Sophia Scriptura

The agape (love feast)

The common meal of Christians, its conduct and abuses. Part of Worship.

Passages that substantially address this topic, in date order.

  • The Instructor 2.1.4Clement of Alexandria · ca. 190–200 · Gluttony has no limit; the belly will be destroyed; and those who call their lavish dinners agapai (love feasts) profane the holy name of love.
  • The Instructor 2.1.6Clement of Alexandria · ca. 190–200 · The law hangs on love of God and neighbor; the church's supper is a sign of love, not love itself, for God's kingdom is not food and drink.
  • The Instructor 2.1.12Clement of Alexandria · ca. 190–200 · Excess in food is the clearest vice; Paul rebuked the Corinthians whose common suppers shamed the poor.
  • Miscellanies 3.2.10Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Clement reports that the Carpocratians' common meals end in promiscuity in the dark; he says Carpocrates misread Plato, who meant women are open to suitors before marriage but not after.
  • Apology 39Tertullian · ca. 197 · Tertullian describes Christian life together: common prayer, Scripture reading, discipline, elders chosen for character, a voluntary fund for the poor and imprisoned, and the agape meal.
  • Didascalia 2.28 (Latin)Anonymous · first half of the third century · The bishop's portion of the agape is set apart; deacons receive double what an elder woman receives, and the presiding bishop fourfold.
  • The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity 6Anonymous · 203 · The editor records Secundulus's death, Felicity's premature childbirth in prison, Perpetua's rebuke of the tribune, and the martyrs' last meal as an agape.
  • On Fasting 17Tertullian · ca. 210–220 · Tertullian ends by comparing the psychics to Esau selling his birthright for stew, mocking their love-feasts and double portions, and urging fasting as training for the spiritual contest and martyrdom.
  • Canons of Hippolytus, canon 32Anonymous · 4th century · Virgins and widows fast and pray often; clergy fast freely; a deacon may act for an absent presbyter except at the great offering; alms are distributed promptly; agapes for the poor are held with the bishop's prayer and end before dark.
  • Canons of Hippolytus, canon 34Anonymous · 4th century · At gatherings in homes there is to be no loud talk, so as to give a good example; the bishop or, in his absence, a presbyter presides and breaks the blessed bread.
  • Canons of Hippolytus, canon 35Anonymous · 4th century · A deacon may lead the prayer and break the blessed bread at an agape when no presbyter is present; a layman may only break it; suppers for widows end before sunset.
  • Testament of Our Lord 2.13Anonymous · ca. 350–500
  • Long recension, Smyrnaeans 8Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius commands that nothing in the church, Eucharist, baptism or love-feast, be done without the bishop.
  • Apostolic Constitutions 2.28.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Hosts of a love-feast should invite older women known to be in need.
  • Apostolic Constitutions 2.28.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · A portion of the love-feast is reserved for the bishop even in his absence.
  • Apostolic Constitutions 2.28.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Deacons receive a double portion.
  • Apostolic Constitutions 2.28.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Presbyters, the bishop’s council, receive a double portion in honour of the apostles.
  • Apostolic Constitutions 2.28.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · Readers, singers and doorkeepers receive single portions; each rank is to be honoured.
  • Against Faustus the Manichaean 20.20Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Augustine answers that Christian love feasts are works of mercy feeding the poor, and that the Manichaean refusal to kill animals resembles pagan belief in transmigration, only worse.