On the veneration of Jesus in the early church: Notes on the fourth Plenary Paper from British New Testament Conference 2011 (#bntc)

This was the highlight of the whole conference for me.

For a number of years now, Larry Hurtado and Richard Bauckham (among others, usually associated with key Scottish Universities and sometimes known as a the Early High Christology Club) have been exploring the religious phenomenon of early Christian worship of Jesus.

Larry has written extensively on the subject - here's the list off his wikipedia entry:

 

• God in New Testament Theology (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2010) ISBN 9780687465453
• The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manuscripts and Christian Origins (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006)
• How on Earth did Jesus Become a God? Historical Questions about Earliest Devotion to Jesus (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005) ISBN 0802828612
• Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003)
• "Homage to the Historical Jesus and Early Christian Devotion", Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 1/2 (2003), pp. 131–46.
• At the Origins of Christian Worship: The Context and Character of Earliest Christian Devotion, the 1999 Didsbury Lectures (Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 1999; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000)
• One God, One Lord: Early Christian Devotion and Ancient Jewish Monotheism (Fortress Press, 1988; 2nd edition T&T Clark, 1998) ISBN 0567089878

...with, I think, Lord Jesus Christ being the easiest text into the area - although none are that difficult or obtuse to read.

On the other hand, a number of scholars are a little worried about the suggestion that Christology was so high so early (e.g. James McGrath: the Only True God). Jimmy Dunn was selected as a representative of this more conservative school of thought. Jimmy has long argued for a more gradual understanding of Jesus' divinity and represents the argument for a slower and steadier split with Judaism than Hurtado and others. With such divergent figures as EP Sanders and James Crossley, Jimmy Dunn would argue that the church remained essentially Jewish and law-observant throughout the first century and perhaps for some time after...  Moreover, Jimmy has just brought out a (small) book which critiques Hurtado's position and queries the whole concept of Jesus as 'God': Did the First Christians Worship Jesus (a review here - intriguingly similar comments here to what I felt about the whole conversation from Jimmy's side)

So, this plenary brought Larry and Jimmy into a conversation about the worship, or veneration (as a more conciliar term), of Jesus in the early church.  It was an amazing conversation for me for two reasons:

1. I agree with Larry and others that the best way to understand the text of the NT and the practice of the early church is for there to have been a very early very high Christological understanding of Jesus - in other words, the very earliest expressions of church venerated him alongside Yahweh and understood his role to be very contigent with Yahweh in some way - perhaps as Wisdom was sometimes portrayed in Proverbs 8.

2. I was surprised how Larry's arguments went almost unchallenged by the audience. Most of the questions were picking at Jimmy's argument about the subordination of Jesus and his almost monarchian understanding - all worship must still be directed to God the Father but through Jesus as Son. Basically, don't go round equating Jesus with Yahweh and don't worship Jesus to the detriment of your worship of the Father. Good comments both although the argumentation is based on later Trinitarian concepts - which lots of people raised with Jimmy. 

3. In the end both men agreed with the basic concept that the early church venerated or worshipped Jesus. Both agreed that this was a massive innovation in terms of Jewish practice. Both agreed that it was an important and game-changing phenomenon. But they also agreed that they didn't know why it happened or when it happened or whether the resurrection or Pentecost or what caused it to happen.

Anyway here are some notes I made at the session:

 

British New Testament Conference 2011 - Plenary Session 4

Larry Hurtado and James Dunn, On the Veneration of Jesus

Larry Hurtado:

Does veneration suggest an innovative pattern?

Devotional practices have not been focussed on - tends to be a focus on theology.

Hurtado and others have looked back at practices and re-assess the place of Jesus from these. In the setting, devotional practices, worship, were defining elements of a religion and adherence of a religion - e.g Judaism and its exclusive veneration of Yahweh. People did not sign a creed but worshipped a god.

Veneration of Jesus in this context means that people are aligning themselves with Christianity.

How does all this line up with first commandment?

Withdrawal from pagan deities and cultic service to the one God. Remarkable then that Jesus appears so much in these practices. One God and one Lord.

Devotional practices - a novel reshaping of Jewish practices.

