Agape Love and the Love Feast in the Early Church
Early Christians taught that agape was more than a meal and more than a feeling. It meant Christlike love shown in prayer, care for the needy, church peace, and holy fellowship. Writers like Clement, Tertullian, and Ignatius connect this love to the church meal often called the love feast, with Bible passages such as 1 Corinthians 13 and Jude 1:12 in the background.
135 early-church witnesses · 229 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What did early Christians believe about agape Love and the Love Feast?
Early Christian writings teach that agape was real Christian love, shown in care for the poor, church peace, and holy fellowship, and that the love feast was a church meal tied to prayer and order. Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian describe agape as more than food: it was linked to mutual kindness, mercy, and reverence, not to greed or lust.
Ignatius and the Apostolic Constitutions show that the love feast belonged under church oversight and was marked by a holy kiss, prayer, and care for the needy. The Bible passages most often used in these writings are 1 Corinthians 13, Romans 16:16, 1 Peter 1:22, Jude 1:12, and Acts 2:42, so the evidence is broad and early, though some later writers also use agape in wider moral teaching or symbolic language.
Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- Agape meant Christian love shown in action, not just a shared meal.
- The love feast was tied to prayer, order, and care for the poor.
- Ignatius, Clement, and Tertullian are major early witnesses for this practice.
Questions Answered by the Sources
What did early Christians mean by agape love?
The sources present agape as Christian love, charity, and brotherly affection. Clement says love is heavenly food and not merely a supper, while Clement of Rome, Cyprian, and related Bible passages describe love as binding the church together and showing itself in action.
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Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians Supporting witness
Let those who have love in Christ keep the commandments of Christ. Who can describe the blessed bond of the love of God? What person is able to tell the excellence of its beauty as it ought to be told? The height to which love exalts is unspeakable. Love unites us to God. Love covers a multitude of sins. Love bears all things, is long-suffering in all things. There is nothing base, nothing arrogant in love. Love allows no schisms; love gives rise to no seditions; love does all things in harmony. By love, all the elect of God have been made perfect; without love, nothing is well-pleasing to God. In love, the Lord has taken us to Himself. Out of the Love He bore us, Jesus Christ our Lord gave His blood for us by the will of God; His flesh for our flesh, and His soul for our souls.
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Clement of Rome, Connection to 1 Peter 4:8 Supporting witness
Love unites us to God. Love covers a multitude of sins. Love bears all things, is long-suffering in all things.
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1 Peter 1:22 Supporting witness
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
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1 Peter 4:8 Supporting witness
And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
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1 Corinthians 13:4 Supporting witness
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
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1 Corinthians 13:13 Supporting witness
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
What was the Christian love feast?
The love feast is described as a Christian gathering named for love, marked by prayer, order, and care for the poor. Tertullian, Ignatius, Clement, and the Apostolic Constitutions all treat it as a church practice rather than a mere social meal.
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Jude 1:12 Supporting witness
These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;
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1 Peter 5:14 Supporting witness
Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.
How did early Christians keep the love feast ordered and holy?
The sources connect church meals and fellowship with prayer, order, holiness, and the holy kiss. They present the love feast as an act of Christian fellowship that had to be disciplined by love and reverence, not a disorderly social banquet.
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Ignatius, Epistle to the Smyrnaeans (Short Version) Supporting witness
It is not lawful without the bishop either to baptize or to celebrate a love-feast;
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
... no one come in hypocrisy." Then let the men give the men, and the women give the women, the Lord's kiss. But let no one do it deceitfully, as Judas betrayed the Lord with a kiss. After this let the deacon pray for the whole Church, for the whole world and its several parts, and for its fruits; for the priests and the rulers, for the high priest and the king, and for the peace of the universe. After this let the high priest pray for peace upon the people and bless them, as Moses commanded the priests to bless the people, in these words: "The Lord bless you, and keep you: the Lord make His face shine upon you, and give you peace." Let the bishop pray for the people, and say: "Save Your people, O Lord, and bless Your inheritance, which You have obtained with the precious blood of Your Christ, and have called a royal priesthood, and a holy nation." After this let the sacrifice follow, the people standing and praying silently. And when the oblation has been made, let each rank by itself partake of the Lord's body and precious blood in order, and approach with reverence and holy fear, as to the body of their king. Let the women approach with their heads covered, as is proper to the o
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Justin Martyr, The First Apology Supporting witness
...e may be saved with everlasting salvation. After finishing the prayers, we greet one another with a kiss. Then, bread and a cup of wine mixed with water are brought to the leader of the brethren. He takes them and gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and the Holy Ghost, offering thanks at length for our being deemed worthy to receive these things from His hands. When he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all present express their agreement by saying "Amen." This word "Amen" corresponds to [so be it] in the Hebrew language. After the leader has given thanks and all the people have expressed their agreement, those called deacons by us give each person present a portion of the bread and wine mixed with water over which the thanksgiving was pronounced, and a portion is also taken to those who are absent.
