Why the 'Flesh of Christ' Was Connected with the Feast of Unleavened Bread by the Earliest Christians

If you are a members of a Roman Catholic Church you will get receive an unleavened host on the eighth day. I happen to think this reality has something do with an original connection with the original Alexandrian practice of venerating a 'Christian Feast of Unleavened' where I suspect the catechumen were baptized as the seventh day of that festival 'went out' to the eighth day.

All of this has deep significance for properly understanding the letter to Theodore.

Morton Smith did not know that this 'Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread' ever existed. He never refers to it, as far as I know, in any of his writings. Therefore he couldn't have forged an ancient letter of Clement which reflects knowledge of this festival.

A short encapsulation of my interpretation of the Letter to Theodore is available here. It is based on an assumption that early Christianity developed from Samaritanism - a hypothesis which has never been seriously investigated before even though the writings of the Church Fathers ALL testify that an alternative Christianity developed from Samaritan religious practices (and deemed 'heretical') and which was 'almost' as old as the orthodox tradition (we should never expect the orthodox to acknowledge that ANY form of Christianity was OLDER than it).

The founder of the Samaritan tradition which survives to this days was also named 'Mark' (I take for granted the Alexandrian traditional understanding that St. Mark the author of the gospel was also founder of the Christian Church (something implicit also in the Letter to Theodore - how else could the Alexandrian baptism of the catechumen be based on an incident in his secret Alexandrian gospel?).

The Samaritan Mark makes explicit reference to the idea that 'unleavened bread' was the food of angels OWING TO THE FACT THAT IT IS EXPLICITLY REFERENCED IN ALL VERSIONS OF THE TORAH, Samaritan or otherwise.

The Samaritan Mark says that just after Moses was initiated by the angel of the presence (or 'Glory') he and his 'brother' Aaron went down into Egypt like two angels from heaven:

How excellent to see them enter Egypt like the two angels who entered Sodom!
The two angels entered Sodom at eventide, sent to open the storehouse of wrath upon all the inhabitants therein.
Moses and Aaron entered Egypt at eventide, sent to open the storehouse of judgement therein.
The angels were sent to destroy Sodom. Moses and Aaron were sent to destroy Egypt.
The angels ate unleavened bread in Sodom. Moses and Aaron celebrated the feast of unleavened bread in Egypt.
The angels burnt the young in the deep. Moses and Aaron smote Pishon, tributary of Eden.
The angels drove out Lot in the morning. Moses and Aaron led the Israelites out before morning.
Excellent for ever these two! Their greatness fills the heaven and the earth! [Mimar Marqe Book 1, 3]

The clear point here is that 'unleavened bread' is a 'bread of heaven.' [cf John 6:48] The same understanding has just been shown from various posts in Origen, the head of the Alexandrian school after Clement's departure.

Origen witnesses the existence of a 'Christian Feast of Unleavened Bread.' There can be no doubt that the Alexandrian continued to east UNLEAVENED bread during the seven days of this festival which was still fixed to the date of fourteenth day of the first month.

There can be no doubt that the Alexandrians thought that unleavened bread was a heavenly substance. The Roman Church still preserves this understanding even if the Coptic Church has adopted the practices of the Greek tradition (i.e. employing leavened bread).

Yet another example of the 'success' of Imperial attempts to subvert the Alexandrian tradition from within in the fourth century.

If you want to see to what lengths modern Copts and Orthodox have to go argue that Jesus instructed his disciples with chametz during Passover (a ridiculous, impossible assertion) here is a something which should give anyone a good laugh!