Chapter Eight Notes: The Quest for Orthodoxy

The Quest for Orthodoxy

Orthodoxy and Heresy: The Classical View

• Classical Understanding:
  • Orthodoxy: The correct belief system, originating from Jesus and passed down through the Church leaders.
  • Heresy: Any deviation from this correct belief.
• Creeds:
  • Orthodoxy is expressed through creeds like the Nicene Creed.
  • The Nicene Creed:
    • "We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen."
    • "We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: By the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end."
    • "We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen."
• Heresy Examples:
  • Belief in multiple gods.
  • Denial of Christ's full divinity or humanity.
  • Denial of the virgin birth or the resurrection.
  • Denial of the future resurrection.
• Orthodoxy's Priority:
  • Orthodoxy is considered prior to heresy.
  • Heresy is viewed as a corruption of a pre-existing truth.
• Etymology:
  • Orthodoxy: "Right belief," implying originality and majority support.
  • Heresy: "Choice," indicating an intentional departure from right belief and found among a minority.
• Eusebius of Caesarea:
  • Known as the "father of church history."
  • Wrote Church History, narrating Christianity from its beginning to his time (completed in 324/25 AD).
  • Presents Christ as both God and man from the beginning.
  • His account showcases a theological agenda, biased towards orthodoxy.
• Eusebius's Perspective:
  • Presents a positive view of Christianity's first 300 years, despite hardships.
  • Attributes church growth to God's guidance and the believers' faith.
  • Views heresy as quickly overcome by the church's apostolic teaching.
• Simon Magus:
  • Eusebius, like earlier heresiologists, identifies Simon Magus as the origin of Christian heresy from the book of Acts.
  • Simon was a magician in Samaria who convinced people he was “the Power of God that is called Great” (Acts 8).
  • Philip converted many Samarians, including Simon who was astounded by the miracles.
  • The apostles Peter and John were sent to give the converts the gift of the Spirit through the laying on of hands (Acts 8:14-17).
  • Simon tries to bribe the apostles. Peter rebukes him and urges repentance (Acts 8:19).
• Later Traditions about Simon Magus:
  • Legends developed, indicating Simon never repented.
  • Justin Martyr claimed Romans erected a statue to Simon with the inscription “Simoni Deo Sancto” (“To Simon, the Holy God”).
  • The inscription was later discovered in 1574 to actually read “Semoni Sanco Sancto Deo,” dedicated to the pagan deity Semo Sancus.
• Heresiologists' Accounts:
  • Irenaeus and others portrayed Simon as the original Gnostic.
  • Simon is described as teaching that he was a divine redeemer, bringing his “Primal Thought” (Helen, a woman he supposedly acquired from a brothel).
• Eusebius's Development of the Simon Magus Story:
  • Presents Simon as a demonically inspired opponent of the apostles who used black magic to mislead people.
  • According to Eusebius Simon advocated false doctrines and lived a scandalous life, openly associating with the prostitute Helen and engaging in vile rituals.
  • Those misled by Simon indulged in scandalous practices (Church History 2.13.8).
• God's Response:
  • God raised up the apostle Peter to defeat Simon in Judea.
  • Simon fled to Rome where he was once and for all dispensed with by Peter (Church History 2.14.2–3).
• Significance of Eusebius's Account:
  • Establishes a framework for understanding Christian heresy that prevailed for centuries.
  • Orthodoxy is seen as the “right opinion” taught by Jesus and the apostles, while heresy is “false belief” created by willful persons.
  • Corruption often attributed to Jewish traditions or pagan philosophy.
• Acts' Similar Perspective:
  • The book of Acts portrays the true faith as based on the apostles’ eyewitness testimony, spread by the Holy Spirit.
  • Apostolic churches are in complete harmony.
  • Problems arise from greed, avarice, or outsiders infiltrating the church (e.g., Ananias, Sapphira, Simon Magus).
  • The church is unified behind the original apostolic teaching, despite ravenous wolves infiltrating the flock (10:28–31).
• Proto-Orthodox Christians:
  • Developed the notion of apostolic succession to combat heresy.

Assaults on the Classical View

• Modern Challenges:
  • The classical view of orthodoxy and heresy remained largely unchallenged until the modern period.
  • Key questions challenging this view:
    • Did Jesus and his disciples teach a specific orthodoxy?
    • Is Acts a reliable account of the early church's internal conflicts?
    • Does Eusebius provide a trustworthy account of disputes in post-apostolic Christian communities?
  • The current scholarly consensus answers all three questions negatively.

H. Reimarus, the Historical Jesus, and the Gospels

• Enlightenment Skepticism:
  • Serious concerns about the Bible's historical accuracy emerged during the Enlightenment.
  • Supernatural doctrines and divine revelation were questioned.
  • Skepticism impacted both secular and internal Christian reflections on truth and reason.
• Hermann Reimarus (1694–1768):
  • His Fragments (1774–78) challenged biblical reliability.
  • Fragments made public by Lessing after Reimarus's death.
  • Reimarus was trained in philosophy, theology, and philology.
  • His most controversial fragment: “The Intention of Jesus and His Disciples.”
• Reimarus's Critique:
  • Influenced by English Deists, he prioritized human reason and rejected miracles.
  • Applied these principles to the New Testament, rejecting the historical accuracy of Gospel accounts of Jesus’ resurrection.
• Reimarus's View of Jesus:
  • Jesus proclaimed a political kingdom, intending a Jewish uprising against the Romans.
  • Jesus would lead this new political state as the Messiah.
  • The Romans crucified Jesus as a political revolutionary.
• Reimarus's View of the Disciples:
  • The disciples invented the idea of a spiritual Messiah who died for sin and was raised from the dead.
  • They stole Jesus’ body to prevent refutation of their claims (Matt. 28:13).
  • Thus, the disciples started the Christian religion, contrary to Jesus's intentions.
• Impact and Legacy:
  • No scholar today agrees with Reimarus's reconstruction.
  • Albert Schweitzer noted Reimarus began the critical quest to establish what really happened in Jesus' life.
  • Premise: Gospel narratives are later accounts written by believers with a vested interest.
• Evidence of Discrepancies:
  • Gospel accounts contain irreconcilable differences:
    • Time of Jesus' death relative to Passover (John vs. Mark).
    • Flight to Egypt after Jesus' birth (Matthew vs. Luke).
    • Jairus's daughter's condition (Mark vs. Matthew).
    • Disciples' location after resurrection (Luke vs. Matthew).
  • These differences reveal each Gospel writer's agenda.
• Implications:
  • Orthodoxy is not rooted in the apostles’ teachings as accurately preserved in the Gospels.
  • Doctrines of orthodox Christianity developed later than the historical Jesus and his apostles.
  • These views are generally held by scholars today due to in-depth analyses of the Gospel traditions.

F. C. Baur and the Earliest History of Christianity

• Focus on Acts:
  • Scholarly interest during the Enlightenment extended to the historical reliability of Acts.
  • Questions arose about the accuracy of Acts' description of the earliest Christian community.
• F. C. Baur (1792–1860):
  • A key figure in biblical and theological scholarship.
  • Founder of the Tübingen School.
  • His work reevaluated the historical trustworthiness of the New Testament writings.
• The Tübingen School:
  • The work of Baur and his students dominated German- and English-speaking scholarship for a generation.
• Baur's Scholarly Output:
  • Prodigious output, writing the equivalent of a 400-page book every year for forty years.
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