The author is a well known scholar of Christian history, and in this book she evaluates the impact of the gospel of John in shaping the beliefs of early Christian faith. Using the historical facts, all available gospels, and political, social and economic factors during second to fourth century, she observes that the major players were bishop Irenaeus of second century living in Gaul, France and Emperor Constantine helped to establish the Christian faith. Much of the principle beliefs of the church were founded on the gospel of John. john refers to Jesus as "My Lord and my God" in John 20:28, his message is simple in that the Life of Jesus, death and resurrection and the narrative scenes of wedding at Cana, encounter with Nicodemus, meeting a Samaritan woman near a well, Pilate asking his prisoner for truth, and resurrection are widely celebrated today
A brief summary of this book is as follows: Early church was described as a meeting place for people seeking miracles; healing the sick, driving out demons, and raising the dead. To join the church, one had to repudiate family and their values. When Justin Martyr was baptized in 140 A.D., in Rome, he described his experience as walking on to the spiritual side, away from bad habits. In 4th century, when Emperor Constantine became a Christian, he decriminalized Christianism and convened a meeting of church leaders to cull a common statement of beliefs and early traditions to define Christianism as a faith.
The author notes that Paul, John and Luke connect Jesus with Passover. According to them, Jesus blesses the bread and wine and instructed them to eat in remembrance of him; just as Passover recalls how God delivered Israel through Moses. John gives a different chronology, according to him the last meal occurs before the feast of Passover. His version of last supper is different from that of Paul, Mark, Matthew, and Luke in that Jesus did not perform the rituals of Holy sacrament in which he washes the feet of his disciples. According to him Jesus was arrested on Thursday and brought to trial on the following day, at about noon, on the day of preparing the Passover lamb. Jesus was sentenced to death, tortured and crucified. In this narrative, John draws a parallel with sacrificial lamb. After crucifixion, the Roman soldiers don't break the bones assuming Jesus is dead. Therefore, according to John, Jesus is the living bread that comes down from heaven and whoever eats this bread and drink his blood lives forever (John 19:36, 6:35-60). Paul strengthen this claim by proclaiming that whenever you eat his bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death, until he comes (I Corinthians 11:26). This was a highly contested debate among the rest of the apostles and Christians of that time. The key concepts of John were simple; God = Word of God = Jesus Christ. "All things were made through him and without him nothing was made (John 1:3). God manifests himself in and through this world as Jesus. These were powerful messages.
Irenaeus observed that Gnostic gospels were delusional and demonically inspired. He argued that John understood Jesus more than any other apostles and welded John with well liked Matthew and Luke. Irenaeus anticipated wrong interpretation of canonized gospels that may lead to a theology that he did not envision, so he created orthodox apostolic Christianity. After about 200 years, when Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria in 367 C.E., believed Irenaeus and ordered to destroy all gospels except the canonized texts.
Irenaeus wrote the basic architectures of Christianity and instructed his congregation to keep only those revelations that defined an orthodox movement. He foresaw a strong faith of the future with a canon of truth and apostolic tradition that transformed into the very early versions of New Testament. Irenaeus observed Matthew tracing Jesus' family back to King David; Luke emphasizing Jesus' role as a priest; and Mark referring Jesus as a prophet. For Irenaeus these three fall short of calling Jesus as God, but John has no hesitancy in doing so. Irenaeus determined that John is "more elevated" than the other three apostles since they missed something that John understood. Irenaeus goes further in his five volume refutation of heretics and Jews as someone who killed the Lord of Christian faith. Emperor Constantine translated Christian prejudice against Jews into legal precedence. He forbade Jews from entering Jerusalem. He also forbade Jews accepting Christians becoming Jewish converts, conversely any Jew preventing another Jew converting to be a Christian will be condemned to die. To strengthen the church, he convened a meeting of all bishops of various Christian groups at Nicaea to formulate a standard for belief and practices of the church. Apostle John, bishop Irenaeus and Emperor Constantine are responsible for the Christianism to be a powerful religion of modern times.
