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How the Process of Doctrinal Standardization During the Later HOW THE PROCESS OF DOCTRINAL STANDARDIZATION DURING THE LATER ROMAN EMPIRE RELATES TO CHRISTI AN TRIUMPHALISM By DAVID NORMANT MOORE Submitted in accordance with the requirements for The degree of Doctor of Theology In the subject Church History At the University of South Africa Supervisor: Prof PH Gundani June 2014 Student number: 4633-266-9 I declare that HOW THE PROCESS OF DOCTRINAL STANDARDIZATION DURING THE LATER ROMAN EMPIRE RELATES TO CHRISTIAN TRIUMPHALISM is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. ________________________ _____________________ SIGNATURE DATE (Pastor DN Moore) i ABSTRACT My thesis examines relations among practitioners of various religions, especially Christians and Jews, during the era when Jesus’ project went from being a Galilean sect, to a persecuted minority, to religio licita status, and eventually to imperial favor, all happening between the first century resurrection of Jesus and the fourth century rise of Constantine. There is an abiding image of the Church in wider public consciousness that it is unwittingly and in some cases antagonistically exclusionist. This is not a late-developing image. I trace it to the period that the church developed into a formal organization with the establishment of canons and creeds defined by Church councils. This notion is so pervasive that an historical retrospective of Christianity of any period, from the sect that became a movement, to the Reformation, to the present day’s multiple Christian iterations, is framed by the late Patristic era. The conflicts and solutions reached in that period provided enduring definition to the Church while silencing dissent. I refer here to such actions as the destruction of books and letters and the banishment of bishops. Before there emerged the urgent perceived need for doctrinal uniformity, the presence of Christianity provided a resilient non-militant opponent to and an increasing intellectual critique ii of all religious traditions, including that of the official gods that were seen to hold the empire together. When glaringly manifest cleavages in the empire persisted, the Emperor Constantine sought to use the church to help bring political unity. He called for church councils, starting with Nicaea in 325 CE that took no account for churches outside the Roman Empire, and many within, even though councils were called “Ecumenical.” The presumption that the church was fully representative without asking for permission from a broader field of constituents is just that: a presumption. This thesis studies the ancient world of Christianity’s growth to explore whether, in that age of new and untested toleration, there was a more advisable way of responding to the invitation to the political table. The answer to this can help us formulate, and perhaps revise, some of our conduct today, especially for Christians who obtain a voice in powerful places. iii Key terms: Patristic Period, Constantine, Jews, Christians, triumphalism, Council of Nicaea, religio licita, Donatists, heresiology, Edict of Toleration, parting of the ways, anti-Semitism, Marcion, Roman Empire, Great Commission, Judaize, proto-orthodoxy, The Great Persecution iv DEDICATION This doctoral dissertation is dedicated first to Diane, my wife, a woman with a precious spirit. She managed far more than her share of our life together during this project. I would like to include all of those who encouraged and even insisted that I pursue this, including Dr. Peter Fitch at St. Stephen’s University in NB Canada, Dr. David Daniels at McCormick Theological seminary, and a host of scholars and friends. Finally, I dedicate this to the two congregations that I lead in Santa Barbara and Oxnard, California who have borne with me through this period. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS God is the strength of my life without whom I could do nothing much less at my age and with degree of responsibility. Many thanks to all the people he placed in my life during this period to guide me. My professor, Dr. Paul Gundani, convinced me that he has done this a lot and is extremely competent. Also contributing to my research were the great people in the Humanities Department at the University of California at Santa Barbara including professors like Christine Thomas plus all the faculty, students, and guests who comprise the Ancient Borderlands Seminars. vi Table of Contents ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................ v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. vi CHAPTER I: ANCIENT AND NEW RELIGIOUS FACTORS OF CHURCH FUNCTION, WHAT THEY MEAN, AND THE ADVANTAGE OF RETROSPECTIVE ................................ 1 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Historiography .......................................................................................................................... 5 1.2 Research Methodology ............................................................................................................. 8 1.3 Author’s Motivation................................................................................................................ 10 1.4 Review of Literature and Presentation of Study ..................................................................... 12 1.5 Study Objective ....................................................................................................................... 18 1.6 Foreign Relations as a Factor of Church Function ................................................................. 18 1.7 The First Ecumenical Church Council .................................................................................... 20 1.8 Consolidating Imperial Power in the East .............................................................................. 22 1.9 The Church’s Political Power Implies Military and Penal Power .......................................... 26 1.10 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 29 CHAPTER 2: THE VIOLATION OF TRUST AND DISSOLUTION OF TIES BETWEEN CHRISTIAN AND JEW ............................................................................................................... 36 2. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 36 2.1 A Harbinger: Early Signs of Discord between Judean and Hellenistic Jews ......................... 37 2.2 Those Who Do Not Play the Game of Power Still Give Hope of a Christianity that Does Not Seek Domination ........................................................................................................................... 44 2.3 Recognizing and Cataloguing Reasons for the Devaluation of others and their Re-imaging 61 2.4 Ecclesial Practices Developed against Jews are Executed against Non-compliant Christians ...................................................................................................................................... 92 2.5 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 93 CHAPTER 3: THE UNIVERSALITY OF THE MESSAGE OF JESUS .................................... 95 3. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 95 3.1 The Church’s First Historian .................................................................................................. 96 3.2 Luke Presents Jesus’ Political Alternative .............................................................................. 99 3.3 The Conditioning for a Broad and Inclusive Mission ........................................................... 109 3.4 Jesus Selects Men Far from Centers of Power...................................................................... 119 3.5 The Final formation and launch of Early Apostles ............................................................... 123 3.6 Paul Understands Jesus as a Post-resurrection (and thusly, post-imperial) Phenomenon .... 130 3.7 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 135 CHAPTER 4: THE TUMULTUOUS POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT INTO WHICH JESUS EMERGED ................................................................................................................................. 136 vii 4. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 136 4.1 Powerless Jews and the Hope that Encompassed Nations .................................................... 138 4.2 Jews in Antiquity and the Non-negotiability of the Holy ..................................................... 139 4.3 Herod and Jesus: Kings of the Jews ...................................................................................... 153 4.4 Two Kinds of Kingdoms, Two Kinds of Power ................................................................... 165 4.5 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................................
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