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Hi, Brian —
I don't know the answer to your question
off the top of my head, and it would
be difficult to research it, as it
would require access to the Greek
and Latin originals of the patristic
texts, which I don't have. The term presbyteroi simply
means (elder, or old
man), and has no sacrificial overtones.
The word that does have sacrificial
overtones in Greek is not used for
Christian clerics in the New Testament.
The two words used are:
- episcopos (literally, overseer)
and
- presbyteros (elder or old
man).
While the English word priest does
come from presbyteros; presbyteros doesn't
have the religious connotations that priest has.
If your question is:
- When did the Christians confess
having a sacrifice, i.e., the
sacrificial character of the Eucharist?
I can say that there is a reference
to Christian sacrifice in the book
the Didache, which is a very early
book, likely first century, as early
as 50 A.D., back when prophets still
walked the earth:
"Assemble on the Lord's
day, and break bread and offer
the Eucharist; but first make
confession of your faults, so
that your sacrifice may be a pure
one. Anyone who has a difference
with his fellow is not to take
part with you until he has been
reconciled, so as to avoid any
profanation of your sacrifice
(Matthew 5:23–24).
For this is the offering of which
the Lord has said,
‘Everywhere
and always bring me a sacrifice
that is undefiled, for I am a
great king, says the Lord, and
my name is the wonder of nations'
(Malachi
1:11, 14) (Didache 14 (70 A.D.).
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Note that he applies the prophecy
of Malachi to the Eucharist.
St. Irenaeus in 180 A.D., Against
Heresies, 4, 17, 5 elaborates on
this theme:
| "Again, giving counsel to
His disciples to offer to God
the first-fruits from among His
creatures, not as if He needed
them, but so that they themselves
might be neither unfruitful nor
ungrateful, He took from among
creation that which is bread,
and gave thanks, saying, ``This
is My Body.'' The cup likewise,
which is from among the creation
to which we belong, He confessed
to be His Blood. |
He taught the New Sacrifice of the
New Covenant, of which Malachi, one
of the twelve prophets, had signified
beforehand:
"You do not do my will," says
the Lord Almighty, "and I
will not accept a sacrifice at
your hands. For from the rising
of the sun to its setting My name
is glorified among the gentiles,
and in every place incense is
offer to My name, and a pure sacrifice;
for great is My name among the
gentiles,' says the Lord Almighty.''
(Malachi 1:11). |
By these words He makes it plain
that the former people will cease
to make offerings to God;
but that in every place, sacrifice
will be offered to Him, and indeed,
a pure one; for His name is glorified
among the gentiles.
And again, St. Irenaeus in 180 A.D., Against Heresies, 4, 18, 2:
| "It is not oblations as such
that have met with disapproval.
There were oblations of old; there
are oblations now. There were
sacrifices among the people of
Israel; there are sacrifices in
the Church. Only the kind of oblation
has been changed: now it is offered
by freemen, not by slaves. There
is one and the same Lord, but
the character of an oblation made
by slaves is distinctive, so too
that of an oblation made by sons:
their oblations bear the mark
of freedom." |
There is a somewhat enigmatic passage
in the Epistle of Pope Clement to
the Corinthians which
I think is around the mid-60's, Chapter
40 and following, where the New Testament
ministers are discussed in terms
of the Old Testament priesthood.
Specifically, they are compared and
the author makes arguments about
the New Testament ministers by appealing
to the Old Testament priesthood.
He, too, refers to the offering of
sacrifice (Chapter 44). Here he speaks
of priests, Levites, sacrifices and
the temple in the present tense,
as if these pertained to Christians,
although he is probably referring
to the Jewish rites. Likely, this
was written before the destruction
of the temple, when there were many
Jewish Christians, and Judaism and
Christianity had not yet become distinct.
St. Ignatius of Antioch, in his Epistle
to the Smyrnaeans in 110 A.D., Chapter 8:1, refers to the offering of the Eucharist:
"Let that Eucharist be held
valid which is offered by the
bishop or by the one to whom the
bishop has committed this charge.
Wherever the bishop appears, there
let the people be; as wherever
Jesus Christ is, there is the
Catholic Church." |
Here may be your best bet — I
am sorry I do not have a reference. St. Cyprian wrote to the Ephesians
circa 258 A.D.:
| "The priest who imitates
that which Christ did, truly takes
the place of Christ, and offers
there in the Church a true and
perfect sacrifice to God the Father." |
I do not have the Latin but I am
assuming that priest here
is sacerdos.
Wikipedia seems to agree; it says:
"This analogous use of the
word priest ( , sacerdos)
for Christian ministers appears
to have arisen only at the end
of the second century, at first
for bishops only; but by the time
of Saint Cyprian, in the mid-third
century, it was applied to presbyters
also.".
Here is an excellent
and complete discussion
of the priesthood from a patristic
and historical standpoint,
including the answer to your
question:
Eric
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