The Meeting of the Three Temples: Co-celebrating with the Angels in Early Christian Liturgies

Abstract

A new inspection of the ancient liturgical pattern of praying with the angels unveils that Jewish materials limited it to the priestly class and such legendary figures as Enoch, Abraham, Moses, or Elijah. The classical Christian anaphoras of the third and fourth centuries will extend this pattern to the entire congregation based on the early Christian generalization of the priestly status to all the members of the ecclesia. While shifting the focus of discussion to the concepts of “temple” and “priest,” the study finds that these Christian anaphoras include both the Jerusalem Temple feature of serving in front of God’s descended glory and the Second Temple apocalyptic idea of celebrating in the heavenly sanctuary. The earthly and heavenly temples, therefore, become one liturgical space which also intersects a third temple, that of the human being, within which God also descends, sanctifies it, and receives due worship.