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Antioch and Rome: New Testament Cradles of Catholic Christianity PDF

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ANTIOCH AND ROME NEW TESTAMENT CRADLES OF CATHOLIC CHRISTIANITY Raymond E. Brown, S. S. John P. Meier PAULIST PRESS New York/Ramsey Cover by Ragna Tischler Goddard. Nihil Obstat: Edward J. Ciuba Censor librorum Imprimatur: Peter L. Gerety, D.O. Archbishop of Newark Date: December 14, 1982 The Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur are official declarations that a book or pamphlet is free of doctrinal or moral error. No implication is contained therein that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions or statements expressed. Copyright © 1983 by Raymond E. Brown, S.S. and Rev. John P. Meier All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying. recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the Publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 82-063171 ISBN: 0-8091-0339-7 (cloth) 0-8091-2532-3 (paper) Published by Paulist Press 545 Island Road, Ramsey, N.J. 07446 Printed and bound in the United States of America With admiration, affection, and gratitude to MONSIGNOR MYLES M. BOURKE Scholar, Professor, Pastor, Ecumenist, Liturgist I on the occasion of his sixty-fifth birthday and fortieth anniversary in the priesthood PREFACE THE NEW TESTA MENT (NT) gives indications of very diverse views within Christianity, as well as references to Christian groups regarded as radically deviant by NT writers. Sometimes the views are espoused by different groups coexisting within the same city as, for instance, the four affiliations described in I Cor 1: 12 or the dispute at Antioch (Gal 2:11-14). Sometimes one form of Chris tian outlook may have been prominent in one area and another in a different area, as we can deduce from comparing very different NT works that show no knowledge of each other. Nevertheless, the im age of a totally homogeneous Christianity in the first Christian cen tury is hard to erase. Within some modern reconstructions of a nuanced character simple homogeneity is dismissed, but the thought of Paul is still as sumed to be the dominant factor in the Christian mainstream, espe cially as regards freedom over against the Mosaic Law. It is recognized, of course, that within the first Christian century faith in Jesus spread east from Palestine as well as to the west; and that this eastern thrust (about which the NT is totally silent) would have had little or no contact with Paul's thought. Acts 18:24-25 seems to im -I ply that Christianity of a distinctively non-Pauline hue had reached Alexandria by the mid-50s (when Paul came to Ephesus). Neverthe less, it is often assumed that in the areas of NT Mediterranean Chris tianity which really came to matter in subsequent western church history (Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy) Paul's thought "won vii viii PREFACE out." That assumption will be severely tested by the independent work of the two authors of this volume. Coincidentally each of us was studying the origins of Christian ity in NT times at an influential center in the Mediterranean area, Meier working on Antioch in Syria, and Brown on Rome. In conver sation, we discovered that our analyses of the origins of such churches were somewhat alike in both method and results. These were two cities where Paul featured alongside another very promi nent early Christian, Peter; and we were convinced that in both cases it was not the Pauline view about the Law and Judaism that pre vailed but a moderate view that could be associated with Peter even though ultimately some of the Pauline strains were domesticat ed and incorporated into that Petrine strain. Ignatius of Antioch wrote ca. A.D. 110 about the church catholic (he katholike ekklesia), a church more widespread geographically than the churches in any one city or area, but also a church that had managed to blend togeth er diverse strains of thought so that the resultant koinonia, "commu nion," among Christians involved common views on important issues. We are convinced that the somewhat-right-of-Paul strains of Christianity that emerged at Antioch and Rome in association with Peter were a key factor in the emerging church catholic. Such an analysis does not detract from the enormous power and challenge of Paul's letters and thought; but it warns that a purely Pauline Chris tianity was not dominant in NT times or afterwards. To some, the failure of Paul to dominate represents the loss of Christian vitality. Others of us believe that the only Christianity that can do justice to a NT containing diversity is one that resists sectarian purism in favor of constructively holding together tensions. Blending Paul into a wider mix, therefore, is what made the Pauline Epistles biblical, i.e., part of a Bible meant to guide, serve, and challenge the church cath olic. In joining the two studies on Antioch and Rome that constitute the two main parts of this volume, we have made an effort to take into account each other's work so that a unified book would result. Nevertheless, we must issue some cautions about how to read our joint book. First, each author is responsible for only what he wrote (which is clearly indicated). Reviewers who applaud or disagree should be precise whether they are referring to one author or both. · I PREFACE ix Second, there is an element of speculation in this work, and so con structive disagreement is expected and hoped for. We invite scholars to add to and modify our historical pictures of the two churches. We are aware that, in a way, we are breaking new ground; and our goal is to attract interest so that the investigation will be carried on by many others. Third, in mentioning the speculative, we know that be cause of the very nature of the material discussed, some parts of our hypotheses are less verifiable than others. For instance, Meier must depend on the Gospel of Matthew for reconstructing the middle peri od ("second generation") of his survey of Antioch. Most scholars would agree that Matthew was written at Antioch but may disagree as to what percentage of the Matthean Gospel reflects the situation existing at Antioch when the author wrote and what percentage rep resents an earlier period of tradition-perhaps