kai; eujlogivan, {Hxw gavr, fhsiv, prov" se kai; eujloghvsw se ( de ador. in sp. et ver. ix. p. 290: P. G. 68.592). In another place of the same treatise he speaks of Christ as being the altar of incense and the incense itself: memnhsovmeqa de; kai; to; qusiasthvrion to; crusou'n kai; aujto; de; to; suvnqeton kai; lepto;n qumivama Cristo;n eijrhkovte" kai; aujto;n hJmi'n to;n jEmmanouh;l dij ajmfoi'n shmaivnesqai ( id. ix. p. 324: P. G. 68.648; comp. x. p. 335: P. G. id. p. 664).
Epiphanius, in a striking passage, points to Christ as fulfilling in Himself all the elements of a perfect sacrifice:
mevnei
...
th;n ejntelestevran zw'san
[
qusivan
]
uJpe;r panto;" kovsmou iJerourghvsa", aujto;" iJerei'on, aujto;" quvma, aujto;" iJereuv", aujto;" qusiasthvrion, aujto;" qeov", aujto;" a[nqrwpo", aujto;" basileuv", aujto;" ajrciereuv", aujto;" provbaton, aujto;" ajrnivon ta; pavnta ejn pa'sin uJpe;r hJmw'n genovmeno"
....(
Haer.
55.4).
In Irenaeus there appears to be a transition from the spiritual sense of qusiasthvrion to that of an earthly Christian altar. Such a use of the word followed naturally from the habitual thought of material offerings. Thus, in a passage preserved only in the Latin translation, after dwelling on the material offerings in the Eucharist, he adds, ideo nos quoque offerre vult [Verbum Dei] munus ad altare frequenter sine intermissione. Est ergo altare in caelis (illuc enim preces nostrae et oblationes diriguntur) et templum, quemadmodum Ioannes in Apocalypsi, 11:19; 21:3 ( adv. haer. 4.18, 6). The words are obscure, but the heavenly altar seems to be made to correspond with an earthly altar. In the first clause munus is material and it appears that altare must correspond with it. The heavenly counterpart answers to the spiritual element in prayers and oblations.
Tertullian repeats the figure of Polycarp (see p. 456), and, arguing against the second marriage of widows, says: aram enim Dei mundam proponi oportet ( ad ux. 1.7). But in another place he uses the word ara in connexion with the Eucharist: Ergo devotum Deo obsequium Eucharistia resolvit an magis Deo obligat? Nonne solemnior erit statio tua si et ad aram Dei steteris? ( de orat. 14 [19]).
The writings of Cyprian mark a new stage in the development of ecclesiastical thought and language. In them the phraseology of the Levitical law is transferred to Christian institutions. The correspondence between the Old system and the New is no longer generally that of the external and material to the inward and spiritual, but of one outward order to another. Thus he writes: oportet enim sacerdotes et ministros qui altari et sacrificiis deserviunt integros atque immaculatos esse, cum Dominus Deus in Levitico loquatur et dicat:
homo in quo fuerit macula et vitium non accedit offerre dona Deo
(Lev. 21:21); item in Exodo haec eadem praecipiat et dicat:
et sacerdotes qui accedunt ad Dominum Deum sanctificentur ne forte derelinquat illos Dominus
(Ex. 19:22); et iterum:
et cum accedunt ministrare ad altare sancti, non adducent in se delictum ne moriantur
(Ex. 28:43) (
Ep.
72.2). As a necessary consequence the Christian minister is said to serve at a material altar, which becomes the habitual name for the Holy Table,
Ep.
69
(76) 1 falsa altaria, et illicita sacerdotia, et sacrificia sacrilega; comp.
Ep.
43
(40) 5; 45 (42) 2;
de eccles. unit.
17. From this time there can be no doubt that the names
qusiasthvrion
and
altare
were applied habitually though not exclusively to the Holy Table. The custom had grown up from intelligible causes. No conclusion to the