1:11:47 Sam at this point you explain that “going through the exercise of looking at church fathers and trying to classify…once you examine a couple key questions and know what to look for…”. Ostensibly, you can know quite strongly what the Christology is. So my question, what are those key questions? And what are you looking for to squeeze out of the writings what you want to know? Is there a book or three that would lead someone to know the development of Christology in the early church father’s writings and how Christology developed along with them?
If Sam argues that modalism appeared late because it can geographically only be traced to Asia, than the opposite holds true for Logos theology which was a widespread phenomenon and so didn’t just originate in the 2nd century.
This is a good and interesting point. In order to explain how logos theology could be a later innovation as well as having a large geographic distribution by the late 2nd century (Justin is Samaria/Rome, Athenagoras in Athens, Theophilus in Antioch, Irenaeus in Asia/France, Tertullian in Carthage, etc...) you would have to posit that it was able to travel quickly through networks of elite educated and philosophically inclined Christians via books and letters and trickled down from there. I think you can make that case, but you are right, it is pretty widely geographically distributed.
@@transfigured3673 btw is it not better for Unitarians to drop this whole line of reasoning ( contra Gaston, Hillar, Tuggy)?? I think it's clear that Justin shows 'no trace of immediate borrowing' from platonism (see Goodenough, Theology of Justin p. 124 & 174). The link with Numenius seems farfetched conceptually, and maybe possible chronologically, it the end not very likely. It's far more likely that both Justin and Numenius borrow from Philo (whether directly or indirectly). That's seems to be the far stronger case.
@@Yoda-bg5ei Justin says he studied with great platonist philosophers so I don't think it's far fetched to say he was aware of numenius or at least others like him. BUt that doesn't rule out influence from Philo too. ". In my helpless condition it occurred to me to have a meeting with the Platonists, for their fame was great. I thereupon spent as much of my time as possible with one who had lately settled in our city, - a sagacious man, holding a high position among the Platonists - and I progressed, and made the greatest improvements daily. And the perception of immaterial things quite overpowered me, and the contemplation of ideas furnished my mind with wings, so that in a little while I supposed that I had become wise; and such was my stupidity, I expected immediately to look upon God, for this is the end of Plato's philosophy." Against Trypho chapter 2
@@transfigured3673 Granted! Although Apamea and Rome are a long way from Nablus - so I think we can safely rule out direct contact. Also this anecdote clearly shows that Justin only spend a short time with this teacher (whoever it was) > 'and within a short time I supposed I had become wise' (AT, 2). Most scholars don't think Justin (also later in life) had a very good grasp of platonism or philosophy in general. It seems to me that Justin is simply too early to be influenced by Numenius in his formative period. This is another matter (a couple decades later) with Clement of Alexandria who quotes Numenius. To get back at my point: it is clear that Justin's Logos theology is influenced by 'middle platonism', but the claim Gaston makes goes much further. 'The doctrine of the trinity' is derived from middle platonism (especially Numenius) I think that is not supported by the evidence. 'Logos theology' goes back to the first century and even further...
@@transfigured3673 Granted. It's clear that Justin shows clear affinity with Middle platonic tendencies. A direct link (as often is posited) is much harder (if not impossible) to prove. It's more likely that only the next generation like Clement of A. knew his writings. But back to the bigger point: the claim is that 'Logos Christology' comes from Middle platonism and is introduced into Christian thought only with Justin (via Numenius). Numenius himself already is not a likely candidate because his 'World soul' seems to be an evil entity, while Justin had to combat the gnostics. So why not pick Eudoras of A. instead? I think BU needs to posit links with a late thinker to prove the sudden appearance of Logos Theology, safely in the middle of the second century. If Justin's theology is influenced by Philo (or Eudoras), Logos theology is too early for this line of reasoning and an inconvenient fact. It seems to me this explains much of the drive behind this argument, not the bare facts. But I could be mistaken...
You ignore it is immoral to indoctrinate children with your fantasyland vocabulary & literate people avoid you like the old woman with too many cats. Read your bible, Jesus Christ says faith is worthless, since mountains don't move in obedience to you. With you wolves in sheep's clothing, Jesus warned us He comes not with peace, but the sword of your delusions. I love being a "fisher of men" & not speaking to the choir, like that "wicked generation seeking signs". I know why you wonder about others, you can't admit your embarrassing situation, having one foot in fantasyland. Believers lack any sense of shame, if God existed, then we would all be believers, because that would be God's will. Christians are to be mocked, for all their expressed knowing of God. Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy", Rome won the war of the Jews, so Jesus is hanging from a tree for 2000 years. The Christian home is in Rome, not Jerusalem. If there were any remembrance of Jesus Christ, The Romans would have obliterated it, and you would hear the mocking of a son of a Jewish God. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13 The Jew / Christian God is a Roman joke. Any trace of Jesus Christ would have been obliterated with the destruction of the temple in 70 AD & ;the war of the Jews in 130 AD. Jesus Christ has been proven to be a means to mock the Jews, having their King hanging from a tree, for all the ages. The Romans controlled the literature & Jesus Christ is a proven Joke, taking 2000 years to complete the job, for it is written, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13 Jonah is the sign: A believer, outnumbered by a gathering crowd, by other believers, who murder for faith. Every sign or miracle of Jesus is a joke. Believers insult us with expectations they are to be respected for their distance covered with one foot in fantasyland. Christians are slaves to a fantasyland, it is like shooting fish in a barrel: Their history is bad, their theology is bad, & their vocabulary is evil. Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy". So they indoctrinated children to extend a blend of fiction. Christians give themselves an excuse & an answer for everything. Wolves in sheep's clothing preach to the choir, since literate people don't take them seriously, any more than the old women with too many cats. I scold Christians because they lack shame. Nothing pleases me more than opposing faith. Incompetence is the God of Jesus, failing to complete anything for 2000 years, being the son of a deity, known for a perfect record of doing nothing. Jesus Christ hangeth for all time, because Romans won the war of the Jews. The Messiah of the Jews, The King of the Jews, forever cursed. The Christians are a curse, being the "wolves in sheep's clothing", seeking signs. The only sign given is believers murdering a smaller number of believers. Incompetence is your God, having waited on the Jew' Messiah for 2000 years, indoctrinated by Roman literature. " for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13. You ignore the fact, not all of us can pretend prophesy & God exist. That is why Jesus Christ says, "Think not I come with peace, but sword" & believers make up stories to gloss over the fact they are avoided like the old woman with too many cats. It is amusing to hear the profound arrogance of someone knowing of God, as if He were known outside of fiction. The believer & the literate are separated by the vocabulary of fiction: Blasphemy, God, faith, prayer, prophet, scripture etc. Matthew 17:20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” I like asking believers how they can possibly think their faith is respectable, given Jesus said faith is worthless, since you can't expect obedience when ordering mountains to move? Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy". "Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall". What is The Catholic faith? Organized crime, indoctrinating children with a fantasyland vocabulary? When men are free of religious notions they write, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy." "My sheep hear My voice" is the mindset of slavery. Once free of it, there are no suggestions we all travel better by having one foot in a stranger's fantasyland or Garden of Eden. A mind free of religious text is not tortured by pretending Divinity made Mormons so Christians would know how Jews feel, having pasted their books on to them both. Those looking for the sign of a resurrection, are a vile, "Wicked Generation" seeking signs, led by "wolves in sheep's clothing". "The only sign is that of Jonah"; a believer murdered by other believers. Chained to the slavery of faith, they write: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13 One must be insanely arrogant to suggest knowing something of a God. It is by boldness, Moses became the world's worst navigator, by having one foot in some fantasyland. There is a fine line between fishing & standing on the shore, looking like an idiot. Fail to get the Jews to buy it for 2000 years & they should know who their Messiah is. Jesus is a fake, to immortalize the war against the Jews. Jesus Christ is crucified for all time in literature & the subjects of Rome are illiterate. Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy" & the joke is in the scriptures. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13 An improvement on your God & faith; would outlaw indoctrination & abuse of the vocabulary of fiction on children. Reference CREATING CHRIST - Official Documentary / Rabbi Tovia Singer Destroys Christian Argument on Isaiah 53! Who is the Suffering Servant? / Shocking Proof the Gospels Ripped off the Homeric Epics!! | Dr. Dennis R. MacDonald. Proof the Gospels Ripped off Homer! Pt. 2 | Dr. Dennis MacDonald
@@transfigured3673as someone who was raised RC and almost became EO I am struggling with understanding Unitarianism. Im not sure how Jesus’ death and resurrection has any meaning if He is not God incarnate. I’m open to learning, but reading is better for me when it comes to learning (not these long form conversation podcasts). What books would you recommend to understand your Unitarian position or short form video? Thanks for your time. I find this all fascinating.
