Orthodoxy & Heresy In The Early Church

admin — Sun, 17 May 2009 01:05:02 +0000

In his course on the “Ancient and Medieval Church” at Covenant Theological Seminary, David Calhoun recommended the following texts For Further Study on the topic of Orthodoxy & Heresy in the early church (the annotations are his):

Jones, Peter. The Gnostic Empire Strikes Back: An Old Heresy for the New Age. 1992.
Shows how the gnostic heresy of self-deification has returned with a vengeance in the New Age
Movement.

McGrath, Alister E. The Genesis of Doctrine. 1990.
A useful study of how Christian doctrine came into existence, by the prolific British historian theologian.

Orr, James. The Progress of Dogma.
Famous work in which the 19th century Scottish theologian argues that “the history of
dogma…is simply the system of theology spread out through the centuries.” pp. 21

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“The age of the martyrs has a powerful attraction even to the casual reader; the age of the heresies leaves him bewildered and distressed. Yet the agents in both were discharging an equally necessary function. Both were upholding the truth of the gospel; the one against the power of the world, the other against the wisdom of the world. The martyrs had this advantage, that the force of their testimony was concentrated in one supreme moment, was expressed in one heroic act, which commands universal sympathy. The controversialists had to live through a protracted struggle and are judged by their utterances, and all their human weaknesses which the conflict remorselessly revealed.”
~ Mandell Creighton, quoted by B. B. Warfield, Selected Shorter Writings, 2: 214

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“The rejection of heretics brings into relief what your church holds and what sound doctrine maintains. ‘It was necessary for heresies to occur so that the approved may be made manifest’ (I Corinthians 11:19) among the weak.”
~ Augustine, Confessions, 7. 19

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“Christianity is not something utterly formless and vague, but has an ascertainable, statable content, which it is the business of the church to find out, to declare, to defend.”
~ James Orr, The Progress of Dogma, pp. 8, 9

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“The errors of heretics…force us to deal with unlawful matters, to scale perilous heights, to speak unutterable words, to trespass on forbidden ground, compelling us to err in daring to embody in human terms truths which ought to be hidden in the silent veneration of the heart.”
~ Hilary of Poitiers, Hilary of Poitiers on the Trinity , 2, 2

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Christianity & Pagan Systems of Thought

The Pursuit of God

100 Most Important Events In Church History

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Christianity and Pagan Systems of Thought

admin — Fri, 15 May 2009 07:04:02 +0000

In Ronald H. Nash’s book Christianity & The Hellenistic World, he has a section entitled For Further Reading which lists books that support his claims that Christianity did not borrow any of its essential beliefs from pagan systems of thought. They are shared below along with his annotations:

Armstrong, A. H. An Introduction to Ancient Philosophy. Boston: Beacon, 1963
Armstrong’s book is the clearest and best-written introduction to ancient and Hellenistic philosophy available.

Clark, Gordon H. Selections From Hellenistic Philosophy. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1940.
Clark not only supplies lengthy selections from major Hellenistic thinkers but also provides helpful introductions that often relate the subject to Christianity.

Cullmann, Oscar. The Christology of the New Testament. Rev. ed. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1963.
Cullmann’s account includes important criticisms of Bousset and others who argued that early Christianity’s picture of Jesus was influenced by paganism.

Davies, W.D. and Dabue, D., eds. The Background of the New Testament and its Eschatology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1956.
This collection of scholarly essays contains a number of chapters that deal with questions raised in this book [Christianity & The Hellenistic World].

Kim, Seyoon. The Origin of Paul’s Gospel. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982.
A Korean scholar updates the argument of Machen’s Origin of Paul’s Religion.

Machen, J. Gresham. The Origin of Paul’s Religion. New York: Macmillan, 1925
Still a classic in spite of its age, Machen’s work is outdated for the most part only in its treatment of Gnosticism.

Marshall, I. Howard, ed. New Testament Interpretation: Essays on Principles and Methods. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977.
Another collection of essays, many of which are relevant to the concerns of this book [Christianity & The Hellenistic World].

Metzger, Bruce M. “Methodology in the Study of the Mystery Religions and Early Christianity.” Chapter 1 in Historical and Literary Studies: Pagan, Jewish, and Christian. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1968.
Required reading on the relationship between Christianity and the mystery religions.

Nock, A. D. “Early Gentile Christianity and Its Hellenistic Background.” In Essays on the Trinity and the Incarnation, edited by A. E. J. Rawlinson. London: Longmans, Green, 1928
As old as it is, Nock’s essay is still relevant to the debate.

Rahner, Hugo. “The Christian Mystery and the Pagan Mysteries.” In Pagan and Christian Mysteries, edited by Joseph Campbell. New York: Harper & Row, 1955.
Another indispensable source, this time by a Roman Catholic scholar.

Wagner, Gunter. Pauline Baptism and the Pagan Mysteries. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1967.
An extremely important book dealing with more than just baptism. It is full of much helpful material on Christianity’s alleged dependence on the mystery religions.

Wilson, Robert McL. Gnosis and the New Testament. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1968.
One of many books and articles by a prominent British scholar on Christianity’s allege dependence on Gnosticism.

Yamauchi, Edwin. Pre-Christian Gnosticism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973.
This is the first book anyone should read on the subject of Christianity and Gnosticism.

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Building A Theological Library» Gnosticism

Orthodoxy & Heresy In The Early Church

Christianity and Pagan Systems of Thought