• Prayer - typically offered to the Father. Presuppose an addtnl development by offering prayers through Jesus, in name of Christ. Also prayer and praise through Jesus - Jude doxology. Jesus is not recipient but does represent a kind of channel or validating presence. No parallel in any other Jewish practice. Suggests characteristic of widespread Christian practice. Also addressed to both God and Jesus - 1 Thessalonians,  2 Thessalonians, grace benedictions and other formulae - sometimes to Jesus alone. Note this formula usage suggest must more widespread usage in cupric observance.
• Prayer of dying Stephen, thorn in flesh, Rev 22:20.
• 1 Cor 1:2 - calling upon the name of Jesus - note biblical phrase calling upon the name of the Lord. Ubiquitous practice. Christians are those who call upon the name of Jesus. Is this just a baptismal thing or more common e.g Romans 10. 1 Cor 12:3. 
• Maranatha
• Hymns/chanted oaths - lots of scholarship here. But significance not really explored. One all the hymns seem to be about Jesus and his identity - Ephs 5:13. Note Rev 4-5 - chants to God, Jesus and to God and Jesus jointly. No parallel in Judaism. Move is to move away from such.
• Prophetic oracles - 19 oracles in NT where Jesus is speaker or source of oracle. Words of the glorified Jesus. Note the abhorrence of prophecy in any other name but Yahweh - here Jesus represents Yahweh of some kind or other.
• Baptism - link with Jesus changes John the Baptist rites - indicative of centrality of Jesus. Again no parallels.
• Corporate meal - rapid and stormy development - commonly accepted meal was accepted as norm. Early on a corporate worship act and focussed on Jesus - the imperial meal. Cup of the Lord, table of the Lord. Note 1 Cor 10 a involvement in the body and blood of Christ. Risen Jesus has a role comparable to both cult deities in other meals and Yahweh in the Temple cultus.
• Do we have precedences for other devotional additions within 2TJ? No other precedence or analogies in Hurtado's early work. Not been overturned despite the constellation of worship patterns. Mutation in Jewish devotion. The closest is in vision passages in 2 Enoch - points to future possibility not current practice as we have with Jesus in early Christian devotion.
• Shaped Dyadic patterning of early Christian worship. Not reverenced as separate God or replacement God. Unique expression of the one God (Philippians). Yahweh requires Jesus to be reverenced. Reverencing Jesus means you reverence Yahweh.
• Dyadic - because there are two objects of veneration/worship - Father and Son
• Shaped - because Father directs that the Son should be worshipped

Jimmy Dunn:

Three points - some controversy in two points. But not huge amount of disagreement. What is first generation Christianity up to?

1.    Paul did not persecute early Christianity because of cultic devotion to Jesus

• Christological motivation but not cultic. 
• Doesn't seem to be violence vs any cultic practice in the first century. 
• Stephen also objected to because of his objection to Temple. Stoning of Stephen over blasphemy or call to worship other god. But why only Stephen? 
• Seems to be little objection to early Christ devotion.

2. 1 Cor 8:6 - has Paul dismembered Shema and created One God and One Lord. Or does Paul have in mind Shema + Psalm 110 - Jesus as divinely appointed Lord. Is Christ devotion dependent on Yahweh priority? Shema refers ONLY to Yahweh who then appoints Jesus as Lord. So, Jimmy refuses to use the 'filioque clause' in the Creed. This became a major issue in the Q&A.

3. Note that where Paul talks about worship, Jesus is not so present e.g. 1 Cor 12-14. Hymns are about Christ, not to Christ. Worship tends to be directed to Yahweh still but not to Jesus.

Need a more careful description of the cultic veneration of Jesus. Note the old division between veneration and worship/cultic devotion - note the reserve of Paul.

Christ veneration may lead to the downplaying of Jesus role in incarnation/mediation. Does the focus on his divinity undermine his humanity and his role in mediating humanity to God? Role of Jesus as a man in heaven. Note also role of Jesus as intercessor in heaven. Decisive resurrection role. Jesus as another paraclete in heaven. Jesus not just prayed to but he was praying for them - through Jesus.

Tendency to ignore Jesus is a pity - Jesus as mediator is at heart of early Christology - is this why we develop Mariology and veneration of the saints because we make Jesus too lofty and distant from us. We must not make Jesus so high, that we deny his role as mediator.

Worship God alone. Venerate Christ to the glory of God the Father.

What does it mean for Christianity to be totally monotheistic? Surely we worship the Father through the son rather than worship son alone.

Use of Yahweh texts in relation to Jesus do not necessarily mean that Jesus is Yahweh.

 Q&A samples

Wright: Shema in rabbinic teaching is taking on yoke of kingdom not adherence to an abstracted monotheism

1 Cor 8 reference to Shema and Psalm or just Shema?

Any worship which does not include Jesus worship is just deficient Christian practice

All agreed massive change to cultic practice within early Christianity.

1 Corinthians 8:6 is really becoming a key text here. 

http://pmphillips.posterous.com/on-the-veneration-of-jesus-in-the-early-churc

Comments

[Eliyahu Konn]

What do you mean by early? There is no history of "the church" before the expulsion of all Jews from Jerusalem in 135CE. Jzeus will continue to be falsely venerated as an excuse for following ones own heart and eyes (see Shema) but the authentic history of the Torah true, Jewish Ribi Yehoshua is continuing to make headway through the morass of church false teaching. netzarim.co.il

[Pete Phillips]

Thanks for the comment, Eliyahu. There is plenty of evidence for the existence of a Christian community known as 'ekklesia' well before 135CE - in both Christian and secular texts. Sorry we end up disagreeing over the role of Jesus.