Two good books "The God of Jesus" by Kegan Chandler : www.amazon.com/God-Jesus-Light-Christian-Dogma/dp/0967324939 "Christ Before Creeds" Jeff Deuble : www.amazon.com/Christ-Before-Creeds-Rediscovering-History/dp/B0CV4DRQM7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1Y45JLEB1DTJL&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.cWxT3wyAI5qZ1kR9LVFPxGJhO_Wrs-AhrVGEC6xvRSm39ETajI-cwYY2n0RnmFgmsZ3Ida20SuOqQZgQW5B9pUMaaXMmbnyyiNnrW0rsHjt5St6YcCsgAasgooGXpQSEk2ugYN5c8FRlk9-G0LYFF6ilJMqsWaZJB9IXyWW_9joecYHTqANVX9-SPgr7kJaHWxNnWh2xCoCl_l51SK522ZcIXL_bbE0BPVvvp-sMHpE.LRl6OVMN3t0T4FzH_g9epwae-HQN39QMUyziyzh9h4A&dib_tag=se&keywords=christ+before+creeds&qid=1715659599&s=books&sprefix=christ+before+creeds%2Cstripbooks%2C131&sr=1-1
If Dynamic Monarchianism is in fact the ealiest Christology, then wouldn't that make the Roman Catholics the true protestants of the Christian faith? Looking forward to watching this.
You ignore it is immoral to indoctrinate children with your fantasyland vocabulary & literate people avoid you like the old woman with too many cats. Read your bible, Jesus Christ says faith is worthless, since mountains don't move in obedience to you. With you wolves in sheep's clothing, Jesus warned us He comes not with peace, but the sword of your delusions. I love being a "fisher of men" & not speaking to the choir, like that "wicked generation seeking signs". I know why you wonder about others, you can't admit your embarrassing situation, having one foot in fantasyland. Believers lack any sense of shame, if God existed, then we would all be believers, because that would be God's will. Christians are to be mocked, for all their expressed knowing of God. Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy", Rome won the war of the Jews, so Jesus is hanging from a tree for 2000 years. The Christian home is in Rome, not Jerusalem. If there were any remembrance of Jesus Christ, The Romans would have obliterated it, and you would hear the mocking of a son of a Jewish God. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13 The Jew / Christian God is a Roman joke. Any trace of Jesus Christ would have been obliterated with the destruction of the temple in 70 AD & ;the war of the Jews in 130 AD. Jesus Christ has been proven to be a means to mock the Jews, having their King hanging from a tree, for all the ages. The Romans controlled the literature & Jesus Christ is a proven Joke, taking 2000 years to complete the job, for it is written, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13 Jonah is the sign: A believer, outnumbered by a gathering crowd, by other believers, who murder for faith. Every sign or miracle of Jesus is a joke. Believers insult us with expectations they are to be respected for their distance covered with one foot in fantasyland. Christians are slaves to a fantasyland, it is like shooting fish in a barrel: Their history is bad, their theology is bad, & their vocabulary is evil. Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy". So they indoctrinated children to extend a blend of fiction. Christians give themselves an excuse & an answer for everything. Wolves in sheep's clothing preach to the choir, since literate people don't take them seriously, any more than the old women with too many cats. I scold Christians because they lack shame. Nothing pleases me more than opposing faith. Incompetence is the God of Jesus, failing to complete anything for 2000 years, being the son of a deity, known for a perfect record of doing nothing. Jesus Christ hangeth for all time, because Romans won the war of the Jews. The Messiah of the Jews, The King of the Jews, forever cursed. The Christians are a curse, being the "wolves in sheep's clothing", seeking signs. The only sign given is believers murdering a smaller number of believers. Incompetence is your God, having waited on the Jew' Messiah for 2000 years, indoctrinated by Roman literature. " for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13. You ignore the fact, not all of us can pretend prophesy & God exist. That is why Jesus Christ says, "Think not I come with peace, but sword" & believers make up stories to gloss over the fact they are avoided like the old woman with too many cats. It is amusing to hear the profound arrogance of someone knowing of God, as if He were known outside of fiction. The believer & the literate are separated by the vocabulary of fiction: Blasphemy, God, faith, prayer, prophet, scripture etc. Matthew 17:20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” I like asking believers how they can possibly think their faith is respectable, given Jesus said faith is worthless, since you can't expect obedience when ordering mountains to move? Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy". "Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall". What is The Catholic faith? Organized crime, indoctrinating children with a fantasyland vocabulary? When men are free of religious notions they write, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy." "My sheep hear My voice" is the mindset of slavery. Once free of it, there are no suggestions we all travel better by having one foot in a stranger's fantasyland or Garden of Eden. A mind free of religious text is not tortured by pretending Divinity made Mormons so Christians would know how Jews feel, having pasted their books on to them both. Those looking for the sign of a resurrection, are a vile, "Wicked Generation" seeking signs, led by "wolves in sheep's clothing". "The only sign is that of Jonah"; a believer murdered by other believers. Chained to the slavery of faith, they write: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13 One must be insanely arrogant to suggest knowing something of a God. It is by boldness, Moses became the world's worst navigator, by having one foot in some fantasyland. There is a fine line between fishing & standing on the shore, looking like an idiot. Fail to get the Jews to buy it for 2000 years & they should know who their Messiah is. Jesus is a fake, to immortalize the war against the Jews. Jesus Christ is crucified for all time in literature & the subjects of Rome are illiterate. Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy" & the joke is in the scriptures. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13 An improvement on your God & faith; would outlaw indoctrination & abuse of the vocabulary of fiction on children. Reference CREATING CHRIST - Official Documentary / Rabbi Tovia Singer Destroys Christian Argument on Isaiah 53! Who is the Suffering Servant? / Shocking Proof the Gospels Ripped off the Homeric Epics!! | Dr. Dennis R. MacDonald. Proof the Gospels Ripped off Homer! Pt. 2 | Dr. Dennis MacDonald
Furthermore Justin will write that " But some teach that this power ( the Son) is indivisible and inseparable from the Father, just as the light of the Sun on earth is indivisible and inseparable from the Sun in the skies" ( Dialogue with Trypho 128) . It should be obvious that he is referring here to the Modalistic Monarchians.
Modalistic monarchianism seems to be present in the time of Justin. For Justin writes about it. Ignatius is sometimes associated with it. I will say Aristide of Athens was a modalist. Melito of Sardis seems to lean towards that view.
I think Ignatius is pretty unreliable, I think melito is probably just a logos theologian. But where does Justin seem aware of it? That would be interesting to see
Aristides of Athens was definitely not a modalist. In the Greek version of his Apology, he says this: “Now the Christians4423 trace their origin from the Lord Jesus Christ.† And He is acknowledged by the Holy Spirit to be the son of the most high God, who came down from heaven for the salvation of men.† And being born of a pure virgin, unbegotten and immacu- late, He assumed flesh and revealed himself among men that He might recall them to Himself from their wandering after many gods.” - Aristides, Apology as preserved in the Greek in Barlaam That is plainly preexistent incarnation language, and Jesus is not the Most High God, only His Son.
