In this study, Revd Huggett examines the New Testament and the earliest Christian accounts of the Eucharist. Although traditional Christianity attributes its origin to Jesus himself, Revd Huggett shows that to be very unlikely. Instead, he traces its beginnings to the Essenic Christian community of James and John, where it originates in the concept of the messianic banquet. Drastically altered by later Petrine Christianity, it was used as the main mystery ritual of the Church. It developed through two differing branches, one Pauline and the other Marcan, and, by the mid-second century, had taken the form which was to continue throughout subsequent Christian history until the present day. Revd Huggett's findings will be of great interest, not only to students of eucharistic history and theology and to New Testament scholars, but also to the clergy and congregations of today's Church. Although his work is based, originally, on his studies in the Greek New Testament, this summary is simple and easy to understand, making his ideas accessible to every Christian.
