Re: A History Of Christian Doctrine
Renzo Hayami
The doctrine of the Trinity, considered the core of Christian theology by Trinitarians, is the result of continuous exploration by the church of the biblical data, thrashed out in debate and treatises, eventually formulated at the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325 in a way they believe is consistent with the biblical witness, and further refined in later councils and writings.[1] The most widely recognized Biblical foundations for the doctrine's formulation are in the Gospel of John,[1] which possess ideas reflected in Platonism and Greek philosophy.[2]
Nontrinitarianism is any of several Christian beliefs that reject the Trinitarian doctrine that God is three distinct persons in one being. Modern nontrinitarian groups views differ widely on the nature of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
After the return from exile, the Second Temple became the center of Jewish national and religious life.[14] But the Torah continued to serve as "a portable Land, a movable Temple".[15] The Jewish priesthood numbered around 20,000, according to the 1st-century historian Josephus. Groups of priests took turns serving in the Temple, but most of their time was spent outside of Jerusalem. Having studied the Torah, the priests were the primary teachers of the law. They also acted as judges or arbitrators in legal disputes.[16] A large body of case law developed as the requirements of the Torah were debated and applied to daily life. Prior to the 2nd century, these legal interpretations were transmitted orally from a teacher to his students, giving rise to an oral Torah.[17]
The Greek-speaking Jews of Alexandria produced a Greek translation of the Bible called the Septuagint. The Septuagint was influential on early Christianity as it was the translation used by the first Christians.[20] This translation included books not found in the Hebrew Bible, including Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, and the books of Maccabees.[21]
Opposition to these anti-Jewish policies sparked the Maccabean Revolt in 167 BC, which culminated in the establishment of an independent Judea under the Hasmoneans, who ruled as kings and high priests.[24] The Hasmoneans were kings but not of the House of David.[25] They were a priestly family, but they were not Zadokites. For this reason, some Jews believed the office of high priest lacked legitimacy.[26]
The Pharisees were drawn from the middle-class,[36] and many were scribes.[37] They were distinguished by their strict adherence to both the written Torah as well as the oral Torah, emphasis on purity laws, and personal piety. There were different Pharisaic schools, the most famous being the Houses of Hillel and Shammai.[38][39] The Pharisees believed in a universal resurrection, and this belief was tied to the expectation that God would restore the nation of Israel. According to Josephus, Pharisees believed in both divine providence and free will. When applied to the restoration of Israel, this meant that "Israel's god will act; but loyal Jews may well be required as the agents and instruments of that divine action."[40] Pharisees believed in a complex angelology and demonology.[41] While Pharisees continued to worship at the Temple, they considered the chief priests to be corrupt.[42]
The rivals of the Pharisees were the Sadducees. They were drawn from the families of the chief priests and secular aristocrats. Sadducees tended to have a positive view toward Hellenism and cooperated with the Romans.[36] The Sadducees were religiously conservative. They emphasized Temple rituals, believed in free will, and rejected the oral Torah. They also rejected the doctrine of the resurrection. Biblical scholar N. T. Wright notes that belief in a resurrection "functioned for a long time as a symbol and metaphor for the total reconstitution of Israel, the return from Babylon, and the final redemption". Belief in a resurrection, therefore, implied the end of Sadducee power.[43]
The Essenes believed it was necessary to separate from all things foreign.[36] They saw themselves as the true Israel, an Israel still in exile and awaiting the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies of restoration. They considered the chief priests of the Jerusalem Temple to be illegitimate and refused to worship there.[44] They were part of a broader apocalyptic movement in Judaism, which believed the time was at hand when God would restore Israel.[45] However, the Essenes believed in fate, not free will. The liberation of Israel would not be accomplished by human effort but through divine action. The Essenes anticipated that God would give Israel new rulers, a true Davidic king and an anointed priest, who would lead the Sons of Light in a war against the Sons of Darkness, a group that included Gentiles and non-Essene Jews (see War Scroll). The Sons of Light would be victorious, and a new Temple would be built to replace the corrupt one.[46]
