Raymond Brown on Orthodoxy

"When the charge of heresy is raised in Christian communities today, there is a tendency to associate that stigma with wild-eyed radicals proposing new ideas. IN Christian history, however, some of the most significant heresies have been conservative rather than radical -- the tendency to hold on to old theological answers when new questions have caused the main body of Christians to move on to new answers. The Jewish Christians, as we detect their presence in John and know their presence in the second century, were holding on to oder and more primitive views on such subjects as Christology, the eucharist, and relations to Judaism, views that were widely held early in the first century but were now no longer deemed to be adequate expressions of truth. At the Council of Nicea ([325 CE]) the lower Christology of Arius was more primitive than the higher Christology of Athanasius. Arius was content with the scriptural formulations of Jesus' identity, e.g., 'In the beginning was the Word,' which meant for him that the Word had a beginning. Athanasius had to persuade the Council to accept newer, non-Scriptural formulas, e.g., true God of true God, coeternal with the Father. But he did this with insight: The Scripture answers were no longer adequate because now a question was being asked that had not been asked in [New Testament] times, and the new answers he proposed were true to to the direction of the Scriptures. "Orthodoxy," then is not always the possession of those who try to hold on to the past. One may find a truer criterion in the direction toward which Christian though has been tending, even if that direction suggests that past formulations of truth have to be considered inadequate to answer new questions." (Bold emphasis added, italics in original)

pp.80-81, The Community of the Beloved Disciple by Raymond Brown.

The Community of the Beloved Disciple

"The exalted Johannine christology is not some abstract test of orthodoxy that has nothing to do with community living. If it is crucial to believe that Jesus is the pre-existen Word of God who has come from God and is of God, it is because then we know what God is really like --- He really is a God of love who so love the world that He was willing to give of Himself, in His Son (3.16;I John 4.8-9), and not merely send someone else. And such an understanding of God and of Jesus demands that the Johannine Christian, who is the child of God, behave in a way worth of his Father and of Jesus his Brother: 'By this will all identify you as my disciples -- by the love you have for one another' (John 13.35)."

pp.60-61The Community of the Beloved Disciple, by Raymond Brown.

In the Works

I have a lot of news, so I need to write. But finals are winning. I'm trying to finish all my papers before finals week so that I can just study for my finals. I haven't been reading for...most (any) of my classes. Working on the papers. And the academic regulations. And still doing a good job, I think, taking sabbath. I sang sacred harp two weeks in a row during the mid-week sing, and set boundaries and did homework while listening. This weekend I'll try to get going. I have some "Going Paperless" entries in my head, and they have some things in them that I think need to be considered. That is all for now. Keep watching.