Irenaeus of Lyons on the Lord's Supper
Truly the body and blood, with no account of the mode
the bread, which is produced from the earth, when it receives the invocation of God, is no longer common bread, but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly and heavenly.
THE POSITION
He states the identification flatly and never explains it. The bread that receives the invocation of God "is no longer common bread"; the cup Christ "has acknowledged... as His own blood" and the bread "He has established as His own body." What he supplies in place of an account of the mode is anti-Gnostic argument running in both directions: the Eucharist proves the flesh is not evil, since Christ's own flesh and blood are given in it; and the resurrection of the flesh proves the Eucharist is real, since if flesh cannot be saved then the bread and cup are not really his body and blood either. The only mechanism he offers is nutritive rather than metaphysical — our bodies are fed by Christ's body and so made incorruptible, as a grain of wheat is fed from the earth. He also frames the rite as the pure oblation of Malachi that replaces Levitical sacrifice.
16 Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?
2 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
Bishop of Lyons, author of Against Heresies. Argued against Gnosticism from the apostolic rule of faith, and framed salvation as Christ recapitulating human life.
Cite this page
"Irenaeus of Lyons on the Lord's Supper", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/irenaeus/lords-supper (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/irenaeus/lords-supper).