The history of primitive Christianity PDF
Preview The history of primitive Christianity
“Hi| I | i il THE HISTORY — OF PRIMITIVE __ CHRISTIANITY JOH.A NNES WEISS: Theology Library SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY AT CLAREMONT California From the library of C. TELFORD ERICKSON THE HISTORY OF PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY AnD. 5 : BY JOHANNES WEISS SOMETIME PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF HEIDELBERG COMPLETED AFTER THE AUTHOR’S DEATH BY RUDOLF KNOPF SOMETIME PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BONN TRANSLATED BY FOUR FRIENDS AND EDITED BY FREDERICK C. GRANT DEAN OF SEABURY-WESTERN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY VOLUME TWO New York ~WILSON-ERICKSON INCORPORATED 1937 COPYRIGHT, 1937, BY WILSON-ERICKSON INC. DESIGNED BY GEO. E, NEUHEDEL PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY THE COLONIAL PRESS INC., CLINTON, MASS. ‘THE HISTORY OF PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY VOLUME II CHAPTER XV The Christ-Faith “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” This declaration (II Cor. 5:17) might serve as a motto for the following chapter. Anyone who wishes to understand Paul must strive to gain a realization and a sympathetic apprehension of the vital principle which permeates his whole personality and upon which all else depends: what do ‘to be in Christ,’ and ‘to be one with Christ,’ mean? Christ-faith, Christ-devotion, Christ-culture, Christ-mysticism— this is the one focal point in the Pauline religion, this is the particu- lar manner in which he has lived Christianity, and has experienced it for future centuries; this individual form is, in the main, something new in religion, as over against the pre-Pauline, as well the Pales- tinian as the Hellenistic type of Christianity. But one would draw a wrong composite picture of Paul, if he did not take into account the fact that in his Christ-faith there is still present a general prim- itive-Christian, indeed an actual Jewish-Christian substratum, upon which is first developed the peculiarly Pauline Christ-devotion. $ ‘ 1. The Eschatological Messiah-faith. We have seen in discussing the conversion of Paul that its deciding result was the conviction that Jesus, the crucified one, whom the Nazareans accepted as the Messiah of Israel, is in reality the Messiah predicted by the pro- phets, the Son of God (Rom. 1:3). In reality of course this state- ment appears with him in its genetic psychological form; the heaven- ly Messiah who has appeared to me is truly none other than the Jesus of the Nazareans! The identity of the heavenly Christ and the man Jesus is the paradoxical knowledge which he from now on possesses. It contains in itself, from the very first, two statements; on the one hand, a joyful message: the Messianic age has begun; on the other hand, the important corollary: it is now necessary to think of the Messiah in terms which proceed from the fact that Jesus is he. The appearance of the Exalted One in the splendor of the divine glory (II Cor. 4:6) was for Paul incontrovertible proof that the kingly rule of the Messiah (I Cor. 15:24f) has begun; that the 446 School of Theology A459S at Claremont The Christ-Faith 447 Messianic age of Salvation has dawned (II Cor. 6:2); that the end of the present age has come, and the new age has been inaugurated (1 Cor. 10:11). This general pre-Christian conviction also forms for Paul the foundation of his new life. His faith, also, from now on, is an eschatological hope; he also belongs to those who wait for the reign of God (Mark 15:43) and hope to share therein (Gal. 5:21; I Cor. 6:10; 4:20; Rom. 14:17). But just as for the primitive com- munity, so for him this is no longer a far-off, only to be yearned-for, condition; the beginning of the end has been moved forward into the closest proximity by the exaltation of the Messiah; it is assured, since the last conflict, which is yet to be endured, will certainly end with the victory of Christ and the complete rule of God (I Cor. 15:24-28). Paul also manifests that same keen faith in the future which runs through the whole of primitive Christianity, and is ac- companied with a present mood of joy: after the great things which God has done, it is surely to be expected that he will also perform the unfulfilled predictions that still remain (Rom. 8:32). The Christ-faith of Paul.is in part—as with the Jews—still a hope, it is a yearning for the Messiah Jesus: the life of the Christian is a waiting for the ‘revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (I Cor. 1:7), a great yearning for complete communion with the Son of God (I Cor. 1:9), for union with him for all time (I Thess. 