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Orthodox Christology in Patristic Sources

Paul's paper thoroughly argues that there was an orthodox Christology established early on. He uses charts, statistics, and quotes from early Church fathers like Ignatius to demonstrate that a belief in Jesus as both fully God and fully human existed prior to later Church councils. Paul shows that early sources like Clement of Rome and Barnabas assumed this Christology, even if they did not discuss it at length. While their understanding was not as sophisticated as later definitions, these early sources contained the core elements of the orthodox position that was further developed at Chalcedon.

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61 views1 page

Orthodox Christology in Patristic Sources

Paul's paper thoroughly argues that there was an orthodox Christology established early on. He uses charts, statistics, and quotes from early Church fathers like Ignatius to demonstrate that a belief in Jesus as both fully God and fully human existed prior to later Church councils. Paul shows that early sources like Clement of Rome and Barnabas assumed this Christology, even if they did not discuss it at length. While their understanding was not as sophisticated as later definitions, these early sources contained the core elements of the orthodox position that was further developed at Chalcedon.

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publicbiography
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Pauls paper is a very thorough and convincing effort to argue that there is such a thing as orthodox Christology.

His employment of charts and statistical data reinforces his case, and theres a helpful appendix to the reader. Theres a thorough discussion of the textual issues in the beginning of the paper, demonstrating that Paul indeed has a very careful, comprehensive, and enviable historical grasp of his material. He shows himself to be a very competent exegete of the patristic material. Im much more interested in the ideas, however, so I will focus mostly on some of the ideas I found helpful and interesting. In refuting Pagels claim that orthodoxy was established by political and patriarchal power, Paul invokes a passage from his favorite Ignatius in page 8: Commenting on the beliefs of the Ephesian church as a whole, Ignatius commends their steadfastness in correct doctrine: Indeed, you do not so much as listen to anyone unless he speaks truthfully about Jesus Christ (emphasis added). Does this sound like a church that has been victimized by the overreaching, pushy, and patriarchal bishop Ignatius? Certainly not. He actually commends their handling of the false teachers. Pauls case is made by paying attention to the presupposition of the textual evidence. It seems that it is indeed the case that the existence of an orthodox Christology is not so much argued as it is assumed. Paul also unpacks the two nature doctrine while distinguishing it from the Chaceldonian orthodoxy: The difference between Chalcedonian Christology (and the councils in general) and Ignatius is that in each time period there is a re-affirmation of true Christology in light of contemporary challenges. The responses become more detailed as the heresies become more detailed, but the bottom-line is always that Jesus is God and human. For Ignatius, the contemporary challenge was Docetismso his two-natured view responds to the extent to meet that challengeJesus was genuinely and fully human. (9) He also notes that these non-creedal statements are often made in passing, further supporting the reality of a well-established orthodox Christology by the time of Ignatius. Paul further enlists the help of Clement of Rome and the author of the epistle of Barnabas. He made the point that Both the letter of Clement to Rome and the Epistle of Barnabas indicate that at least two elements of their Christology were believed, and assumed to be believed by their audience: that Christ was fully God and fully human, and that he suffered physically. He further notes that even though they are not as pre-occupied with this issue as Ignatius, they nevertheless show some commonly held conviction as Ignatius (17). Lastly, after examining some evidence from gnostic sources, Paul concludes that even though the early sources do not have as sophisticated of an understanding as the Chalcedonian Christology, they contain the essential elements of the same Christology, which was sufficient for them to deal with their own issues. This paper is an enormously helpful resource in understanding the nature of the patristic sources and how to argue theologically for authoritative and fundamental ideas.

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