A History of Christian Theology
Class Notes #2 –
- Our Father in heaven, who hast sent thy beloved Son to be unto us the Way the Truth and the Life; Grant that we, looking unto him, may set forward the teaching power of thy Church, to the nurture of thy people, the increase of thy Kingdom and the glory of thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, we thee and the Holy Ghost, art One God, World without end. Amen.
- Recap last class –
September 13, 2006 - “God as Fearsome Father” – N&O,
Sunday October 1, 2006. - Chapter 2 – The Hope of
Israel - PP 18 – What distinguishes Judaism from “The Religion of Israel”?
i. The Religion of Israel began @ 1200 BC or earlier.
1. Judaism is generally considered as having begun @ 400 BC – with the period of the prophet Ezra. The distinction bears some careful consideration…which was closer to God’s revelation… “The Religion of Israel” or Judaism? What are the pros & cons? What might this suggest about Christianity?
There is truth in both, but over time man tends to drift towards legalism. Reform is an ever on-going need.
2. Article VI – Of the Sufficiency of Scripture: Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. In the name of the Holy Scripture we do understand those canonical Books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church.
ii. What made
1. While God was referred to as ‘he’, there was no interest in his sexuality
2. There were no descriptions or depictions of Yahweh – in fact, it was sinful to make them.
3. Yahweh did not simply participate in history as did other gods; rather He controlled history, changed history and was seen doing new things in history. Yahweh was sovereign over time and events.
4. Yahweh had an unusual relationship to government – He was
a. Note how this relationship still exists in our faith and Prayerbook today – see Morning and Evening Prayers for Civil Authority and the Communion Prayer for the whole state of Christ’s Church.
iii. Pp 22/23 – note development of ethics is the “Religion of Israel”.
1. Most other eastern religions were based on the necessity of propitiation – easing the wrath of an angry and capricious god. There was little interest in the moral or ethical behavior of its peoples (or the ethical behavior of the gods for that matter).
iv. Pp 23 – Yahweh makes global claims on all nations.
v. Pp 23/24 – Yahweh becomes the “God of Individuals”…children need no longer suffer for their fathers failures.
- Pp 26 – Apocalyptic Literature
i. Apocalypse is Greek for ‘revelation’ or ‘unveiling – ‘Apocalyptic literature, therefore, claims to unveil something that is normally hidden or unseen.
ii. Most Jewish apocalyptic literature is found between 200 BC and ran through 100 AD and dealt with the end of the present world order and with the next world.
iii. Daniel is generally considered the first of this from of literature (historically dated from the 6th Century BC, although even traditional scholars agree it may have been redacted later – ie 200-300 BC). Other OT works include parts of Joel, Isaiah, Amos and Ezekiel. New Testament writings in this style include Revelations and those passages that look forward to Christ’s Second Coming (see Matthew 24 & 25, Mark 13, Luke 21, 1 Thessalonians 4, 1 Corinthians 15, 2nd Peter).
- Chapter 3 – The
Mission to the Gentiles - Skipping right over Jesus for a moment…who was the largest influencer on Christian Theology?
i.
- What were the major issues of the early Church?
i. Pp 33/34 – The second Coming
1. The Second Coming
2. Freedom from the Law (on the one hand) and Judaisers (on the other).
3. Presence of sin in the community (pp 37)
4. Application and distribution of Spiritual Gifts (pp 37).
ii. How are these problems seen in the church today?!
- Pp 39 – What lead to the beginning of Christology and “Intellectual Christian Theology”?
i. QUESTIONS!
1. What about Christ before his birth to Mary?
2. Where was Christ after the Ascension
3. What about His second coming?
ii. What were the results of these questions asked and answered?
1. The ‘story’ of Christianity was filled out
2. Jesus was identified ever more clearly with God.
- Pp 40/41 – Greek Mystery Religions
i. What does Placher say about the comparison between Christianity and the Greek “Mystery” religions? How are they similar?
1. Ritual
2. the ability to “belong”
3. The comfort of the afterlife
ii. What important factors make them dissimilar?
1. Christianity allowed ritual but only to the end of what it believed – in the risen Christ.
2. One belonged but at the cost of turning his life over to Jesus
3. Christianity didn’t just call for an ethical life but for a transformation and love and sharing of life and its gifts.
4. The afterlife comes as a free gift based on faith…it cannot be earned or taken through a secret “initiation”.
- Chapter 4 – The beginnings of Orthodoxy
- Why is orthodoxy considered a “bad word”?
- What is Gnosticism?
i. Gnosis means “knowledge” or “wisdom”. Gnostics claim special or secret knowledge – if you were “in” on the secret you would have salvation. Typically one of the problems Christianity has had with Masonry is that it is, essentially, a Gnostic belief system.
ii. Gnostics tended to believe the body and material world are evil or even illusory; hence Gnostics also tended to be Docetics. (Doceticsm – to “appear”).
iii. Pp 50 - Montanism – very charismatic. Believed in new revelation from the Holy Spirit.
- Marcion – believed in evil OT god and good NT God. He rewrote the bible, forcing the Orthodox to affirm a canon that eventually became our bible.
i. Read Ireaeus – pp 24 of readings.
- Next week – October 11 – read chapters 5 & 6
