The Beginnings of Christianity This page intentionally left blank The Beginnings of Christianity AN INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW TESTAMENT Howard Clark Kee t&t dark NEW YORK • LONDON Copyright © 2005 by Howard Clark Kee All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval sys- tem, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the pub- lisher, T & T Clark International. T & T Clark International Madison Square Park, 15 East 26th Street, New York, NY 10010 T & T Clark International The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SE1 7NX T & T Clark International is a Continuum imprint. Cover design: Brenda Klinger Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kee, Howard Clark. The beginnings of Christianity : an introduction to the New Testament / Howard Clark Kee. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-567-02731-7 (hardcover) - ISBN 0-567-02741-4 (pbk.) 1. Church history-Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600. 2. Bible. N.T.- Introductions. I. Title. BS2410.K43 2005 270.1-dc22 2005015641 Printed in the United States of America 05 06 07 08 09 10 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents INTRODUCTION Methods and Resources for the History of Christian Origins 1 Agenda and Method for the History of Christian Origins 1 Ancient Antecedents and Models for Historical Reconstruction of Christian Origins 2 The Enduring Impact of Aspects of Babylonian and Iranian Culture on Judaism in the Postexilic Period 5 CHAPTER ONE The Impact of Graeco-Roman Politics and Culture on Judaism 11 The Changing Political Status of the Jews under the Persians, the Successors of Alexander, and the Romans: The Social and Religious Consequences 11 The Jews under the Hellenistic Rulers: Their Political Status and Religious Development 12 The Social and Cultural Impact of the Graeco-Roman World on Judaism 13 A Century of Jewish Political Independence: The Maccabees 19 The Impact of Roman Imperial Power and Policy on the Jews 21 Jewish Hopes and Agents for Liberation and/or for Renewal of the Covenant 28 The Literary Instruments for Portraying Divine Renewal 35 v vi THE BEGINNINGS OF CHRISTIANITY Expanding and Expounding the Scriptures 44 Fostering True Worship 47 The Antecedents of Rabbinic Judaism 48 Conclusion 52 CHAPTER TWO Thejesus Tradition and the Formation of the New Covenant Community 63 Perceiving the Jesus of History: Ancient Non-Christian Sources Concerning Jesus 66 The Christian Sources 72 The Roles of Jesus and the Images of the New Community in the Canonical Gospels 99 Jesus and the New Community in the Apocryphal Gospels 192 Imposing Unity on the Gospel Tradition: The Diatessaron of Tatian 196 CHAPTER THREE Paul and the Apostolic Traditions: Christianity Extends into the Wider Graeco-Roman World 213 Sources concerning Paul and the Apostles 213 The Aims and Strategies of the Acts of the Apostles 216 Paul Called as Messenger to the Gentiles: The Evidence from His Letters and Acts 218 The Letters of Paul 234 Paul as Portrayed in Letters Attributed to Him 256 Apocryphal Pauline Writings 274 The Apostles as Portrayed in the Apocryphal Acts 280 Other Canonical Apostolic Traditions 281 CHAPTER FOUR The Noncanonical Apostolic Traditions 343 The Apostolic Fathers 343 The Apostolic Tradition 355 The Didascalia 355 Apostolic Constitutions 356 Apostolic Apocrypha 356 Apostolic Pseuepigrapha and Apocryphal Documents 357 Other Apocryphal Documents 358 Contents Vll CHAPTER FIVE The Emerging Structures of Early Christianity: Modes of Achieving Theological and Social Unity 367 Methodological Orientation 367 Structures of Faith and Practice: Kerygma, Creed, Liturgy, and Ethical Rules 369 Ritual Formulations 378 Leadership Roles 383 Charismatic Roles in Early Christianity 399 Assigned Official Roles in the Church 403 Roles Chosen by Individuals: To Love One Another 410 Community Structures in the Early Church 412 Other Early Christian Models and Terminology for the New Community 413 From Scriptures to Christian Canon 415 Concluding Observations: Diversity and the Search for Unity 417 EXCURSUS i Changing Historical Models in the Biblical Tradition 425 EXCURSUS 2 Changing Historical Methods in the Study of Christian Origins 433 EXCURSUS 3 Wisdom and Gnosticism: Origins and Impact on Christianity 443 EXCURSUS 4 The Multiple Impact of Stoicism on the Origins of Christianity 451 EXCURSUS 5 Facing the Future: Common Themes in Jewish Apocalyptic and Graeco-Roman Philosophy and Literature 463 EXCURSUS 6 Bridal Imagery in the Mysteries of the Kabeiroi and ofSerapis 481 EXCURSUS 7 The Kingdom of God in the Pauline Letters 483 Index 485 This page intentionally left blank INTRODUCTION Methods and Resources for the History of Christian Origins Agenda and Method for the History of Christian Origins To understand the historical beginnings of Christianity requires one not only to examine the documents that the movement produced, but also to scruti- nize other evidence—historical, literary, and archaeological—that can illumine the sociocultural context in which Christianity began and how it responded to the influences that derived from that setting. This involves not only analy- sis of the readily accessible content of the relevant literary evidence, but also attention to the worldviews and assumptions about reality that are inherent in these documents and in other phenomena that have survived from this period. Important for historical analysis is attention to the roles of leadership and the modes of formation of social identity in Judaism and the continuing influence of these developments as Christianity began to take shape.1 In methodological terms, the historical study of Christian origins in all its diversity must involve three different modes of analysis: (1) epistemologi- cal, (2) sociological, and (3) eschatological. The first concerns the way knowl- edge and communication of it were perceived. The second seeks to discern the way the community or tradition preserving and conveying this informa- tion defined its group identity and its shared values and aims. The third focuses on the way the group understood and affirmed its ultimate destiny and that of its members in the purpose of God. These factors are interre- lated, and features of one mode of perception strongly influence details of 1