Justin wrote in his First Apology 63, " For they who affirm that the Son is the Father, are proved neither to have become acquainted with the Father, nor to know that the Father of the Universe has a Son". Justin here should clearly be referring to the Modalistic Monarchians. Church Historian Jaroslav Pelikan wrote in one of his works ( Emergence of the Catholic Tradition) that " Modalistic Monarchianism turns out to be a generalization of Ancient Christian Theology".
Disagree. In the context of First Apology 63, Justin is merely criticizing Jews (and potentially mere man dynamic monarchianists) who believe that what Justin takes to be preincarnate manifestatioms of Jesus in the OT, such as in Genesis 19 or Exodus 3, are actually the Father. In that sense they believe “the Son is the Father,” but only in the sense they misinterpret the appearances of the Son as being the Father instead, denying the very existence of the Son. Hippolytus in the early 3rd century is very clear in Refutation of All Heresies, which presents a history of modalism, that it is a new phenomena for alleged Christians to believe in modalism.
The theory that preexistent Logos Christology started with Justin is unsound. As I just mentioned about Epistle of Barnabas, here is Saint Aristides who writes around AD 125: “Now the Christians trace their origin from the Lord Jesus Christ. And He is acknowledged by the Holy Spirit to be the son of the most high God, who came down from heaven for the salvation of men. And being born of a pure virgin, unbegotten and immacu- late, He assumed flesh and revealed himself among men that He might recall them to Himself from their wandering after many gods.” - Aristides of Athens, Apology ch. 15 in original Greek found in copy of Barlaam and Josaphat
9:18 The claim that Epistle of Barnabas has “possessionist” instead of preexistent Logos Christology is totally unwarranted. The argument that one use of “vessel of the Spirit” means Jesus is just a divinely possessed man would make even the Apostle Paul teach that we Christians are likewise possessed, since he calls Christians God’s vessels in 2 Timothy 2:29 and obviously Romans 9. It’s a worse anachronism than Calvinism to not only suggest this language is inherently fatalistic, but even possessionist.
I think possessionism is at least plausible for Barnabas, but hard to be sure about that. I do think the Shepherd of Hermas is clearly possessionist and it is written around a similar time. But Barnabas just doesn't have too much Christological material to be sure.
@@transfigured3673 I can see how you get there with Shepherd, but I argue that Logos theologians like Irenaeus and Clement of Laexandria considered it Scripture, and some of the apparent possessionist language is emphasized to emphasize that we humans can be lead by the Spirit to such a degree to overcome all sin just as Jesus did, “not defiling the flesh.” Sounds dichotomist, but I think the ethical focus instead of metaphysical focus gives it ambiguity.
@@transfigured3673 as you may know Jehovah’s Witnesses teach a form of angel Christology as the earlier and most authentic view of Jesus. They argue that Jesus was an angelic being in heaven who became a human being by God’s power. They do not believe that Jesus was a human who was possessed by an angel or a spirit but that he was a spirit creature who became human and then returned to being a spirit creature at his resurrection. An angel Christology such as this contends that for the earliest Christians Jesus was an angelic being who volunteered to come to earth to give his life as a ransom for mankind along the lines described in Job 33.22-26. See the arguments for angel Christology in early Christianity put forward in Martin Werner “The Formation of Christian Dogma” (1957) and the commentary on Philippians in the Hermeneia series by Paul Holloway (2017). Also of interest is an article by Jack Sanders on the Philippians hymn that argues Jesus was a heavenly being who was exalted to an even higher position by God after his sojourn on earth. (Sanders, J. A. (1969). Dissenting Deities and Philippians 2: 1-11. Journal of Biblical Literature, 88(3), 279-290.) There is also the briefer treatment of angel Christology in Bart Ehrman’s book “How Jesus Became God” (2014) and the book he references by Susan Garret “No Ordinary Angel: Celestial Spirits and Christian Claims about Jesus” (2008), among other sources.
@@transfigured3673 I think it’s similar, except it is disputed whether, when Justin Martyr calls Jesus an angel, he meant that he was a distinct heavenly creature, the “firstborn of all creation” (Col 1.15) and “the beginning of the creation of God”. (Rev 3.14) The sense in which Justin Martyr viewed Jesus as “the angel of the Lord” in theophanies/christophanies, for example, seems to be a development beyond the earliest angel Christology.
THE GOSPEL IS VERY CLEAR WHEN THE APOSTLE THOMAS SEEING JESUS TOLD MY LORD AND MY GOD AS THE PETER S REVELATION YOU ARE THE CHRIST THE SON OF THE GOD. THE FAITH OF UNITARIANS IS THE SAME AS THE MUSLIMS AND IT S EASIER FOR THEM TO USE THE CORAN RATHER THE BIBLE.
7 місяців тому+4
I don’t think Justin Martyr was as innovative as Dr. Gaston suggested. Philo the Jewish philosopher had come up with the idea of a Logos intermediary between God and man 100-150 years before Justin and in fact before the New Testament. Of course Philo was heavily influenced by Platonic. Also by the was Justin talks in his writings, it certainly does not seem like he is alone in his Christology viewpoint.
I tend to agree. Either Justin was basically an innovative genius, or he was borrowing from something older than himself. I do think Justin treats the logos as much more personal and independent of God than Philo did, but there is a connection there. And the fact that Justin’s theology is already connected to a unique way of exegeting the Bible also suggests it’s older than himself.
1:13:00 to say it's definitely not second century seems strong. I've been convinced at least parts of Acts does depend on the later works or Josephus which would put its final version in the first decade of the second century at the earliest.
I think the argument that Acts was written at the time where the story draws to a close is pretty insurmountable. ~62-65AD with Paul in prison, but still alive, in Rome. It seems strange that it would have been written afterwards, or even edited after Peter and Paul were martyred, without mentioning it.
I also generally agree with Gaston's point that if you spend a ton of time reading Christian works from the 2nd century, you can just kind of tell that Acts must be much earlier. That's sort of a subjective experience argument but it jives with my experience
I myself as an Arian even wouldn't be above saying Clement of Rome was a Dynamic Monarchian. His words are very specific in his separation of the Son from God, and he goes on to say God "chose" Jesus. One might even argue that it sounds like an Adoptionist statement. So I think there is certainly early evidence for it in competition with Arian and Semi-Arian (Logos) Christologies.
@@transfigured3673 Not much more to add that you woudln't already know I'm sure. Just that early CF texts are certainly not Trinitarian (Irenaeus is an exception, because he like Ignatius I find has several chapters in his works which seem to contradict each other). Clement mentions in his letter to the Corinthians: "The Apostles received the Gospel for us from the Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ was sent forth from God. So then Christ is FROM God, and the Apostles are FROM Christ. Both therefore came of the will of God in the appointed order” 1 Clement 42:1-2 "Receive our counsel, and you shall have no occasion of regret. For as GOD lives, AND the Lord Jesus Christ lives, AND the Holy Spirit, who are the faith and the hope of the elect, so surely shall he, who with lowliness of mind and instant in gentleness hath without regretfulness performed the ordinances and commandments that are given by God, be enrolled and have a name among the number of them that are saved through Jesus Christ, through whom is the glory onto Him for ever and ever. Amen”. - 1 Clement 58:2 “Finally may the all seeing God and Master of spirits and Lord of all flesh, who CHOSE the Lord Jesus Christ, and us through Him for a peculiar people, grant onto every soul that is called after His excellent and holy Name faith, fear, peace, patience, long-suffering, temperance, chastity and soberness, that they may be well pleasing onto His Name through our High priest and Guardian Jesus Christ, through whom onto Him be glory and majesty, might and honor, both now and forever and ever. Amen.” - 1 Clement 64:1 It's interesting how he uses the term "chose" Jesus here to me, now it could mean from an Arian perspective, that he "chose him in Heaven" to send him, but it also could mean he "chose Jesus as a man", the adoptionist sense there to me, is that it seems like Jesus is just "some guy" that God is saying "he's the one". But one also might argue it means "chose" by means of "planned to use" too I suppose. Another interesting note is that he separates the Holy Spirit from "God" too, this doesn't tell us too much, but obviously, we had a few early Christians that seemed to think the Spirit was some created force, or an angel (for example Origen). Only by 381 was it declared to be part of the Godhead and given "person" (however one wants to define that). I hold the Spirit of course to be the mind, breath and power of God.
