Eusebius of Caesarea and Transubstantiation

Q. Did Eusebius advocate the Roman dogma of transubstantiation?

 

Eusebius, Bishop of Cæsarea (c. 260/265 – 339/340 A.D.):

He delivered a memorial to us to offer to God continually instead of a sacrifice. 

(The Proof of the Gospel being the Demonstratio Evangelica of Eusebius of Cæsarea, Vol. I, Translation by W.J. Ferrar, [1920], Bk. 1, Ch. 10, p. 59). Here

 

For just as he [Melchizedek], who was priest of the Gentiles, is not represented as offering outward sacrifices, but as blessing Abraham only with wine and bread, in exactly the same way our Lord and Saviour Himself first, and then all His priests among all nations, perform the spiritual sacrifice according to the customs of the Church, and with wine and bread darkly express the mysteries of His Body and saving Blood. This by the Holy Spirit Melchizedek foresaw, and used the figures of what was to come, as the Scripture of Moses witnesses, when it says: "And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine: and he was priest of the Most High God, and he blessed Abraham." 

(The Proof of the Gospel being the Demonstratio Evangelica of Eusebius of Cæsarea, Vol. I, Translation by W.J. Ferrar, [1920], Bk. 5, Ch. 3, p. 242). Here

 

Alternate Translation:

For as he, being a priest of the Gentiles, never appears to have made use of bodily sacrifices, when he blessed Abraham; in the same manner our Lord and Saviour first, then all those who have gone out from Him, the priests among all nations, offering a spiritual sacrifice according to the ecclesiastical usage, represent by wine and bread the mysteries of the body and blood of the Saviour, Melchisedek foreknowing these things by the Divine spirit, and employing the images of future things, as the Scripture of Moses testifies, saying: And Melchisedek, King of Salem, brought out bread and wine. For he was the priest of the most high God; and he blessed Abraham. 

(Dem. Evan., I., 5, c. 3, col. 365, 368, DA., Pat. Gr. T. 22.) see (J. H. Treat, The Catholic Faith; Or, Doctrines of the Church of Rome Contrary to Scripture and the Teaching of the Primitive Church, [1888], pp. 174-175). Here

 

For with the wine which was indeed the symbol of His blood, He cleanses them that are baptized into His death, and believe on His blood, of their old sins, washing them away and purifying their old garments and vesture, so that they, ransomed by the precious blood of the divine spiritual grapes, and with the wine from this vine, "put off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new man which is renewed into knowledge in the image of Him that created him." . . . He gave to His disciples, when He said, "Take, drink; this is my blood that is shed for you for the remission of sins: this do in remembrance of me." And, "His teeth are white as milk," show the brightness and purity of the sacramental food. For again, He gave Himself the symbols of His divine dispensation to His disciples, when He bade them make the likeness of His own Body. For since He no more was to take pleasure in bloody sacrifices, or those ordained by Moses in the slaughter of animals of various kinds, and was to give them bread to use as the symbol of His Body, He taught the purity and brightness of such food by saying, “And his teeth are white as milk.” 

(The Proof of the Gospel being the Demonstratio Evangelica of Eusebius of Cæsarea, Vol. II, Translation by W.J. Ferrar, [1920], Bk. 8, Ch. 1, pp. 114-115). Here

 

As we have received a memorial of this offering which we celebrate on a table by means of symbols of His Body and saving Blood according to the laws of the new covenant... 

(The Proof of the Gospel being the Demonstratio Evangelica of Eusebius of Cæsarea, Vol. I, Translation by W.J. Ferrar, [1920], Bk. 1, Ch. 10, p. 60). Here

 

…freed from the curse of Moses, daily celebrating His memorial, the remembrance of His Body and Blood, 

(The Proof of the Gospel being the Demonstratio Evangelica of Eusebius of Cæsarea, Vol. I, Translation by W.J. Ferrar, [1920], Bk. 1, Ch. 10, p. 58). Here

 

On the one hand when we celebrate the Memorial of His great Sacrifice according to the Mysteries He delivered to us, and bring to God the Eucharist for our salvation with holy hymns and prayers; while on the other we consecrate ourselves to Him alone and to the Word His High Priest, devoted to Him in body and soul. 

(The Proof of the Gospel being the Demonstratio Evangelica of Eusebius of Cæsarea, Vol. I, Translation by W.J. Ferrar, [1920], Bk. 1, Ch. 10, p. 62). Here

 

On John Ch. 6:

Do you, receiving the Scriptures of the Gospels, perceive the whole teaching of our Saviour, that He did not speak concerning the flesh which He had taken, but concerning His mystic body and blood… He instructed them to understand spiritually (πνευματικῶς) the words which He had spoken concerning His flesh and His blood; for, He says, you must not consider Me to speak of the flesh which I wear (ην περίκειμαι), as if you were able to eat that, nor suppose that I command you to drink perceptible and corporal (σωματικόν) blood… these things profit nothing, if they are understood according to sense (αισθητῶς); but the Spirit is the Life, given to those who are able to understand spiritually. 

(J. P. Minge, Patrologiæ Cursus Completus, [1857], Patrologiæ Græcæ, Tomus XXIV, De Ecclesiastica Theologia, Lib. III, Cap. XII, Col. 1021, 1024). Here Trans. (Lucius Waterman, The Primitive Tradition of the  Eucharistic Body and Blood, [1919.], p. 99). Here

 

When we are nourished by the rational flesh of this sacrificial Savior, who rescued the entire human race by his own blood—that is, when we are nourished by his teachings and discourses, which announce the kingdom of heaven—then we are rightly luxuriating with the luxury that is in accordance with God. 

(Eusebius of Caesarea, On the Celebration of Easter; De sollemnitate Paschali, On the Celebration of the Pascha, [Translated by Andrew Eastbourne]) see (Angelo Mai, Novae Patrum Bibliotheca 4, (1847), pp.209-216 (De sollemnitate paschali)). Here

~ Soli Deo Gloria