Ernie: There were all sorts of ideas we discussed on Thursday that merit additional thought.
For myself, some ideas need additional clarification. But we were "thinking out loud" at least half of the time and neither of us could have delivered "finished products." I very much like the approach you suggested, about a hypothetical council to remake Christianity in the years after the fall of the Temple. But this got me thinking about the fact that Christianity has been re-invented several times in the past, including at least three times in its early history. Actually it was reinvented at some point in the late 70s or no later than around 90 AD with the rise of the Gospels -which did not exist before then. Surely various stories we now know from the Gospels were in circulation before that time but some literary genius, whom we now call "Mark," invented the gospel genre and it changed the course not only of Christian history, but all of history. We also know that in that era any number of "gospels" were written, a best estimate being 35 or so, even if most are now lost or only survive in fragments. Especially interesting about Mark is the fact -there is a scholarly book on the subject- that Mark, at first anyway, was performance literature. It was meant as script material, something to read dramatically, to enact, and perchance to discuss afterwards. In the midst of this development, say 100 AD or maybe 110, came Revelation, which also is narrative literature, which tells an historical story and, to boot, a story about the future. But in this era there still could be question about Christianity being a special type of Judaism. The Ebionites were still around, for example. Also in ca 100 AD or as late as around 115, came the Diatessaron, which was extra-Biblical but sought to create order out of disparate early Christian traditions -including some that were shortly to pass away or be greatly modified, like the wandering Christian prophets. Separation from Judaism was only partly in effect in this period. Some time after the end of the second Jewish War, which was over by about 125, the final break became inevitable. Christianity had to be re-invented yet again. Here's where we get Clement (flourished 170 AD until ca 210) and we get the Marcionists and Valentinus, plus the "great Gnostic sidetrack" as I think of it. Clement is key to all of this and deserves far more attention than I have so far given him, which is more than a little but far from enough. Christianity was no longer Jewish but what it would become was still in question. Clement both pushed Christianity in an orthodox direction and also in what, by later standards, would come to be regarded as a quite heterodox direction. The third re-invention of Christianity took place in the era of Constantine and included a "war of ideas" against the Arians. While even then, "Pagan" ideas and motifs were in full retreat everywhere within the Church, there still were vestiges. There still are, of course, but they are hanging on by their fingernails, you might say. Back in the 4th century they could rise to the level of significant undercurrents or ways of thinking. You can add a 4th re-invention brought about by Augustine. No argument from me on that; mostly I am favorably impressed. The only thing to add is that by his time just about all of the foundation was already in place, and he had little to do with any of that side of things. If you were to speak of the East there would be one other re-invention, that of the Assyrians, viz Nestorians, which is very important to me, personally, but that means little or nothing to mainstream Christians in the West or in the "third world" today. There would be still more re-inventions, especially those that came about during and in the aftermath of the Reformation. I think we are on the verge of another re-invention even if we can't yet see more than some rough outlines or conceptualize more than a few of its basic ideas. OK, here is a beginning toward a more adequate discussion of "re-inventing Christianity." Billy -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
