For you utter many blasphemies, in that you seek to persuade us that this crucified man was with Moses and Aaron, and spoke to them in the pillar of the cloud; then that he became man, was crucified, and ascended up to heaven, and comes again to earth, and ought to be worshipped.[1]
Christian apologist Justin Martyr placed these words into the mouth of his Jewish opponent Trypho in the second Century. Whether an accurate reflection of contemporary Jewish feeling or no, Trypho's objection vocalizes a question that has long puzzled scholars: how could monotheistic Jewish faith have given birth to the Trinitarian Christianity we know today? And how did the first Century church come to worship a 'crucified man'? This essay traces some possible answers to this dilemma, and suggests ways in which we might view the Christological question in a new light.
Christological Polyphony
The New Testament contains a chorus of Christological voices, often harmonious and occasionally dissonant.[2] Important among such voices are Luke/Peter in Acts 2, and Paul in Colossians 1-2. Engaging with these texts today, we listen also for the voices of the communities in which they emerged, voices of interpreters down the centuries, and voices that make up our own contemporary frame of reference; for '[r]eading is always contextual'.[3] Finally there is the daunting and enticing possibility of hearing the voice of God himself in the midst of them all.
Lines of Development
Mapping Christological development in the NT is problematic because there is little scholarly consensus regarding the chronology of the texts.[4] Wright dates Colossians in the early 50s C.E.; if this is accurate, then the ideas contained in the letter surface between the eventsof the 30s described in Acts 2 and their final writing up by Luke, possibly as early as the 60s.[5] Even allowing for Lukan reworking of Peter's sermon, it is conceivable that the text authentically preserves something of the apostles' post-resurrection conceptions of Jesus.[6] It is then legitimate to speak of a 'development' of Christology from Pentecost to Colossae, but articulating a linear progression goes too far beyond the evidence.[7] What we can say with confidence is that the NT texts are products of the same nascent Christian thought-world, of which Paul, Luke and Peter are part.[8]
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[1] Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho,48:1.
[2] James D. G. Dunn, Christology in the Making: A New Testament Enquiry into the Origins of the Doctrine of the Incarnation (London: SCM, 1980), 62.
[3] Brian J. Walsh & Sylvia C. Keesmaat, Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire (Downers Grove: IVP, 2004), 18.
[4] Dunn, Christology, 61.
[5] N.T. Wright, Colossians and Philemon: An Introduction and Commentary (TNTC 12, Downers Grove: IVP, 2008), 39; Victor E. Vine, "The Purpose and Date of Acts", Expository Times 96:45 (1984), 45-47.
[6] C.K. Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on The Acts of the Apostles Vol. 1 (ICC Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1994), 133.
[7] Paula Fredrikson, From Jesus to Christ: The Origins of the New Testament Images of Jesus (New Haven: Yale, 1988),19.
[8] See N.T. Wright, Christian Origins and the Question of God Vol. 1: The New Testament and the People of God (London: SPCK, 1992),357-358.
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