@@ProselyteofYah Regarding Ignatius, the important thing to note is that there are 3 editions of his letters, the short, the middle and the long one. Even though scholars think the middle one is authentic, I think the concepts and the language found there would suggest it was an anti-arian edition composed in the early 4th century and that the shortest edition is the authentic one. As for Irenaeus, we only have fragments of the Greek text, and other stuff comes to us from Eusebius, but he has ... a tendency to embellish history so I wouldn't trust him that much. I mean, if the Comma Iohanneum entered the Vulgate, then certain embellishments could've entered that which we have of the fathers.
@@ProselyteofYah You ignore it is immoral to indoctrinate children with your fantasyland vocabulary & literate people avoid you like the old woman with too many cats. Read your bible, Jesus Christ says faith is worthless, since mountains don't move in obedience to you. With you wolves in sheep's clothing, Jesus warned us He comes not with peace, but the sword of your delusions. I love being a "fisher of men" & not speaking to the choir, like that "wicked generation seeking signs". I know why you wonder about others, you can't admit your embarrassing situation, having one foot in fantasyland. Believers lack any sense of shame, if God existed, then we would all be believers, because that would be God's will. Christians are to be mocked, for all their expressed knowing of God. Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy", Rome won the war of the Jews, so Jesus is hanging from a tree for 2000 years. The Christian home is in Rome, not Jerusalem. If there were any remembrance of Jesus Christ, The Romans would have obliterated it, and you would hear the mocking of a son of a Jewish God. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13 The Jew / Christian God is a Roman joke. Any trace of Jesus Christ would have been obliterated with the destruction of the temple in 70 AD & ;the war of the Jews in 130 AD. Jesus Christ has been proven to be a means to mock the Jews, having their King hanging from a tree, for all the ages. The Romans controlled the literature & Jesus Christ is a proven Joke, taking 2000 years to complete the job, for it is written, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13 Jonah is the sign: A believer, outnumbered by a gathering crowd, by other believers, who murder for faith. Every sign or miracle of Jesus is a joke. Believers insult us with expectations they are to be respected for their distance covered with one foot in fantasyland. Christians are slaves to a fantasyland, it is like shooting fish in a barrel: Their history is bad, their theology is bad, & their vocabulary is evil. Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy". So they indoctrinated children to extend a blend of fiction. Christians give themselves an excuse & an answer for everything. Wolves in sheep's clothing preach to the choir, since literate people don't take them seriously, any more than the old women with too many cats. I scold Christians because they lack shame. Nothing pleases me more than opposing faith. Incompetence is the God of Jesus, failing to complete anything for 2000 years, being the son of a deity, known for a perfect record of doing nothing. Jesus Christ hangeth for all time, because Romans won the war of the Jews. The Messiah of the Jews, The King of the Jews, forever cursed. The Christians are a curse, being the "wolves in sheep's clothing", seeking signs. The only sign given is believers murdering a smaller number of believers. Incompetence is your God, having waited on the Jew' Messiah for 2000 years, indoctrinated by Roman literature. " for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13. You ignore the fact, not all of us can pretend prophesy & God exist. That is why Jesus Christ says, "Think not I come with peace, but sword" & believers make up stories to gloss over the fact they are avoided like the old woman with too many cats. It is amusing to hear the profound arrogance of someone knowing of God, as if He were known outside of fiction. The believer & the literate are separated by the vocabulary of fiction: Blasphemy, God, faith, prayer, prophet, scripture etc. Matthew 17:20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” I like asking believers how they can possibly think their faith is respectable, given Jesus said faith is worthless, since you can't expect obedience when ordering mountains to move? Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy". "Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall". What is The Catholic faith? Organized crime, indoctrinating children with a fantasyland vocabulary? When men are free of religious notions they write, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy." "My sheep hear My voice" is the mindset of slavery. Once free of it, there are no suggestions we all travel better by having one foot in a stranger's fantasyland or Garden of Eden. A mind free of religious text is not tortured by pretending Divinity made Mormons so Christians would know how Jews feel, having pasted their books on to them both. Those looking for the sign of a resurrection, are a vile, "Wicked Generation" seeking signs, led by "wolves in sheep's clothing". "The only sign is that of Jonah"; a believer murdered by other believers. Chained to the slavery of faith, they write: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13 One must be insanely arrogant to suggest knowing something of a God. It is by boldness, Moses became the world's worst navigator, by having one foot in some fantasyland. There is a fine line between fishing & standing on the shore, looking like an idiot. Fail to get the Jews to buy it for 2000 years & they should know who their Messiah is. Jesus is a fake, to immortalize the war against the Jews. Jesus Christ is crucified for all time in literature & the subjects of Rome are illiterate. Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy" & the joke is in the scriptures. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13 An improvement on your God & faith; would outlaw indoctrination & abuse of the vocabulary of fiction on children. Reference CREATING CHRIST - Official Documentary / Rabbi Tovia Singer Destroys Christian Argument on Isaiah 53! Who is the Suffering Servant? / Shocking Proof the Gospels Ripped off the Homeric Epics!! | Dr. Dennis R. MacDonald. Proof the Gospels Ripped off Homer! Pt. 2 | Dr. Dennis MacDonald
Heresy is an idea that challenges the normal idea. So, a Heresy against what? The tri-personal God idea didn't exist until about 381ad. Those who announced this new tri-personal God idea, declared themselves as the only true Christians and thus, in effect, condemned all Christians who preceded them.
I am defintely ordering the Book, God willing. A bit confused about the difference between dynamical monarchinism and adoption? Does God beget a son through adoption? If he begets a son through adoption does that then require a human Mother? Is Mary worshipped in some way in adoptionism? The reason for my question is because the Quran claims that God cannot have a son when He never had a mate and this is juxtapossed to Mary claiming how can she have a son when she never had a mate: ”The Initiator of the heavens and the earth. How can He have a son, when He never had a mate? He created all things, and He is fully aware of all things.” 6:101 She said, "My Lord, how can I have a son, when no man has touched me?" He said, "GOD thus creates whatever He wills. To have anything done, He simply says to it, `Be,' and it is.” 3:47
1:11:47 Sam at this point you explain that “going through the exercise of looking at church fathers and trying to classify…once you examine a couple key questions and know what to look for…”. Ostensibly, you can know quite strongly what the Christology is. So my question, what are those key questions? And what are you looking for to squeeze out of the writings what you want to know? Is there a book or three that would lead someone to know the development of Christology in the early church father’s writings and how Christology developed along with them?
Good work Sam.
Thanks for listening!
If Sam argues that modalism appeared late because it can geographically only be traced to Asia, than the opposite holds true for Logos theology which was a widespread phenomenon and so didn’t just originate in the 2nd century.
This is a good and interesting point. In order to explain how logos theology could be a later innovation as well as having a large geographic distribution by the late 2nd century (Justin is Samaria/Rome, Athenagoras in Athens, Theophilus in Antioch, Irenaeus in Asia/France, Tertullian in Carthage, etc...) you would have to posit that it was able to travel quickly through networks of elite educated and philosophically inclined Christians via books and letters and trickled down from there. I think you can make that case, but you are right, it is pretty widely geographically distributed.
