat or drink of your thanksgiving,
unless have been baptized into the name of the
Lord; since the Lord has said, "Do not give what
is holy to dogs."
● (10:3b) But you graced us with spiritual food and
drink...

29. Didache 9-10?
● No reference to Jesus = Bread
● Church = Bread
● (9:4) As this fragment (κλάσμα) lay scattered upon the mountains and became a
single [fragment] when it had been gathered, may your Church (σου ἐκκλησία) be
gathered into your kingdom from the ends of the earth.
● The Invarience Principle (Lakoff 1993: 215): the structure of the source
domain is in a way consistent with the inherent structure of the target domain
(Consuming bread [source domain] = gaining specific quality [target domain]
●
●
Why should the people consume themselves???
– Hypothesis: The Church = Bread metaphor in this form is good for
speculations of millers and bakers, but with little cognitive
attraction for the early Christians

30. Didache 9-10
● Later texts based on Didache 9-10
involved institution narrative!

31. Epidemiological models and
attraction in cultural evolution
(Sperber)
● Question: Why are some representations more
successful than others in a given human
population.
● Ecological vs. psychological (cognitive) factors
● Hypothesis: The authorized form of
eucharist is more cognitevely attractive
(i.e. has better potential to cultural
transmission) than the form of this ritual
prescribed in the Didache.

32. Authorized form
(… from a cognitive point of view)
(1) Direct involving of supernatural agent
(2) Conceptual fixation of this involving in ritual
interpretation
(3) Narrative expression of this conceptual fixation
(4) Using this narrative expression as necessary part of
ritual performance
(5) System of enabling rituals
Cognitive
aspects
Ecological aspects
(cultural context,
authority...)

33. Thank you for your attention!
Vojtěch Kaše
Vojtech.kase@seznam.cz