16-5-10 Early Christian Doctrine

Above all, it seems to me that it was the very doctrines which they preached which were the real reason for the inexplicable success of Christianity. Those doctrines took hold on the heart and conscience of the individual, so that this new religion was likely no other. Because of “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [who] was rich but for your sakes he became poor, that you might become rich through his poverty”, the Corinthian converts should share their money with their poorer brethren in Jerusalem. Doctrine had a profound and practical import in daily life, quite unlike any other religion. And so it should be with us today. Studies of new religions in the Roman empire have found that they usually fizzled out if the state was opposed to them. Christianity is the one great exception. Rodney Stark concludes: “I believe that it was the religion's particular doctrines that permitted Christianity to be among the most sweeping and successful revitalization movements in history. And it was the way these doctrines took on actual flesh, the way they directed organizational actions and individual behavior, that led to the rise of Christianity” ⁽¹⁾. The message of the love of God was radically different to that of the pagan religions. " For God so loved the world . . ." would have been a new paradigm. The gods were thought not to care how we treat each other. They could  be induced to exchange services for sacrifices. But the idea of grace was totally new- that God does something for nothing, even giving His only begotten son. The philosophers regarded grace, mercy and pity as pathological emotions- defects of character to be avoided by all rational men. Since mercy involves providingunearned help or relief, it was contrary to justice, which was the important concept at the time. Cultured human beings had to as it were  " curb the impulse" to be kind- to watch the spectacle of men being torn to death by lions was the order of the day. E.A. Judge quotes examples of ancient philosophy which taught that " the cry of the undeserving for mercy [must go] unanswered." Judge continued: " Pity was a defect of character unworthy of the wise and excusable only in those who have not yet grown up. It was an impulsive response based on ignorance. Plato had removed the problem of beggars from his ideal state by dumping them over its borders" . And yet the Truth declared that “God is love”, and He requires His people to manifest the love and outpoured grace which He has shown in the cross.  

There was a great thirst for religion at the time of the 1st century, just as there is in our own time. And there were many religions on offer, as today- what E.R. Dodds called " a bewildering mass of alternatives. There were too many cults, too many mysteries, too many philosophies of life to choose from" . And yet against this background, Christianity was exclusive; one couldn’t be a Christian and also dabble in the other cults. For there was only one Lord and Master, and one God.  

There can be no doubt that early Christian doctrine met the religious needs of society. Isis was a cult which spread at roughly the same time as Christianity. In a study of 22 Graeco-Roman cities, Rodney Stark found: “that I can report a highly significant correlation of .67 between the expansion of Isis and the expansion of Christianity. Where Isis went, Christianity followed”. We must ask whether we are meeting the so evident religious need of the world around us- or whether we are mismatched to their needs. People then were desperately interested in religion, and yet disillusioned with it. The excavations of the walls of Pompeii abound in extremely blasphemous graffiti and drawings, some of them very obscene as well, often directed against the gods. It was a  world like ours. Although  people often appealed to various gods for help, it was not assumed that the gods truly cared about humans- Aristotle taught that gods could feel no love for mere humans. And yet there was growing experimentation and interest in religion. The growth of Christianity shows that early Christian doctrine clearly connected with the needs. It’s not that we can change the doctrines of the Truth to make them interesting for our society- rather must we offer them to people in such a way as they see their practical outworking, and they see their own need for salvation revealed to them…and thereby they are attracted. 

In the end, as today, it was the unique teachings of early Christian doctrine which attracted men and women to conversion. That God should love the world would have been something totally radical to the first century audience. And that He should actually care how we treat one another was likewise a major paradigm break. E.A. Judge⁽²⁾ shows in some detail that the surrounding philosophy regarded mercy and pity as emotions to be avoided by all rational people. “Mercy is not governed by reason…[therefore humans must] curb the impulse…the cry of the undeserving for mercy must go unanswered…pity was a defect of character unworthy of the wise…it was an impulsive response based on ignorance. Plato had removed the problem of beggars from his ideal state by dumping them over its borders”. Yet the Truth taught that God is love, He is mercy, and we must respond to His superabounding grace in lives of outlived kindness and mercy toward others. True love must extend beyond natural family to all who call on the Lord Jesus, in whatever place (1 Cor. 1:2). We have spoken of how the example of the early community played a major role in conversion. And so it did. But it was only as the doctrines of Christianity were acted out in daily life that the change in human lives became apparent.

Notes

(6)  Edwyn Bevan, Symbolism And Belief (London: Allen & Unwin, 1938) p. 210.

(1)  Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996) p.196.

(2) E.A. Judge in P.T. O’Brien, God Who Is Rich In Mercy, Sydney: Macquarrie University Press, 1986 pp. 107-121.