1. Eucharist According to the ScriptureWhile the early Reformers attributed the Catholic doctrine on the eucharistic sacrifice to the Middle Ages1 or toSt. Cyprian, liberal authors, beginning with Loisy2, attribute it to the fourth gospel and St. Paul. They connectthe Christian supper with the pagan mysteries: In the beginning the Christians gathered for a common meal,expression of their mutual charity. Each one offered some provisions. Under influence of the pagan cults, theidea entered that the arisen Jesus, considered as a God Saviour, appeared amidst them. This epiphany wasconsidered as being accomplished by the action of the H. Spirit. The institution words were only pronounced torecall the supper and passion of the Lord, as an example of extreme charity. In itself the supper had noreference to the death of Christ: Christ is alive. in the gathering we get in communion with Him. He becomespresent spiritually when disciples gather in His name. Later, to make the mystery still more concrete, theepiphany was connected to the bread and wine. St. Paul made of the supper a memorial of the death of Christ:he says that Jesus made of the bread and wine symbols of His body going to be delivered and of His bloodgoing to be shed. The power to transform this elements in the body and blood of Christ was attributed to Hiswords at the supper. Henceforth the bread and wine got all the attention; the offering of provision graduallydisappeared, or was limited to that of bread and wine, or became a separate meal (agape3). The existing prayersgot a new meaning. After the separation with the synagogue, the power to expiate for the sins was attributed tothe supper, the sacrifice of the new covenant, analogue to that of the sacrifices of the Old Testament. The fourthgospel and St. Paul showed that in the communion Christians enter in real spiritual union with God and theeternal life, more than what paganism pretends to do. The supper procures what the pagans searched in themysteries: r...