Most Jews in Palestine, however, were not members of any sect. They were among the am ha'aretz ("people of the land"), but there is little information about how these people practiced Judaism.[36] N. T. Wright suggests that "[t]hey prayed, they fasted, they went to synagogue, they travelled to Jerusalem for the regular feasts. They did not eat pork, they kept the sabbath, they circumcised their male children. Equally, they paid sufficient attention to the Pharisees as respected, though unofficial, teachers to ensure that some of these basic duties were carried out in a more or less Pharisaic fashion."[47]
Church historian Diarmaid MacCulloch has observed that "Christianity in its first five centuries was in many respects a dialogue between Judaism and Graeco-Roman philosophy".[48] The most important philosophical influence was Platonism:
As the Christ or "Anointed One" (Greek: Christos), Jesus is identified as the fulfillment of messianic prophecies in the Old Testament. Through the accounts of his miraculous virgin birth, the gospels present Jesus as the Son of God. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus is called kyrios ("lord" in Greek), a word used in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible for the name of God.[63]
While the synoptic gospels agree with each other on the broad outlines of Jesus' life, each gospel has its own emphasis. The Gospel of Mark presents Jesus as "the suffering Messiah, the Son of man who is crucified and later vindicated by God".[61] In Matthew, Jesus is Messiah, Son of David, and a new Moses. In Luke, he is a prophet and martyr.[61] In John, Jesus is described as God himself.[64] In an appropriation of Greek philosophical concepts, John's Gospel identifies Jesus as the divine logos by which the world was created: "And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory" (John 1:14).[65]
Jesus' message centered on the coming of the Kingdom of God (in Jewish eschatology a future when God actively rules over the world in justice, mercy, and peace).[66] Jesus urged his followers to repent in preparation for the kingdom's coming. In Mark 1:15, Jesus proclaims, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." His ethical teachings included loving one's enemies, not serving both God and Mammon, and not judging others. These ethical teachings are encapsulated in the Sermon on the Mount and the Lord's Prayer.[67] The gospel accounts conclude with a description of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, ultimately leading to his Ascension.[68]
To Jewish audiences, early preaching focused on Jesus as the fulfillment of Israel's messianic hopes (see for example the Apostle Peter's sermon in Acts 2). When preaching to Greek audiences, however, Christians appealed to the Greek intellectual tradition. This approach can be seen in the Areopagus sermon delivered by the Apostle Paul as described in Acts 17. Citing Athenian worship of the Unknown God, Paul proclaims that this god is revealed to humanity through Jesus. Quoting the Athenian poet Aratus, Paul states that in God "we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).[65]
Paul wrote that the Spirit empowers the church with various gifts or charismata. In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul wrote about the practice of ecstatically speaking in tongues (or unknown languages). Acts 2:1-13 described how the Spirit descended on the Twelve Apostles on the feast of Pentecost and made them speak in foreign languages.[72]
The first Christians were Jewish Christians, and the center of Christianity was the church in Jerusalem. Acts records that during the 40s and 50s AD there was controversy over circumcision and the place of Gentiles (non-Jews) in the movement. The Judaizers believed that Gentile Christians needed to follow Jewish laws and customs, particularly circumcision, to be saved. Paul, however, argued that no one could be made righteous or justified by following the law of Moses but only through faith in Jesus, citing the prophet Habakkuk: "he who through faith is righteous shall live" (Habbakuk 2:4). At the Council of Jerusalem held in 49 AD, it was decided that Gentile believers would not have to undergo circumcision.[73][74]
The issue remained alive for many years after the Jerusalem council. New Testament sources suggest that James the Just, brother of Jesus and leader of the Jerusalem church still believed the Torah was binding on Jewish Christians. In Galatians 2:11-14, Paul described "people from James" causing the Apostle Peter and other Jewish Christians in Antioch to break table fellowship with Gentiles (see Incident at Antioch). Joel Marcus, professor of Christian origins, suggests that Peter's own position was somewhere between James and Paul, but that he probably leaned more toward James.[75]
The Epistle of James stresses the importance of the Torah as "the perfect law of liberty" and "the implanted word that is able to save your souls".[76] Marcus comments that in the epistle "little room is left for the saving function of Jesus, who is mentioned only twice, and in an incidental way (1.1, 2:1)."[77]
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