Frühchristliche Mahlfeiern

Hans Joachim Stein investigates the liturgical form of communal meals in early Christianity and their theological meaning, as it is attested by the New Testament Epistles and the Revelation of John. Considering the context of Greco-Roman symposia, club banquets and Jewish meals, he shows that early Christian groups, although they participated in their cultural environment, tried to establish a specific Christian meal practice which can be understood as an image of their own theological identity. The fact that the meal practices varied a lot among early Christian congregations can be taken as an indicator for the diversity not only of Christian meals but also of Christian identities.