Lecture Guide for G201 History of Christian Thought March 2-6, 2015Winter Term HORIZON COLLEGE and SEMINARY Dr
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Lecture Guide for G201 History of Christian Thought March 2-6, 2015Winter Term HORIZON COLLEGE AND SEMINARY Dr. Peter Engle, Adjunct Faculty Introductions Format: • My lecture related to Gonzalez: how the 2 are related • The reality of covering 2,000 years of church history in one week • The lecture guide: we will not use all of it (rationale), but selectively • The way this course (has gone well in the past) and hoped for now • Issue of relevance: the issues are always the same in every generation • The issues related to student participation in class Introduction to the topic: Historical Theology: Gold, granite, and….? • The Siamese twin of church history and historical theology (but per the other course taught here, trying to keep them as distinct and not overlapping as possible…BUT, they are virtually conjoined twins! • The issue of continuity/discontinuity of post biblical Christianity with the NT • Historiography, church history, and historical theology • The issue of the doctrine/theology of the NT and that of subsequent (historical) theology: issues of building upon or departing from! • Historical theology: Neither all bad nor all good: an alternative perspective: my guiding hermeneutic, my a-priori’s, and my basic perspective • How should we look at the scope, range, development and trajectory of historical theology? • Continuity of life, spirituality, practice, worship, and doctrine (and why these are part of the whole issue of historical theology (as well as church history) • Me: a suggestion: that we look at it the same way we look at church history (a proffered perspective) so we neither reject all, nor baptize error and call it holy! (A gold/granite/human allowance approach) • What happens if we do not develop a good solid theology (including historical theology?) We get one imposed on us by default! You will believe something about these things! • Why this issue is critical to the subject I. INTRODUCTION(S) Introductions: primarily mine, but including Gonzalez -the issue of continuity of the faith -his methodology: thematic, and sometimes the chronology is missed -relationship between doctrine and dogma -all doctrines of historical theology are to be measured by the “apostles and prophets” i.e., the written word, II. THE CRADLE OF CHRISTIANITY: The World of 1st Century Christianity: and how this relates to theology The Roman world -the Pax Romana: Augustus.(31 BC.14AD) cf. Luke 2. Height of empire under Trajan 117. A principle of Gal. 4:4 -unity of the empire (after the civil war, no longer a republic, but an empire) -semi-autonomy of peoples within the given parameters of Roman rule -the Province of Judea from Rome’s perspective -the Roman occupation from Jewish perspective -the Messiah born at the flowering of the 4th world empire of Daniel’s vision but born under a foreign occupation of the people of God. The Greco-Roman Religious World of the time -syncretistic, cosmopolitan, seeking personal salvation, failure of old religions. and pluralistic: (and concept of pluralism was transitional in a culture) -old gods of Greece and Rome -mystery religions, mostly from the east, esoteric, initiatory, salvific -the place of philosophy Judaism: good news and news *a legal (exemption in the Roman empire) religion *but, after 70 AD and troubles elsewhere, looked down upon generally *seen as too exclusive, hence God-fearers and proselytes Christianity and its relationship with its Jewish matrix: *the stigma of its relationship to Judaism and seen as a “mystery religion *the concept of a crucified Messiah, who was delivered up by His own people, put to death as a criminal by Roman authority, *And appealing to what seemed, the lowest classes of society was not the top option A timeline of the times (history and church history) (on board in class) ENGLE AUGMENT: HOW ARE WE TO APPROACH THIS TOPIC? • Our basic approach will condition our outcomes • The Catholic approach: the tradition is an equal authority with scripture • Radical criticism: it is just a record of men’s thoughts • Me: it is not equally authoritative, but is the record of the process of the church attempting to define the specifics of the truth of the gospel • We should look to glean the wheat from the chaff, neither taking it all in, nor rejecting it • If we understand their (church fathers) motives, their methods will make much more sense • Watch also where one truth or one error will have a trajectory way beyond our life-times! {notice the growth of the monarchial episcopacy!!) • Remember that we are still a living part of this continuity! • The issue also is the attempts to define, and the attempts to relate the Christian message to the culture of the time • The inherent problems with the content and form: making the gospel relational vis-à-vis the culture, but without allowing the culture to modify the content {and this dynamic is on-going} (notice esp. the attempt to use philosophical terms to present the gospel: and the win/loss ratio for the church in the long run!) • The Word, the Holy Spirit, and discernment as to the process • Look also for key concepts/quotes • The relationship between church history and historical theology: conjoined! The condition/state of things by the end of the 1st Christian century • The completion of the canon (and essential agreement on its parameters) • The passing of the last of the original apostles • The functioning of the gifts, but their slow diminishing • The geographical, theological, ethnic shift away from its Jewish matrix and the implications of this for all things • The shift in the book of Acts: Jerusalem>Rome + the 4-fold strategy of Acts • The state of the church and of theology at 100 • Relationship with Judaism (post-70 AD) and with Rome, and why III. THEOLOGY OF THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS: Introductions • Probably the most critical transitional era in church history/theology • That which we would like to know the most about we know the least • The nature of the churches in this period: the major opposition(s) The Apostolic Fathers (sub-apostolic age) c. 95-150 AD Primary sources -Clement of Rome: epistle to the Corinthians -the Didache (writing) -Ignatius of Antioch -Polycarp of Smyrna (knew John) -Papias -Epistle of Barnabas -Shepherd of Hermas Even in this early period we have: *the germ of things that will later grow into western theology -apostolic succession -beginnings of priority of the office of bishop -concepts about the real presence in the eucharist (Lord’s Supper) -the unity of the church based on universal agreement -transition from charismatic leadership to hierarchy -the OT and apostolic writings as canon -the beginnings of Trinitarian language and concepts -germ concepts of theology, ie typology, completion of the plan of God in Christ, supercession of Judaism, etc. Christology, trinity etc. ecclesiology But we also have the germs of departures from NT Christianity -the departure (by slow degrees away from the life of the NT) -the slow acceptance as normative things that may have been functional -the gradual loss of the gifts of the Spirit -departure from a Jewish model to a gentile model -the influence of philosophy into the church (neo-Platonism: explain) -the growth of various brands of Christianity: Rome, Alexandrian, Syrian Critical quote from Gonzalez: “….in their total theological outlook, one senses a distance between the Christianity of the New Testament—especially that of Paul— and that of the Apostolic Fathers.” Quote from Keven Funk: on the continuity/discontinuity of doctrine, spirituality and practice) Quote from your professor: from Patterns of Redemption IV. THE EARLY GREEK APOLOGISTS: c. 150-250 AD The Greek Apologists -from c. 150 AD onwards -not directed towards the flock (as sub apostolic stuff) but to opposition(s) -against accusations -against Judaism -against attacks by pagan religion -against attacks by philosophy -against the society at large -the Roman state: charge of subversion The core of their content • First, the PR campaign: telling what Christianity really believed (often, the agape, the eucharist, closed meetings, baptism) • Second, exposing some of the silliness of pagan religions • Philosophy: usually by showing that Christianity was the true/best philosophy (some even said Christ the final truth, philosophy, OT were pointing that way • Against the Jews: typological use of OT, fulfillment of prophecy verdict of history, the superiority of Christ to the whole OT, His Person, miracles • Against the philosophy re: the resurrection of the dead, against the essential ideas of Greek thought: (man as center, matter is eternal, and all is in flux) • Development of doctrine of the Trinity to refute Jews, show not tri-theism, keep deity of Christ upheld (only start here) • On-going debate re: can philosophy and Christianity co-exist: the ideal, but the historical “real” • In the end the Apologists ended up Hellenizing Christianity( esp. theimbibing of neo-Platonism) V. EARLY HERESIES: CHALLENGE AND RESPONSES: Early heresies and response by the church Introduction • problem of converts from all sorts of different backgrounds • agreed upon diversity within limits of Christianity, but now, testing the limits • Engle: God will use error to push into God’s own truth! ENGLE AUGMENT: The nature of heresy The two enemies of the church: persecution and false doctrine: one internal, the other external • heresy: not just “we are right because we won” • error is false according to its nature, not whether it wins, or gains whoever as adherents • something is false because of its nature, essence, being, and spirit • something is true no matter how many or how few believe it, and no matter how defeated or victorious it may appear to be • some marks of truth, some marks of error • the attempts of the early church to set criteria for judging one vs.