@@transfigured3673 btw is it not better for Unitarians to drop this whole line of reasoning ( contra Gaston, Hillar, Tuggy)?? I think it's clear that Justin shows 'no trace of immediate borrowing' from platonism (see Goodenough, Theology of Justin p. 124 & 174). The link with Numenius seems farfetched conceptually, and maybe possible chronologically, it the end not very likely. It's far more likely that both Justin and Numenius borrow from Philo (whether directly or indirectly). That's seems to be the far stronger case.
@@Yoda-bg5ei Justin says he studied with great platonist philosophers so I don't think it's far fetched to say he was aware of numenius or at least others like him. BUt that doesn't rule out influence from Philo too.
". In my helpless condition it occurred to me to have a meeting with the Platonists, for their fame was great. I thereupon spent as much of my time as possible with one who had lately settled in our city, - a sagacious man, holding a high position among the Platonists - and I progressed, and made the greatest improvements daily. And the perception of immaterial things quite overpowered me, and the contemplation of ideas furnished my mind with wings, so that in a little while I supposed that I had become wise; and such was my stupidity, I expected immediately to look upon God, for this is the end of Plato's philosophy." Against Trypho chapter 2
@@transfigured3673 Granted! Although Apamea and Rome are a long way from Nablus - so I think we can safely rule out direct contact. Also this anecdote clearly shows that Justin only spend a short time with this teacher (whoever it was) > 'and within a short time I supposed I had become wise' (AT, 2). Most scholars don't think Justin (also later in life) had a very good grasp of platonism or philosophy in general. It seems to me that Justin is simply too early to be influenced by Numenius in his formative period. This is another matter (a couple decades later) with Clement of Alexandria who quotes Numenius. To get back at my point: it is clear that Justin's Logos theology is influenced by 'middle platonism', but the claim Gaston makes goes much further. 'The doctrine of the trinity' is derived from middle platonism (especially Numenius) I think that is not supported by the evidence. 'Logos theology' goes back to the first century and even further...
@@transfigured3673 Granted. It's clear that Justin shows clear affinity with Middle platonic tendencies. A direct link (as often is posited) is much harder (if not impossible) to prove. It's more likely that only the next generation like Clement of A. knew his writings.
But back to the bigger point: the claim is that 'Logos Christology' comes from Middle platonism and is introduced into Christian thought only with Justin (via Numenius). Numenius himself already is not a likely candidate because his 'World soul' seems to be an evil entity, while Justin had to combat the gnostics. So why not pick Eudoras of A. instead?
I think BU needs to posit links with a late thinker to prove the sudden appearance of Logos Theology, safely in the middle of the second century. If Justin's theology is influenced by Philo (or Eudoras), Logos theology is too early for this line of reasoning and an inconvenient fact. It seems to me this explains much of the drive behind this argument, not the bare facts. But I could be mistaken...
Can’t wait for this!!
Thanks! Excited to hear your thoughts
You ignore it is immoral to indoctrinate children with your fantasyland vocabulary & literate people avoid you like the old woman with too many cats. Read your bible, Jesus Christ says faith is worthless, since mountains don't move in obedience to you. With you wolves in sheep's clothing, Jesus warned us He comes not with peace, but the sword of your delusions.
I love being a "fisher of men" & not speaking to the choir, like that "wicked generation seeking signs".
I know why you wonder about others, you can't admit your embarrassing situation, having one foot in fantasyland. Believers lack any sense of shame, if God existed, then we would all be believers, because that would be God's will. Christians are to be mocked, for all their expressed knowing of God. Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy", Rome won the war of the Jews, so Jesus is hanging from a tree for 2000 years. The Christian home is in Rome, not Jerusalem. If there were any remembrance of Jesus Christ, The Romans would have obliterated it, and you would hear the mocking of a son of a Jewish God. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13
The Jew / Christian God is a Roman joke. Any trace of Jesus Christ would have been obliterated with the destruction of the temple in 70 AD & ;the war of the Jews in 130 AD. Jesus Christ has been proven to be a means to mock the Jews, having their King hanging from a tree, for all the ages. The Romans controlled the literature & Jesus Christ is a proven Joke, taking 2000 years to complete the job, for it is written, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13
Jonah is the sign: A believer, outnumbered by a gathering crowd, by other believers, who murder for faith.
Every sign or miracle of Jesus is a joke. Believers insult us with expectations they are to be respected for their distance covered with one foot in fantasyland.
Christians are slaves to a fantasyland, it is like shooting fish in a barrel: Their history is bad, their theology is bad, & their vocabulary is evil. Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy". So they indoctrinated children to extend a blend of fiction.
Christians give themselves an excuse & an answer for everything.
Wolves in sheep's clothing preach to the choir, since literate people don't take them seriously, any more than the old women with too many cats.
I scold Christians because they lack shame.
Nothing pleases me more than opposing faith.
Incompetence is the God of Jesus, failing to complete anything for 2000 years, being the son of a deity, known for a perfect record of doing nothing. Jesus Christ hangeth for all time, because Romans won the war of the Jews. The Messiah of the Jews, The King of the Jews, forever cursed. The Christians are a curse, being the "wolves in sheep's clothing", seeking signs. The only sign given is believers murdering a smaller number of believers.
Incompetence is your God, having waited on the Jew' Messiah for 2000 years, indoctrinated by Roman literature.
" for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13.
You ignore the fact, not all of us can pretend prophesy & God exist. That is why Jesus Christ says, "Think not I come with peace, but sword" & believers make up stories to gloss over the fact they are avoided like the old woman with too many cats. It is amusing to hear the profound arrogance of someone knowing of God, as if He were known outside of fiction. The believer & the literate are separated by the vocabulary of fiction: Blasphemy, God, faith, prayer, prophet, scripture etc. Matthew 17:20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” I like asking believers how they can possibly think their faith is respectable, given Jesus said faith is worthless, since you can't expect obedience when ordering mountains to move? Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy".
"Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall". What is The Catholic faith? Organized crime, indoctrinating children with a fantasyland vocabulary? When men are free of religious notions they write, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy." "My sheep hear My voice" is the mindset of slavery. Once free of it, there are no suggestions we all travel better by having one foot in a stranger's fantasyland or Garden of Eden. A mind free of religious text is not tortured by pretending Divinity made Mormons so Christians would know how Jews feel, having pasted their books on to them both. Those looking for the sign of a resurrection, are a vile, "Wicked Generation" seeking signs, led by "wolves in sheep's clothing". "The only sign is that of Jonah"; a believer murdered by other believers. Chained to the slavery of faith, they write: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13
One must be insanely arrogant to suggest knowing something of a God. It is by boldness, Moses became the world's worst navigator, by having one foot in some fantasyland. There is a fine line between fishing & standing on the shore, looking like an idiot. Fail to get the Jews to buy it for 2000 years & they should know who their Messiah is. Jesus is a fake, to immortalize the war against the Jews. Jesus Christ is crucified for all time in literature & the subjects of Rome are illiterate. Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy" & the joke is in the scriptures. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13
An improvement on your God & faith; would outlaw indoctrination & abuse of the vocabulary of fiction on children.
Reference
CREATING CHRIST - Official Documentary / Rabbi Tovia Singer Destroys Christian Argument on Isaiah 53! Who is the Suffering Servant? / Shocking Proof the Gospels Ripped off the Homeric Epics!! | Dr. Dennis R. MacDonald.
Proof the Gospels Ripped off Homer! Pt. 2 | Dr. Dennis MacDonald
@@transfigured3673as someone who was raised RC and almost became EO I am struggling with understanding Unitarianism. Im not sure how Jesus’ death and resurrection has any meaning if He is not God incarnate. I’m open to learning, but reading is better for me when it comes to learning (not these long form conversation podcasts). What books would you recommend to understand your Unitarian position or short form video? Thanks for your time. I find this all fascinating.
