Exerpts from Larry Hurtado’s book “Lord Jesus Christ-Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity” (Eerdmans 2003): “I contend that the period I have characterized here as “earliest Christianity” (ca. 30-170 AD) is not only fascinating in its own right but is also crucial for what comes thereafter… that it provided the major convictions, and the parameters of belief and devotional practice as well, that shaped the subsequent developments in Christian tradition, which in turn came to be dominant and which form our picture of classical Christian faith. The devotional practice of earliest Christianity was particularly foundational for doctrinal developments.” “Christians were proclaiming and worshiping Jesus, indeed, living and dying for his sake, well before the doctrinal/creedal developments of the second century and thereafter… The early convictions about Jesus and the corresponding devotion offered to him that became so widespread in earliest Christianity were sufficiently robust to nourish the prolonged and vigorous efforts to articulate Christian faith in persuasive doctrinal formulations. Moreover, devotion to Jesus as divine erupted suddenly and quickly, not gradually and late, among first-century circles of followers… Amid the diversity of earliest Christianity, belief in Jesus’ divine status was amazingly common.” “In proto-orthodox beliefs…Jesus is emphatically portrayed as having become human irrevocably, and genuinely and bodily human at that, thereby wedding himself, in an indissoluble union, with the human race. Proto-orthodox Christians believed Jesus had suffered the reality of a brutal death (the most fearsome feature of mankind’s lot), and that in his resurrection and exaltation he now prefigures and assures the glory that humans can hope for, and for which they can dare to venture their all in the present arena of historical existence.” “Christians, and many outside Christianity as well, continue to wrestle with the question of what to make of Jesus. The story of devotion to Jesus in the earliest Christianity shows that the struggle erupted, volcano-like, at an amazingly early point. Probably, the continuing vitality of Christianity will remain dependant upon how fully Christians engage the question of Jesus, and how radically they are willing to consider what devotion to him means for them.” Dr. Larry W. Hurtado is Professor Emeritus of New Testament Language, Literature, and Theology at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Contributed by Brian Leutwiler-one of the Admins
Posted on: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 16:27:32 +0000
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