There were those like the Aurelii and the Gnostics, on the one hand, who thought initiation into Christianity’s biggest secrets belonged to anybody who consumed the “True Food” and “True Drink” of the Lord of Death, just as John promised. And there were those like the Church Fathers, on the other, who thought a few men within the 1 percent were uniquely called by God to handle the Eucharist, perpetuating a tradition of elitism that had existed among the Egyptian pharaohs, Near Eastern royalty, and Jerusalem’s high priests for many thousands of years.