Two good books
"The God of Jesus" by Kegan Chandler : www.amazon.com/God-Jesus-Light-Christian-Dogma/dp/0967324939
"Christ Before Creeds" Jeff Deuble : www.amazon.com/Christ-Before-Creeds-Rediscovering-History/dp/B0CV4DRQM7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1Y45JLEB1DTJL&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.cWxT3wyAI5qZ1kR9LVFPxGJhO_Wrs-AhrVGEC6xvRSm39ETajI-cwYY2n0RnmFgmsZ3Ida20SuOqQZgQW5B9pUMaaXMmbnyyiNnrW0rsHjt5St6YcCsgAasgooGXpQSEk2ugYN5c8FRlk9-G0LYFF6ilJMqsWaZJB9IXyWW_9joecYHTqANVX9-SPgr7kJaHWxNnWh2xCoCl_l51SK522ZcIXL_bbE0BPVvvp-sMHpE.LRl6OVMN3t0T4FzH_g9epwae-HQN39QMUyziyzh9h4A&dib_tag=se&keywords=christ+before+creeds&qid=1715659599&s=books&sprefix=christ+before+creeds%2Cstripbooks%2C131&sr=1-1
@jemur5338 would you share with me what scriptures you think of that teach Jesus has to be God for the atonement to be meaningful? Looking to learn.
If Dynamic Monarchianism is in fact the ealiest Christology, then wouldn't that make the Roman Catholics the true protestants of the Christian faith? Looking forward to watching this.
Especially when Theodotus argues that they are abandoning the teachings of the bishops of Rome before him
You ignore it is immoral to indoctrinate children with your fantasyland vocabulary & literate people avoid you like the old woman with too many cats. Read your bible, Jesus Christ says faith is worthless, since mountains don't move in obedience to you. With you wolves in sheep's clothing, Jesus warned us He comes not with peace, but the sword of your delusions.
I love being a "fisher of men" & not speaking to the choir, like that "wicked generation seeking signs".
I know why you wonder about others, you can't admit your embarrassing situation, having one foot in fantasyland. Believers lack any sense of shame, if God existed, then we would all be believers, because that would be God's will. Christians are to be mocked, for all their expressed knowing of God. Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy", Rome won the war of the Jews, so Jesus is hanging from a tree for 2000 years. The Christian home is in Rome, not Jerusalem. If there were any remembrance of Jesus Christ, The Romans would have obliterated it, and you would hear the mocking of a son of a Jewish God. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13
The Jew / Christian God is a Roman joke. Any trace of Jesus Christ would have been obliterated with the destruction of the temple in 70 AD & ;the war of the Jews in 130 AD. Jesus Christ has been proven to be a means to mock the Jews, having their King hanging from a tree, for all the ages. The Romans controlled the literature & Jesus Christ is a proven Joke, taking 2000 years to complete the job, for it is written, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13
Jonah is the sign: A believer, outnumbered by a gathering crowd, by other believers, who murder for faith.
Every sign or miracle of Jesus is a joke. Believers insult us with expectations they are to be respected for their distance covered with one foot in fantasyland.
Christians are slaves to a fantasyland, it is like shooting fish in a barrel: Their history is bad, their theology is bad, & their vocabulary is evil. Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy". So they indoctrinated children to extend a blend of fiction.
Christians give themselves an excuse & an answer for everything.
Wolves in sheep's clothing preach to the choir, since literate people don't take them seriously, any more than the old women with too many cats.
I scold Christians because they lack shame.
Nothing pleases me more than opposing faith.
Incompetence is the God of Jesus, failing to complete anything for 2000 years, being the son of a deity, known for a perfect record of doing nothing. Jesus Christ hangeth for all time, because Romans won the war of the Jews. The Messiah of the Jews, The King of the Jews, forever cursed. The Christians are a curse, being the "wolves in sheep's clothing", seeking signs. The only sign given is believers murdering a smaller number of believers.
Incompetence is your God, having waited on the Jew' Messiah for 2000 years, indoctrinated by Roman literature.
" for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13.
You ignore the fact, not all of us can pretend prophesy & God exist. That is why Jesus Christ says, "Think not I come with peace, but sword" & believers make up stories to gloss over the fact they are avoided like the old woman with too many cats. It is amusing to hear the profound arrogance of someone knowing of God, as if He were known outside of fiction. The believer & the literate are separated by the vocabulary of fiction: Blasphemy, God, faith, prayer, prophet, scripture etc. Matthew 17:20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” I like asking believers how they can possibly think their faith is respectable, given Jesus said faith is worthless, since you can't expect obedience when ordering mountains to move? Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy".
"Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall". What is The Catholic faith? Organized crime, indoctrinating children with a fantasyland vocabulary? When men are free of religious notions they write, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy." "My sheep hear My voice" is the mindset of slavery. Once free of it, there are no suggestions we all travel better by having one foot in a stranger's fantasyland or Garden of Eden. A mind free of religious text is not tortured by pretending Divinity made Mormons so Christians would know how Jews feel, having pasted their books on to them both. Those looking for the sign of a resurrection, are a vile, "Wicked Generation" seeking signs, led by "wolves in sheep's clothing". "The only sign is that of Jonah"; a believer murdered by other believers. Chained to the slavery of faith, they write: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13
One must be insanely arrogant to suggest knowing something of a God. It is by boldness, Moses became the world's worst navigator, by having one foot in some fantasyland. There is a fine line between fishing & standing on the shore, looking like an idiot. Fail to get the Jews to buy it for 2000 years & they should know who their Messiah is. Jesus is a fake, to immortalize the war against the Jews. Jesus Christ is crucified for all time in literature & the subjects of Rome are illiterate. Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy" & the joke is in the scriptures. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13
An improvement on your God & faith; would outlaw indoctrination & abuse of the vocabulary of fiction on children.
Reference
CREATING CHRIST - Official Documentary / Rabbi Tovia Singer Destroys Christian Argument on Isaiah 53! Who is the Suffering Servant? / Shocking Proof the Gospels Ripped off the Homeric Epics!! | Dr. Dennis R. MacDonald.
Proof the Gospels Ripped off Homer! Pt. 2 | Dr. Dennis MacDonald
@@transfigured3673
Where can I find more about Theodotius saying that? Do you have a video with Hank on that?
check out chapter 28 here
www.newadvent.org/fathers/250105.htm
such an awesome interview. you're an excellent host and dr. Gaston is, I think, one of your best interlocutors to date.
Thanks for listening! I really enjoyed talking to him too
Solid conversation! I am convinced Sam ! Jesus is not God, but rather, God filled.
Furthermore Justin will write that " But some teach that this power ( the Son) is indivisible and inseparable from the Father, just as the light of the Sun on earth is indivisible and inseparable from the Sun in the skies" ( Dialogue with Trypho 128) . It should be obvious that he is referring here to the Modalistic Monarchians.
Modalistic monarchianism seems to be present in the time of Justin. For Justin writes about it. Ignatius is sometimes associated with it. I will say Aristide of Athens was a modalist. Melito of Sardis seems to lean towards that view.
I think Ignatius is pretty unreliable, I think melito is probably just a logos theologian. But where does Justin seem aware of it? That would be interesting to see
Aristides of Athens was definitely not a modalist. In the Greek version of his Apology, he says this:
“Now the Christians4423 trace their origin from the Lord Jesus Christ.† And He is acknowledged by the Holy Spirit to be the son of the most high God, who came down from heaven for the salvation of men.† And being born of a pure virgin, unbegotten and immacu- late, He assumed flesh and revealed himself among men that He might recall them to Himself from their wandering after many gods.”