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Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Supporting witness
...ve in a way that is worthy of the kingdom, loving God and our neighbor. But love is not proven by a kiss, but by kind feeling. Yet there are some who do nothing but make the churches ring with kissing, while not having love itself within them. For this very thing, the shameless use of a kiss, which ought to be sacred and hidden, causes shameful suspicions and evil reports. The apostle calls the kiss holy. Romans 16:16
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Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Supporting witness
For this very thing, the shameless use of a kiss, which ought to be mystic, occasions foul suspicions and evil reports. The apostle calls the kiss holy. Romans 16:16
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Romans 16:16 Supporting witness
Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
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1 Thessalonians 5:26 Supporting witness
Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss.
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1 Corinthians 16:20 Supporting witness
All the brethren greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
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2 Corinthians 13:12 Supporting witness
Greet one another with an holy kiss.
Did the love feast include care for the poor?
Several sources say Christian feasts and church gatherings were tied to helping the needy. Tertullian says the feast uses what is spent on piety to help the poor, and Luke 14:13 and related texts support inviting those who cannot repay.
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Tertullian, Apology Direct teaching
...dest supper room of the Christians alone. Our feast explains itself by its name. The Greeks call it agape, that is, affection. Whatever it costs, what we spend in the name of piety is gain, since with the good things of the feast we help the needy. It is not as it is among you, where parasites seek the glory of satisfying their lusts, selling themselves for a belly feast to every shameful treatment. Rather, as with God Himself, special honor is shown to the lowly. If the purpose of our feast is good, then consider its other rules in that light. Since it is an act of religious service, it permits no vileness or immodesty. Before the guests recline, they first taste prayer to God. Only as much is eaten as satisfies hunger. Only as much is drunk as is fitting for the chaste. They say it is enough, as those who remember that even during the night they must worship God. They speak as those who know that the Lord is one of their hearers. After washing the hands, and after the lights are brought in, each person is asked to stand forward and sing to God a hymn, as he is able, either from the holy Scriptures or one of his own composing. This shows the measure of his drinking. As the feas
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching
XXVIII. If any determine to invite elder women to an entertainment of love, or a feast, as our Saviour calls it, Luke 14:13 let them most frequently send to such a one whom the deacons know to be in distress.
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness
God has also enjoined, that if at any time we make a feast, we should invite to the entertainment those who cannot invite us in return, and thus make us a recompense, so that no action of our life should be without the exercise of mercy.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
...ho will not live according to God's command are anxious and curious about which deaconess gives the charity, and which widows receive it. And when such a widow has learned these things, she complains against the deaconess who distributed the charity, saying, "Do you not see that I am in greater distress and in more need of your charity? Why, then, have you chosen her before me?" She says these things foolishly, not understanding that this does not depend on man's will, but on God's appointment. For if she herself can testify that she was in greater need, and that, after inquiry, she was poorer and more naked than the other, she ought to understand who it is that made this rule. She should keep silent and not complain against the deaconess who distributed the charity, but go into her own house and throw herself down with her face to the ground, making supplication to God that her sin may be forgiven. For God commanded the deaconess who brought the charity not to announce it, and this widow complained because she did not make her name public, so that she might know it and run to receive it. No, she not only complained, but also cursed her, forgetting Him who said: "He who blesses
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Luke 14:13 Supporting witness
But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.
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Romans 12:13 Supporting witness
Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
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Luke 3:11 Background
He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.
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Tobit 4:7 Background
Give alms of thy substance; and when thou givest alms, let not thine eye be envious, neither turn thy face from any poor, and the face of God shall not be turned away from thee.
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Tobit 1:16 Background
And in the time of Shalmaneser I gave many alms to my brethren, and gave my bread to the hungry,
Common Questions
What did early Christians mean by agape?
They used agape for Christian love, especially love shown in care, unity, and prayerful fellowship.
Was the love feast a real church practice?
Yes. Early writers describe a church meal called agape or a love feast, linked to prayer, the bishop, and help for the needy.
Did early Christians think agape was just a meal?
No. Clement says love is not a supper, and Tertullian says their feast gets its name from love.
Source Index for Agape Love and the Love Feast
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 160 ranked source links from 229 compiled sources for deeper study.
Source index 160 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 shown of 135
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
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Unknown, Unknown Work
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Unknown, Unknown Work
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Clement of Rome, Connection to 1 Peter 4:8
Bible Passages 80 shown of 94
Related Bible passages saved for comparison with the early Christian quotations.
Related Resources
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The Love Feast and Christian Fellowship
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