4:17; Phil. 1:23), for seeing him face to face (I Cor. 13:12). Therefore the present is a ‘walking by faith, and not by sight’ (II Cor. 5:7); at least, the view obtained by faith is only a ‘reflection in a mirror’ (I Cor. 13:12; II Cor. 3:18).1 Paul emphasizes very strongly at times the preliminary, the incomplete nature of the present con- ditions (Phil. 1:23; I Cor. 13:12); so securely is his life anchored in heaven (Phil. 3:20), so vividly does he feel himself a stranger here (II Cor. 5:6), that occasionally the feeling of separation from Christ outweighs everything else. But these are passing moods; on the whole, the feeling of joy prevails, that the Messiah has come and the fulness of the Messianic salvation with him. Let one try to feel what it means when Paul says, ‘We have salvation in him’ (Col. 1:14), ‘The salvation which is in Christ Jesus’ is at hand +The point in the comparison in the figure of the mirror is, as I see it (according to Philo’s use of language, for example), that the image is only a picture and not the reality (ct. SNT on I Cor. 13:12). Therefore to see the glory of the Lord as in a mirror (ct. SNT on II Cor. 3:18) is like what we would call ‘seeing with the imag- ination.’ In Corp. Herm. XVIII (Reitzenstein, Poimandres, p. 54) it is stated that things which appear as in a mirror are ‘incorporeal bodies’ (cwuara dowpyara). Cf. my Commentary on I Cor. 13:12. 448 The History of Primitive Christianity (Rom. 3:24). This ‘in’ is not used here as in the mystical formula, ‘in Christ’; it is a shortened expression for the statement: ‘““Because of the fact that Christ has come, because of the fact that we have Christ, we have Salvation’’; thus this ‘in Christ’ is the most concen- trated expression for the actuality of the Pauline Messiah-faith: we have the Christ. 2. The New Conception of the Messiah. Above all he knows him; the Messiah concept, or the Messiah fantasy of his Jewish time of waiting, has been changed for him into a living reality, into a concrete perception; the Messiah has revealed himself to him (Gal. 1:12,15); he has ‘seen’ him (I Cor. 9:1). He has seen not an indeterminate concept, not a phantom, but the ‘face’ or ‘person’ (xpdcwnov) of Christ, illuminated by the glory of the splendor of God (II Cor. 4:6). Determinative for him was not so much the actual impression which appeared on his retina, as the explanation and interpretation of what he had already of himself conceived of him. Even though at that time nothing further had appeared in his field of vision, save the perception of a bright light, he has nev- ertheless compared it to a human form, to a face with human features. How far this picture was plainly carried out in detail, whether it was more schematic or individual, we cannot say. That depends upon this: whether he had seen Jesus earlier with his own eyes, or whether the impression made at that time had penetrated deeply enough, and the recollection was sufficiently powerful and distinct—or whether he had only heard of Jesus, and from indefinite, imperfect descriptions possessed a generally colorless picture of him. But even if he had really seen him before, we have still to take this into account, namely that even very indistinct features and out- lines would have sufficed for him as a representation. All this is on the whole an unattractive speculation, which easily wavers be- tween object and concept, picture and significance, person and idea, since probably the necessity was never felt for a ‘realization’ perfect in every detail or feature. It was of far greater importance for him that he could now represent to himself the inner being and con- sciousness of the Messiah, not only more plainly, but in an entirely different manner than before. Yet there always hovers before him the form of the mighty ruler of the world. When the Book of Enoch speaks of the ‘Son of Man’ sitting on the throne of his glory, And the word of his mouth slays all the sinners, And all the unrighteous are destroyed from before his face... .
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