tradition preserved elsewhere and representing the conditions of that other time and place. Certainly the evidence in Matthew is more speculative in re constructing Antiochene history than Paul's description of what happened at Antioch in the Letter to the Galatians. Brown must de pend not only on letters to Rome (which reflect on the Roman situa tion) but also on letters from Rome to other Christian communities. Descriptions in the latter may reflect either the customs and thoughts of the Roman senders or problems that exist among the re cipients or both; and one must read such documents with caution. We are willing to be evaluated on whether we have shown good judg ment in observing the methodological cautions we have emphasized, but we cannot agree with those who would rather say nothing about Antioch and Rome than proceed with the likelihood of making some mistakes. To study the NT as if it could tell us no major historical facts about Jesus or about the early Christians and their emerging churches is, in our judgment, an overreaction to an earlier scholar ship that took everything in the NT as history. Exegetes and church historians must and do operate on the basis of reconstructions that fill in gaps left by evidence. If our reconstructions are found wanting, we shall be happy if at least we have prodded others to replace them with more adequate reconstructions. That would be a more satisfac tory reaction than insisting on certitude and thus being content with silence. If coincidence brought our independent studies together, an x PREFACE even more fortunate set of coincidences is involved in the dedication of this volume. John Meier was a student at St. Joseph's Seminary (New York Archdiocese) during the twenty-year period when Myles Bourke served there as a distinguished Professor of Sacred Scripture and later sat in his class at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome where Msgr. Bourke taught as visiting professor. Interest aroused by the teacher and encouragement received from him contributed to Meier's doctoral studies and subsequent scholarly career. Raymond Brown knew and respected Myles Bourke as a fellow scholar for years before Brown became Auburn Professor of Biblical Studies at Union Theological Seminary in New York City in 1971. But, as fate would have it, Msgr. Bourke had been serving since 1966 as pastor of Corpus Christi Church, the parish across the street from Union, so that now for a decade he has been Brown's host for daily celebration of the Eucharist. Thus we two authors can join enthusiastically in dedicating our combined volume to a dear and appreciated friend who has helped us differently as professor and pastor, as scholarly and priestly advisor. His two anniversaries in 1982 prompt us to wish him ad multos annos in a life and priesthood that has served so many so well. September 30, 1982 Feast of St. Jerome Raymond E. Brown, s.s. John P. Meier Auburn Distinguished Professor Professor of New Testament of Biblical Studies and Chairman of the Scripture Department Union Theological Seminary St. Joseph's Seminary 3041 Broadway (Dunwoodie) New York City 10027 Yonkers, NY 10704 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION (Brown) 1-9 PART ONE: ANTIOCH (Meier) 11-86 Chapter I: Locating Matthew's Church in Time and Space 15-27 -[ Chapter II: The Antiochene Church of the First Christian Generation (A.D. 40-70-Galatians 2; Acts 11-15) 28-44 Chapter III: The Antiochene Church of the Second Christian Generation (A.D. 70-100-Matthew) 45-72 Chapter IV: The Antiochene Church of the Third Christian Generation (after A.D. 100) 73-84 A. Ignatius of Antioch 74 B. The Didache 81 Chapter V: Summary: Peter, Matthew, Ignatius, and the Struggle for a Middle Position 85-86 PART TWO: ROME (Brown) 87-216 Chapter VI: The Beginnings of Christianity at Rome 92-104 Chapter VII: The Roman Church Near the End of the First Christian Generation (A.D. 58-Paul to the Romans) 105-127 xi xii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter VIII: The Roman Church in the Second Christian Generation (A.D. 65-95) 128-158 A. The First Epistle of Peter 128 B. The Epistle to the Hebrews 139 Chapter IX: The Roman Church at the Beginning of the Third Christian Generation (A.D. 96-1 Clement) 159-183 Chapter X: Possible Supplements to Our Knowledge of Early Roman Christianity 184-210 A. Paul to the Philippians 185 B. The Epistle to the Ephesians 188 C. The Gospel of Mark 191 D. Ignatius to the Romans 202 E. The Shepherd of Hermas 203 F. Legends of Peter and Simon Magus at Rome 205 G. II Peter 208 CONCLUSION (Brown & Meier) 211-216 List of Abbreviations 217 Bibliography 218-232 Bibliographic Index 233 Subject Index 237 INTRODUCTION* ANTIOCH AND ROME were among the largest cities in the Roman Empire, dominantly Gentile in population but with major Jew I ish settlements. It is not surprising, then, that the story of the rise of Christianity in these two cities involves both Jews and Gentiles. As a preliminary the reader must have an idea of the complexity of the relations between Jews and Gentiles in the early Christian mission ary activity. An older generation of scholars spoke of the Jew and the Gentile (or of Jewish culture and Hellenistic culture) as if they exist ed in different or separate worlds. However, since the time of Alex ander of Macedon in the late fourth century B.C. the main Jewish populations known to us had been living under kings descended from the Macedonians and under Roman puppet kings and prefects, and thus in a world where the dominant culture was Hellenistic. Obvi ously pockets of Jews resisted acculturation while others embraced it willingly, but that diversity makes it all the more difficult to speak of Jewish and Hellenistic cultures as two distinct entities. The interrela tion becomes even more complicated when we consider the spread of Christianity. Since Jesus lived in Galilee and Judea, most of the people to *This introduction was written by Raymond E. Brown. 1. Grant, Augustus, 10: "A significant feature of life in the Roman Empire was the important role played by the big cities." Strabo (Geography 16.2.5), writing about the time of Jesus' birth, listed the three largest cities in the East as Alexandria, Anti och, and Seleucia. 1

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