Reference: Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas by Elaine Pagels
A brief summary of this book is as follows: Early church was described as a meeting place for people seeking miracles; healing the sick, driving out demons, and raising the dead. To join the church, one had to repudiate family and their values. When Justin Martyr was baptized in 140 A.D., in Rome, he described his experience as walking on to the spiritual side, away from bad habits. In 4th century, when Emperor Constantine became a Christian, he decriminalized Christianism and convened a meeting of church leaders to cull a common statement of beliefs and early traditions to define Christianism as a faith.
The author notes that Paul, John and Luke connect Jesus with Passover. According to them, Jesus blesses the bread and wine and instructed them to eat in remembrance of him; just as Passover recalls how God delivered Israel through Moses. John gives a different chronology, according to him the last meal occurs before the feast of Passover. His version of last supper is different from that of Paul, Mark, Matthew, and Luke in that Jesus did not perform the rituals of Holy sacrament in which he washes the feet of his disciples. According to him Jesus was arrested on Thursday and brought to trial on the following day, at about noon, on the day of preparing the Passover lamb. Jesus was sentenced to death, tortured and crucified. In this narrative, John draws a parallel with sacrificial lamb. After crucifixion, the Roman soldiers don't break the bones assuming Jesus is dead. Therefore, according to John, Jesus is the living bread that comes down from heaven and whoever eats this bread and drink his blood lives forever (John 19:36, 6:35-60). Paul strengthen this claim by proclaiming that whenever you eat his bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death, until he comes (I Corinthians 11:26). This was a highly contested debate among the rest of the apostles and Christians of that time. The key concepts of John were simple; God = Word of God = Jesus Christ. "All things were made through him and without him nothing was made (John 1:3). God manifests himself in and through this world as Jesus. These were powerful messages.
Irenaeus observed that Gnostic gospels were delusional and demonically inspired. He argued that John understood Jesus more than any other apostles and welded John with well liked Matthew and Luke. Irenaeus anticipated wrong interpretation of canonized gospels that may lead to a theology that he did not envision, so he created orthodox apostolic Christianity. After about 200 years, when Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria in 367 C.E., believed Irenaeus and ordered to destroy all gospels except the canonized texts.
Irenaeus wrote the basic architectures of Christianity and instructed his congregation to keep only those revelations that defined an orthodox movement. He foresaw a strong faith of the future with a canon of truth and apostolic tradition that transformed into the very early versions of New Testament. Irenaeus observed Matthew tracing Jesus' family back to King David; Luke emphasizing Jesus' role as a priest; and Mark referring Jesus as a prophet. For Irenaeus these three fall short of calling Jesus as God, but John has no hesitancy in doing so. Irenaeus determined that John is "more elevated" than the other three apostles since they missed something that John understood. Irenaeus goes further in his five volume refutation of heretics and Jews as someone who killed the Lord of Christian faith. Emperor Constantine translated Christian prejudice against Jews into legal precedence. He forbade Jews from entering Jerusalem. He also forbade Jews accepting Christians becoming Jewish converts, conversely any Jew preventing another Jew converting to be a Christian will be condemned to die. To strengthen the church, he convened a meeting of all bishops of various Christian groups at Nicaea to formulate a standard for belief and practices of the church. Apostle John, bishop Irenaeus and Emperor Constantine are responsible for the Christianism to be a powerful religion of modern times.
Reference: Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas by Elaine Pagels
Irenaeus, Libros Quinque Adverses Hearses, edited by W.W. Harvey (Cambridge, 1851)
Irenaeus, the "Canon of truth and the gospel of John: making a difference through hermeneutics and ritual' In Vigiliae Christianae 56.4 (2002), 339-371.
Irenaeus, the "Canon of truth and the gospel of John: making a difference through hermeneutics and ritual' In Vigiliae Christianae 56.4 (2002), 339-371.
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