- Aristides, Apology as preserved in the Greek in Barlaam
That is plainly preexistent incarnation language, and Jesus is not the Most High God, only His Son.
Justin wrote in his First Apology 63, " For they who affirm that the Son is the Father, are proved neither to have become acquainted with the Father, nor to know that the Father of the Universe has a Son". Justin here should clearly be referring to the Modalistic Monarchians. Church Historian Jaroslav Pelikan wrote in one of his works ( Emergence of the Catholic Tradition) that " Modalistic Monarchianism turns out to be a generalization of Ancient Christian Theology".
Disagree. In the context of First Apology 63, Justin is merely criticizing Jews (and potentially mere man dynamic monarchianists) who believe that what Justin takes to be preincarnate manifestatioms of Jesus in the OT, such as in Genesis 19 or Exodus 3, are actually the Father. In that sense they believe “the Son is the Father,” but only in the sense they misinterpret the appearances of the Son as being the Father instead, denying the very existence of the Son. Hippolytus in the early 3rd century is very clear in Refutation of All Heresies, which presents a history of modalism, that it is a new phenomena for alleged Christians to believe in modalism.
The theory that preexistent Logos Christology started with Justin is unsound. As I just mentioned about Epistle of Barnabas, here is Saint Aristides who writes around AD 125:
“Now the Christians trace their origin from the Lord Jesus Christ. And He is acknowledged by the Holy Spirit to be the son of the most high God, who came down from heaven for the salvation of men. And being born of a pure virgin, unbegotten and immacu- late, He assumed flesh and revealed himself among men that He might recall them to Himself from their wandering after many gods.”
- Aristides of Athens, Apology ch. 15 in original Greek found in copy of Barlaam and Josaphat
Your points about Aristides are interesting. I'll have to think a little more about him.
Interesting conversation. I would love to have heard more about how you both see the Christology of Acts.
Maybe next time
9:18 The claim that Epistle of Barnabas has “possessionist” instead of preexistent Logos Christology is totally unwarranted. The argument that one use of “vessel of the Spirit” means Jesus is just a divinely possessed man would make even the Apostle Paul teach that we Christians are likewise possessed, since he calls Christians God’s vessels in 2 Timothy 2:29 and obviously Romans 9. It’s a worse anachronism than Calvinism to not only suggest this language is inherently fatalistic, but even possessionist.
I think possessionism is at least plausible for Barnabas, but hard to be sure about that. I do think the Shepherd of Hermas is clearly possessionist and it is written around a similar time. But Barnabas just doesn't have too much Christological material to be sure.
@@transfigured3673
I can see how you get there with Shepherd, but I argue that Logos theologians like Irenaeus and Clement of Laexandria considered it Scripture, and some of the apparent possessionist language is emphasized to emphasize that we humans can be lead by the Spirit to such a degree to overcome all sin just as Jesus did, “not defiling the flesh.” Sounds dichotomist, but I think the ethical focus instead of metaphysical focus gives it ambiguity.
@@IAmisMaster people sometimes have a weird tendency to endorse as scripture books that they really don't actually agree with.
@@transfigured3673
lol touche
Excellent discussion. I wish you’d have someone on to argue for angel Christology too 👍
how would angel christology differ from spirit possession christology?
@@transfigured3673 as you may know Jehovah’s Witnesses teach a form of angel Christology as the earlier and most authentic view of Jesus. They argue that Jesus was an angelic being in heaven who became a human being by God’s power. They do not believe that Jesus was a human who was possessed by an angel or a spirit but that he was a spirit creature who became human and then returned to being a spirit creature at his resurrection. An angel Christology such as this contends that for the earliest Christians Jesus was an angelic being who volunteered to come to earth to give his life as a ransom for mankind along the lines described in Job 33.22-26. See the arguments for angel Christology in early Christianity put forward in Martin Werner “The Formation of Christian Dogma” (1957) and the commentary on Philippians in the Hermeneia series by Paul Holloway (2017). Also of interest is an article by Jack Sanders on the Philippians hymn that argues Jesus was a heavenly being who was exalted to an even higher position by God after his sojourn on earth. (Sanders, J. A. (1969). Dissenting Deities and Philippians 2: 1-11. Journal of Biblical Literature, 88(3), 279-290.) There is also the briefer treatment of angel Christology in Bart Ehrman’s book “How Jesus Became God” (2014) and the book he references by Susan Garret “No Ordinary Angel: Celestial Spirits and Christian Claims about Jesus” (2008), among other sources.
How different is that really from Justin Martyr who calls the preincarnate Jesus an angel and a god and the logos who then becomes a man?
@@transfigured3673 I think it’s similar, except it is disputed whether, when Justin Martyr calls Jesus an angel, he meant that he was a distinct heavenly creature, the “firstborn of all creation” (Col 1.15) and “the beginning of the creation of God”. (Rev 3.14) The sense in which Justin Martyr viewed Jesus as “the angel of the Lord” in theophanies/christophanies, for example, seems to be a development beyond the earliest angel Christology.
THE GOSPEL IS VERY CLEAR WHEN THE APOSTLE THOMAS SEEING JESUS TOLD MY LORD AND MY GOD AS THE PETER S REVELATION YOU ARE THE CHRIST THE SON OF THE GOD.
THE FAITH OF UNITARIANS IS THE SAME AS THE MUSLIMS AND IT S EASIER FOR THEM TO USE THE CORAN RATHER THE BIBLE.
I don’t think Justin Martyr was as innovative as Dr. Gaston suggested. Philo the Jewish philosopher had come up with the idea of a Logos intermediary between God and man 100-150 years before Justin and in fact before the New Testament. Of course Philo was heavily influenced by Platonic. Also by the was Justin talks in his writings, it certainly does not seem like he is alone in his Christology viewpoint.
I tend to agree. Either Justin was basically an innovative genius, or he was borrowing from something older than himself. I do think Justin treats the logos as much more personal and independent of God than Philo did, but there is a connection there. And the fact that Justin’s theology is already connected to a unique way of exegeting the Bible also suggests it’s older than himself.
1:13:00 to say it's definitely not second century seems strong. I've been convinced at least parts of Acts does depend on the later works or Josephus which would put its final version in the first decade of the second century at the earliest.
I think the argument that Acts was written at the time where the story draws to a close is pretty insurmountable. ~62-65AD with Paul in prison, but still alive, in Rome. It seems strange that it would have been written afterwards, or even edited after Peter and Paul were martyred, without mentioning it.
I also generally agree with Gaston's point that if you spend a ton of time reading Christian works from the 2nd century, you can just kind of tell that Acts must be much earlier. That's sort of a subjective experience argument but it jives with my experience
@@transfigured3673 I mean I just can't see Paul wititng acts at all. So perhaps that's why it's not an issue
I myself as an Arian even wouldn't be above saying Clement of Rome was a Dynamic Monarchian. His words are very specific in his separation of the Son from God, and he goes on to say God "chose" Jesus. One might even argue that it sounds like an Adoptionist statement. So I think there is certainly early evidence for it in competition with Arian and Semi-Arian (Logos) Christologies.
