on the altar of God.
In this first stage of Christian literature there is not only no example of the application of the word qusiasthvrion to any concrete, material, object, as the Holy Table, but there is no room for such an application. As applied to the New Order the word expresses the spiritual correlatives of the altar and altar- court of the Old Order. Two of these in which it was referred to Christians and to Christ Himself continued current in later times.
Thus Clement of Alexandria speaks of our altar here, our altar on earth as being the assembly of those devoted to prayer:
e[sti gou'n to; parj hJmi'n qusiasthvrion ejntau'qa to; ejpivgeion to; a[qroisma tw'n tai'" eujcai'" ajnakeimevnwn mivan w{sper e[con fwnh;n th;n koinh;n kai; mivan gnwvmhn
(
Strom.
vii. § 31, p. 848). And in the following section he extends the image to the
single soul, using, however, the word
bwmov".
...
bwmo;n ajlhqw'" a{gion th;n
dikaivan yuch;n kai; to; ajpj aujth'" qumivama th;n oJsivan eujch;n levgousin hJmi'n ajpisthvsousin
(
id.
§ 32; comp. Philo
de vict. offer.
§ 5 quoted above).
So Origen, in reply to the charge that Christians bwmou;" kai; ajgavlmata kai; new;" iJdruvsqai feuvgein , answers that the sovereign principle of the righteous is an altar: bwmoi; mevn eijsin hJmi'n to; eJkavstou tw'n dikaivwn hJgemonikovn, ajfj ou| ajnapevmpetai ajlhqw'" kai; nohtw'" eujwvdh qumiavmata, aiJ proseucai; ajpo; suneidhvsew" kaqara'" ( c. Cels. 8.17); and Methodius speaks of the social interpretation of the word as traditional: qusiasthvrion ajnaivmakton ei\nai paredovqh to; a[qroisma tw'n aJgnw'n ( Symp. 5.6).
Chrysostom uses the image somewhat differently, and speaks of the Christian poor as the living altar on which the alms of the faithful are offered. Such offerings are not consumed like the burnt sacrifices but pass into praise and thanksgiving:
ejkei'no me;n ga;r a[yucon to; qusiasthvrion tou'to de; e[myucon
:
kajkei' me;n to; ejpikeivmenon a{pan tou' puro;" givnetai dapavnh kai; teleuta'/ eij" kovnin
...
ejntau'qa de; oujde;n toiou'ton ajllj eJtevrou" fevrei tou;" karpouv"
...
oJra'/" eij" eujcaristivan ajnaluomevnhn aujth;n
(
th;n leitourgivan
2 Cor. 9:12 ff.)
kai; ai\non tou' qeou'
...:
quvwmen toivnun, ajgaphtoiv, quvwmen eij" tau'ta ta; qusiasthvria kaqj eJkavsthn hJmevran
(
Hom.
xiii.
in Joh.
§ 4: Migne,
P. G.
59.90).
Cyril of Alexandria again speaks of Christians as living stones, who are framed together into an altar as well as into a temple: oujde;n h|ttovn ejsmen kai; oiJoneiv ti qusiasthvrion, sunaghgermevnoi me;n kaqj e{nwsin th;n pneumatikh;n kai; th;n ejn Cristw'/ pivstin eujwdiavzonte", proskomivzonte" dij aujtou' tw'/ qew'/ kai; patri; kaqavper ejn tavxei tw'n eujosmotavtwn qumiamavtwn ta; ejx ajretw'n aujchvmata ( Glaph. in Deut. p. 427; P. G. lxix. p. 668). So the altar which Moses erected at the making of the Covenant (Ex. 24:4 f.) was a type of the Church of Christ: to; me;n ou\n qusiasthvrion tuvpo" a]n ei[h kai; mavla safw'" th'" ejkklhsiva" tou' Cristou', th'" oiJoneiv pw" ejpi; to; o[ro" keimevnh"
( Glaph. in Ex. iii. p. 330: P. G. id. 517).
Not Christians only, however, but Christ Himself is spoken of as an altar by later Fathers. Cyril of Alexandria uses the phrase several times. Thus, in commenting on the command to make an altar of earth (Ex. 20:24 f.), he says: ghvi>non ojnomavzei qusiasthvrion to;n jEmmanouhvl, gevgone ga;r sa;rx oJ lovgo" : gh' de; ejk gh'" hJ sarkov" ejsti fuvsi" . ejn Cristw'/ dh; ou\n hJ pa'sa karpoforiva kai; pa'sa prosagwghv, fhsi; ga;r aujto;" Cwri;" ejmou' ouj duvnasqe poiei'n oujdevn ... ejpaggevlletai de; toi'" to; ejk gh'" iJsta'si qusiasthvrion a[fixivn te