human body and its vocation to everlasting resurrection. The bread and wine of creation, says Irenaeus, become [Gk. ginetai] the very Body and Blood of Christ. Stating this, he is the first to mention explicitly the change that takes place in the bread and wine when they become Eucharist. By this change, earthly creation is raised to a new dignity in order to become the food and drink of Christians. Since this is the case, Irenaeus asks rhetorically, who can possibly deny that, having given Christian
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