The Heresy of Orthodoxy: How Contemporary Culture's Fascination with Diversity Has Reshaped Our Understanding of Early Christianity

Backcover\r......Page 1
Contents......Page 7
Foreword......Page 9
List of Abbreviations......Page 11
Introduction: The Contemporary Battle to Recast the Origins of the New Testament and Early Christianity......Page 13
PART 1: THE HERESY OF ORTHODOXY: Pluralism and the Origins of the New Testament......Page 18
1. The Bauer-Ehrman Thesis - Its Origins and Influence......Page 19
Walter Bauer and Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity......Page 20
The \"Bauer Thesis\"......Page 21
The Reception of Bauer\'s Work......Page 22
Scholarly Appropriations of Bauer......Page 23
The Bauer Thesis Goes Mainstream......Page 26
Summary......Page 28
Later Critiques......Page 29
Conclusion......Page 34
Orthodoxy and Heresy in Major Urban Centers......Page 37
Asia Minor......Page 38
Egypt......Page 41
Edessa......Page 44
Rome......Page 46
Indications of Early Orthodoxy in Patristic Literature......Page 48
Orthodoxy in the Patristic Era......Page 50
Heresy in the Patristic Era......Page 54
Conclusion......Page 62
3. Heresy in the New Testament: How Early Was It?......Page 64
The Concept of Orthodoxy......Page 65
The Reliability of the Gospel Witness......Page 66
Can Accurate History Be Written by the \"Winners\"?......Page 68
Orthodoxy and the New Testament: The Teaching of Jesus and of the Apostles......Page 69
Paul\'s Conception of the Nature of His Gospel......Page 71
Liturgical Materials That Precede the New Testament......Page 72
Confessional Formulas......Page 73
Theological Standards......Page 75
Diversity in the New Testament......Page 76
Legitimate Diversity......Page 77
Proposed Canflicts......Page 78
Resolution of Alleged Conflicts: A Case for Legitimate Diversity......Page 79
Illegitimate Diversity......Page 84
Galatians......Page 85
Colossians......Page 86
Titus, 1 and 2 Timothy......Page 87
Jude......Page 89
2 Peter......Page 90
1 ]ohn......Page 91
Revelation......Page 92
Conclusion......Page 94
PART 2: PICKING THE BOOKS: Tracing the Development of the New Testament Canon......Page 97
4. Starting in the Right Place: The Meaning of Canon in Early Christianity......Page 98
The Concept of Covenant......Page 102
The Structure of the Covenant......Page 103
Canon and Redemptive History......Page 106
Redemptive History and the Apostolic Office......Page 108
The Apostolic Tradition and Written Texts......Page 109
Canon and Community......Page 111
Canon Shapes Community......Page 112
Canon Connects to Community......Page 115
Conclusion......Page 116
5. Interpreting the Historical Evidence: The Emerging Canon in Early Christianity......Page 118
Early Collections of Canonical Books......Page 120
Early Citations of Canonical Books......Page 122
Allusions to a Bi-covenantal Canon......Page 125
Public Reading of Canonical Books......Page 126
1 Clement......Page 129
The Didache......Page 132
Ignatius......Page 133
Polycarp......Page 135
The Epistle of Barnabas......Page 139
Papias......Page 140
Conclusion......Page 142
6. Establishing the Boundaries: Apocryphal Books and the Limits of the Canon......Page 144
Canonical Diversity in Early Christianity......Page 145
The Relevance of Diversity......Page 146
The Extent of Diversity......Page 148
Expectations of Diversity......Page 151
Apocryphal Books in Early Christianity......Page 153
Ptolemy\'s Epistle to Flora......Page 154
The Epistle of Barnabas......Page 156
Apocryphal Gospels......Page 157
The Gospel of Thomas......Page 158
The Gospel of Philip......Page 159
The Gospel of Mary......Page 160
The Gospel of Nicodemus......Page 161
Summary......Page 162
The Definition of \'\'Closed \"......Page 163
Attitudes toward Limiting the Canon......Page 164
Origen......Page 165
Gaius......Page 166
Conclusion......Page 167
PART 3: CHANGING THE STORY: Manuscripts, Scribes, and Textual Transmission......Page 169
7. Keepers of the Text: How Were Texts Copied and Circulated in the Ancient World?......Page 170
The Bookish Nature of Early Christianity......Page 171
Christian Scribes......Page 177
Nomina Sacra......Page 182
The Codex......Page 183
The Publication of Books within Early Christianity......Page 187
Conclusion......Page 191
8. Tampering with the Text: Was the New Testament Text Changed Along the Way?......Page 193
Thesis 1: The Wealth of Extant Manuscripts: we have good reasons to think the original text is preserved (somewhere) in the overall textual tradition......Page 196
The Quantity of New Testament Manuscripts......Page 197
The Date of the New Testament Manuscripts......Page 200
Thesis 2: The Extent of Textual Variation: the vast majority of scribal changes are minor and insignificant......Page 203
The Nature of the Textual Changes......Page 204
Textual Changes and the Quantity of Manuscripts......Page 207
Thesis 3: The Reliability of the Text Critical Method: of the small portion of variations that are significant, our text-critical methodology can determine, with a reasonable degree of certainty, which is the original text......Page 208
Examples of Significant Variants......Page 209
Theologically Motivated Changes......Page 211
Examples of Unresolved Variants......Page 215
Unresolved Variants and Biblical Authority......Page 217
Conclusion......Page 220
Concluding Appeal: The Heresy of Orthodoxy in a Topsy-turvy World......Page 222
Subject Index......Page 225
Scripture Index......Page 234