The
extent to which we have benefitted from two thousand years of theological
reflection, scholarly thought, and vigorous debate is inestimable! But no
period was more foundational than the period between the years 30 through 400
A.D.
30 A.D. is the commonly accepted date for the death and resurrection of Christ! The four gospels describe His life and ministry. Acts records the ‘Acts of the Apostles’ taking us up to the time of the Apostle Paul’s and Peter’s deaths – 65 A.D. About this same time, Emperor Nero launched vicious attacks against the Christians. Remember that the Temple in Jerusalem was totally destroyed in 70 A.D.
The deaths of the other apostles would follow before the year 100 A.D. By this time, all of the books of our New Testament would have been written, however, they would not have been collated yet or referred to as the New Testament!
It seems apparent that the apostles were realizing that Christ’s return was not going to occur during their lifetimes. Consequently, some began training younger people so that the propagation of the gospel would continue into the next generation. Paul trained Timothy and others. Peter worked closely with John Mark – who gave us the Gospel of Mark – likely the first gospel written. John doesn’t name trainees, but he frequently refers to his associates as his ‘dear children’ and ‘dear friends’.
What most of us don’t realize and rarely think about is the massive amount of reflection and consolidating that had to have taken place in these early centuries. There are so many areas that demanded consideration and thoughtful reflection – we cannot possibly consider them all [or no one would bother to read this blog 😊].
Therefore, let’s consider just three – and only briefly.
1. Establishing a Christology [a study of Christ]
How did God become a man? How was it possible for Jesus Christ to be wholly divine?
One of the first theories considered was that of adoption. God saw that Jesus was a good man, so God adopted him to be his Son by giving him a special blessing.
So, when did this ‘adoption’ take place?
·
At
His baptism?
·
On
the mount of transfiguration?
·
In
the Garden of Gethsemane?
·
While
suffering on the Cross?
Eventually, the adoption view was replaced by the consideration of a divine birth. How did THAT happen? How could a human baby be divine? The prophecies were merged with Mary’s report to Luke and the concept of a virgin-birth was developed – confirmed by Old Testament prophecies regarding the timing and location of this birth!.
All of this took great thought, discussion and Biblical study!
We have inherited two thousand years of development that has just been handed down to us! But these early followers of Christ were engaged in a deep, focused, laborious and passionate search for understanding and truth!
2. Establishing the Church
The history of the development of the church fills
volumes of books! The progression from a
ragtag group of followers to a rapidly expanding body of believers made up of
both Jews and Gentiles demanded significant focus, effort and agreement!
The first great council of the New Testament Church took place around 50 A.D. in Jerusalem. We have a recording of the deliberations of this group recorded in Acts 15.
Many councils would follow, some of which met and deliberated for over a year! They debated and protected the developing church from many heresies that were rapidly expanding across the then global Church! They discussed ways that the Church should structure and maintain unity and accountability.
Several of these ‘councils’ capped their work by the dissemination of a creed:
·
First
Council of Nicea (325 A.D.) – Nicean Creed
·
Council
of Chalcedon (451 A.D.) – Chalcedonian Creed
What we commonly refer to as ‘The Apostle’s Creed’ seems to have been fully developed by the fourth century. It is not clearly connected to a council, but rather the common acceptance of the Church and its leaders - based on the teachings of the Apostles! It has become the litmus test for groups that identify themselves as ‘CHRISTIAN’.
The conversion of the Emperor Constantine (312 A.D.) freed the Church from persecution and gave it official recognition across the Roman Empire! Consequently, Leo the Great was consecrated as the Bishop of Rome (440 A.D.) - a key leader in the foundling Church. In 590 A.D., Gregory the Great was elected to be Pope of the new Church.
This, of course, coincided with the beginning of what we know as the ‘Dark Ages’ [roughly 500 – 1500 A.D.] This was characterized by three important developments:
A. The emergence of the
Roman Catholic Church. The first major
divide occurred in the mid-seventh century over a controversy regarding the use
of icons in worship. This led to the
first major split of the Church into the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman
Catholic Church.
B. The Dark Ages also
ignited the feudal system of government particularly across Europe.
C. The establishment of
monasteries focused on the development of clergy and the protection and
duplication of the Holy Scriptures – by hand!
3. Establishing an agreed upon group of writings as our current Bible!
Scholars refer to this collection of approved
scriptures as the ‘Canon of Scripture’.
The process of producing an approved list of scriptures [Old and New
Testaments] was not done in an official manner.
Various lists of ‘approved’ scriptures began to emerge in the writings
of the early church leaders.
This process has had much written about it. Until the middle of the 15th century, the Roman Catholic Church had approved a list of scriptures: 46 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament.
This coincided with Guttenberg’s invention of the printing press that infinitesimally increased the production of Bibles across the world!
The Protestant Reformation was not a highly structured rebellion against Catholicism. Although it began with Martin Luther’s scholarly disagreement with many positions and practices within Catholicism [primarily the sale of indulgences], it was rather the emergence of several divergent directions of belief that would develop during this century:
o Protestantism
§ Martin Luther –
Lutheranism
§ John Calvin – Calvinism
[Presbyterian/Baptist]
§ The Anabaptist movement
– many leaders [Amish, Mennonite, Brethren]
§ In the following
century, the British ecclesiastical revolt under King Henry VIII, leading to
John Wesley’s Revival [resulting in Methodism]
Today’s protestant Bible includes the 39 books of the Old Testament [omitting the apocryphal books previously included in the Catholic OT] and the 27 books of the New Testament [as commonly printed and recognized]. The Catholic OT Canon included - Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, I and II Maccabees - plus sections of Esther and Daniel which are absent from the Protestant OT.
These developments have impacted us immensely today, yet we had practically nothing to do with their evolution. This is why John Calvin felt it essential to regard the tradition of the Church as a key way of learning about God!
We are blessed to have had so much done for us so long before our engagement in this world!
Thank You Eternal God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit
For guiding these processes from the earliest days until
the present!
Thank You for the investments that so many made over the
years!
Thank You for the work of scholars and leaders.
Thank You for overseeing and guiding the many councils that
formed our theology!
Thank You for courageous reformers who corrected and directed the path and trajectory of The Church!
Thank You for those who illustrated and taught us the Truth
as we were growing up!
Help us to be faithful to these traditions,
to protect them as a precious gift,
to pass them carefully and accurately to the next
generation,
and to regard them as a holy treasure as we live our lives
to Your glory!
BLESSED BE YOUR WORD, YOUR CHURCH AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD!
AMEN!
