Sacred Actions In The Early Church

Understanding the sacred actions of the early church requires a short language lesson. Two words, the Greek word mysterion, and the Latin word sacramentum, are important to this discussion. This article describes the history of these terms in early Christian thought and gives clues to their meaning and significance for the Christian tradition. As Christianity penetrated the Graeco-Roman world, it moved from the Greek East to the Latin West. Greek New Testament terms had to be translated into Latin. The mysterion of Christ became the sacramentum of Christ. Mysterion, Mystery: Greek and Biblical Use Christian worship initially developed out of Jewish liturgy. Jesus deliberately placed his institution of the Eucharist into the context of Jewish table ritual. Baptism, anointing, and ordination drew on Jewish precedents. Jesus' saving action was inextricably bound up with the Hebrew understanding of God's saving covenant, for Jesus himself referred to his sacrificial death as the new …