Interesting. Curious for any more thoughts you have
@@transfigured3673 Not much more to add that you woudln't already know I'm sure. Just that early CF texts are certainly not Trinitarian (Irenaeus is an exception, because he like Ignatius I find has several chapters in his works which seem to contradict each other). Clement mentions in his letter to the Corinthians:
"The Apostles received the Gospel for us from the Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ was sent forth from God. So then Christ is FROM God, and the Apostles are FROM Christ. Both therefore came of the will of God in the appointed order” 1 Clement 42:1-2
"Receive our counsel, and you shall have no occasion of regret. For as GOD lives, AND the Lord Jesus Christ lives, AND the Holy Spirit, who are the faith and the hope of the elect, so surely shall he, who with lowliness of mind and instant in gentleness hath without regretfulness performed the ordinances and commandments that are given by God, be enrolled and have a name among the number of them that are saved through Jesus Christ, through whom is the glory onto Him for ever and ever. Amen”. - 1 Clement 58:2
“Finally may the all seeing God and Master of spirits and Lord of all flesh, who CHOSE the Lord Jesus Christ, and us through Him for a peculiar people, grant onto every soul that is called after His excellent and holy Name faith, fear, peace, patience, long-suffering, temperance, chastity and soberness, that they may be well pleasing onto His Name through our High priest and Guardian Jesus Christ, through whom onto Him be glory and majesty, might and honor, both now and forever and ever. Amen.” - 1 Clement 64:1
It's interesting how he uses the term "chose" Jesus here to me, now it could mean from an Arian perspective, that he "chose him in Heaven" to send him, but it also could mean he "chose Jesus as a man", the adoptionist sense there to me, is that it seems like Jesus is just "some guy" that God is saying "he's the one". But one also might argue it means "chose" by means of "planned to use" too I suppose.
Another interesting note is that he separates the Holy Spirit from "God" too, this doesn't tell us too much, but obviously, we had a few early Christians that seemed to think the Spirit was some created force, or an angel (for example Origen). Only by 381 was it declared to be part of the Godhead and given "person" (however one wants to define that). I hold the Spirit of course to be the mind, breath and power of God.
@@ProselyteofYah Regarding Ignatius, the important thing to note is that there are 3 editions of his letters, the short, the middle and the long one. Even though scholars think the middle one is authentic, I think the concepts and the language found there would suggest it was an anti-arian edition composed in the early 4th century and that the shortest edition is the authentic one.
As for Irenaeus, we only have fragments of the Greek text, and other stuff comes to us from Eusebius, but he has ... a tendency to embellish history so I wouldn't trust him that much.
I mean, if the Comma Iohanneum entered the Vulgate, then certain embellishments could've entered that which we have of the fathers.
@@ProselyteofYah You ignore it is immoral to indoctrinate children with your fantasyland vocabulary & literate people avoid you like the old woman with too many cats. Read your bible, Jesus Christ says faith is worthless, since mountains don't move in obedience to you. With you wolves in sheep's clothing, Jesus warned us He comes not with peace, but the sword of your delusions.
I love being a "fisher of men" & not speaking to the choir, like that "wicked generation seeking signs".
I know why you wonder about others, you can't admit your embarrassing situation, having one foot in fantasyland. Believers lack any sense of shame, if God existed, then we would all be believers, because that would be God's will. Christians are to be mocked, for all their expressed knowing of God. Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy", Rome won the war of the Jews, so Jesus is hanging from a tree for 2000 years. The Christian home is in Rome, not Jerusalem. If there were any remembrance of Jesus Christ, The Romans would have obliterated it, and you would hear the mocking of a son of a Jewish God. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13
The Jew / Christian God is a Roman joke. Any trace of Jesus Christ would have been obliterated with the destruction of the temple in 70 AD & ;the war of the Jews in 130 AD. Jesus Christ has been proven to be a means to mock the Jews, having their King hanging from a tree, for all the ages. The Romans controlled the literature & Jesus Christ is a proven Joke, taking 2000 years to complete the job, for it is written, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13
Jonah is the sign: A believer, outnumbered by a gathering crowd, by other believers, who murder for faith.
Every sign or miracle of Jesus is a joke. Believers insult us with expectations they are to be respected for their distance covered with one foot in fantasyland.
Christians are slaves to a fantasyland, it is like shooting fish in a barrel: Their history is bad, their theology is bad, & their vocabulary is evil. Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy". So they indoctrinated children to extend a blend of fiction.
Christians give themselves an excuse & an answer for everything.
Wolves in sheep's clothing preach to the choir, since literate people don't take them seriously, any more than the old women with too many cats.
I scold Christians because they lack shame.
Nothing pleases me more than opposing faith.
Incompetence is the God of Jesus, failing to complete anything for 2000 years, being the son of a deity, known for a perfect record of doing nothing. Jesus Christ hangeth for all time, because Romans won the war of the Jews. The Messiah of the Jews, The King of the Jews, forever cursed. The Christians are a curse, being the "wolves in sheep's clothing", seeking signs. The only sign given is believers murdering a smaller number of believers.
Incompetence is your God, having waited on the Jew' Messiah for 2000 years, indoctrinated by Roman literature.
" for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13.
You ignore the fact, not all of us can pretend prophesy & God exist. That is why Jesus Christ says, "Think not I come with peace, but sword" & believers make up stories to gloss over the fact they are avoided like the old woman with too many cats. It is amusing to hear the profound arrogance of someone knowing of God, as if He were known outside of fiction. The believer & the literate are separated by the vocabulary of fiction: Blasphemy, God, faith, prayer, prophet, scripture etc. Matthew 17:20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” I like asking believers how they can possibly think their faith is respectable, given Jesus said faith is worthless, since you can't expect obedience when ordering mountains to move? Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy".
"Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall". What is The Catholic faith? Organized crime, indoctrinating children with a fantasyland vocabulary? When men are free of religious notions they write, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy." "My sheep hear My voice" is the mindset of slavery. Once free of it, there are no suggestions we all travel better by having one foot in a stranger's fantasyland or Garden of Eden. A mind free of religious text is not tortured by pretending Divinity made Mormons so Christians would know how Jews feel, having pasted their books on to them both. Those looking for the sign of a resurrection, are a vile, "Wicked Generation" seeking signs, led by "wolves in sheep's clothing". "The only sign is that of Jonah"; a believer murdered by other believers. Chained to the slavery of faith, they write: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13
One must be insanely arrogant to suggest knowing something of a God. It is by boldness, Moses became the world's worst navigator, by having one foot in some fantasyland. There is a fine line between fishing & standing on the shore, looking like an idiot. Fail to get the Jews to buy it for 2000 years & they should know who their Messiah is. Jesus is a fake, to immortalize the war against the Jews. Jesus Christ is crucified for all time in literature & the subjects of Rome are illiterate. Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy" & the joke is in the scriptures. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13
An improvement on your God & faith; would outlaw indoctrination & abuse of the vocabulary of fiction on children.
Reference
CREATING CHRIST - Official Documentary / Rabbi Tovia Singer Destroys Christian Argument on Isaiah 53! Who is the Suffering Servant? / Shocking Proof the Gospels Ripped off the Homeric Epics!! | Dr. Dennis R. MacDonald.
Proof the Gospels Ripped off Homer! Pt. 2 | Dr. Dennis MacDonald
No! Just the earliest heresy.
Heresy is an idea that challenges the normal idea.
So, a Heresy against what?
The tri-personal God idea didn't exist until about 381ad.
Those who announced this new tri-personal God idea, declared themselves as the only true Christians and thus, in effect, condemned all Christians who preceded them.
@@purpleatit1
It's throughout the whole OT.
Yours is the spirit of antichrist.
Catholicism came out of the 8th day Nicolaitans. A Gnostic sect.
I am defintely ordering the Book, God willing.
A bit confused about the difference between dynamical monarchinism and adoption?
Does God beget a son through adoption? If he begets a son through adoption does that then require a human Mother?
Is Mary worshipped in some way in adoptionism?
The reason for my question is because the Quran claims that God cannot have a son when He never had a mate and this is juxtapossed to Mary claiming how can she have a son when she never had a mate:
”The Initiator of the heavens and the earth. How can He have a son, when He never had a mate? He created all things, and He is fully aware of all things.” 6:101
She said, "My Lord, how can I have a son, when no man has touched me?" He said, "GOD thus creates whatever He wills. To have anything done, He simply says to it, `Be,' and it is.” 3:47
Son by virgin birth is not adopted. Being made a son at a later date is adoption.
You wouldn't be Elpis, would you, Dr. Gaston?