The Development of Early Christian Christology: 2^nd–6^th Centuries

I.         Foundational Problematic of Christology

            A.        Cosmological Christology: the making of the Logos-Christ relationship

                        1.         Messiah: symbol of the new age

                                    a.         New socio-political order of justice/peace

                                    b.         New heavenly age of redemption from sin and death

                        2.         Marcionite Challenge: rejection of God-Logos of Creation

                        3.         Logos-Christ synthesis is connecting theology of original/new being

            B.        Trinitarian Problems

                        1.         Relationship of ousia (being) of Logos to ousia of God

                        2.         Neo-Nicene solution: God as one ousia in three modes of existence (hypostases; prosopa)

            C.        Christological question of person of Christ

                        1.         Relationship of ousia of God to human ousia in the one person of Christ

II.        Two traditions for envisioning relationship of two (divine and human) natures to the one person of Christ

            A.        Semitic historical

            B.        Greek metaphysical

            C.        Pre-Nicene version of the two traditions

                        1.         Adoptionism: Christ is inspired human united to the will of God, elected by God

                        2.         Gnosticism: Christ is angelic/divine spirit in appearance of flesh

            D.        Late-fourth-century versions of the two traditions

                        1.         Apollinarianism

                                    a.         Christ is amalgam of human body+psyche and divine Logos

                                    b.         Human mind is replaced by divine Logos

                        2.         Theodore of Mopsuestia

                                    a.         Antiochene school of theology and exegesis

                                    b.         Harmony of wills of Christ and God (i.e., perfect obedience)

                                    c.         Dual natures (ousiae), human and divine, in one person

            E.        Fifth-century version of the two traditions

                        1.         Nestorianism

                                    a.         Two-nature Christology of Antiochene school

                                    b.         Rejection of Mary as “Mother of God” (Theotokos)

                        2.         Monophysite Christology

                                    a.         Cyril of Alexandria

                                    b.         Two natures, human and divine, fused into one new hypostasis of divine-humanity

                                    c.         Model for our redemption, our “divinization,” sharing Christ’s new divine-human nature

                        3.         Chalcedonian compromise (451)

                                    a.         Christ as two natures, human and divine, joined in one person, neither separated nor confused

                                    b.         Acceptance of Theotokos

III.       Limits of Traditional Christological Question

            A.        Inadequacies of two-natures typology

                        1.         God is not an ousia

                        2.         Humanity is an ambiguous ousia, good yet fallen

            B.        Failure to guard against patriarchal-imperialist distortion of Christ into foundation of a new sacred cosmos of Christian Empire; hierarchy

            C.        Need for a Christology of Original-New Being that stands in critique of fallen being, not just as mortality, but as injustice/sin

IV.      Search for Reconciliation and Final Schism of Old Catholic Churches of the East

            A.        Monophysites of Alexandria and Syria refuse to accept Chalcedon

                        1.         Elect Monophysite bishops

                        2.         Expel Melkites (Orthodox or Imperialist)

                        3.         This becomes the expression of autonomy of Syrian and Egyptian peoples and Churches from Greek Imperial control

            B.        Henoticon (482)

                        1.         Makes Cyril’s twelve anathemas standard for interpreting Chalcedon

                        2.         Fails to reconcile radical Monophysites

                        3.         Schism with Rome (482-518)

            C.        Justinian and Theodora

                        1.         Double-faced policy of trying to reconcile Chalcedonian West and Monophysite East

                        2.         5^th ecumenical council (553)

                                    a.         Condemns Antiochene theologians rehabilitated at Chalcedon

                                    b.         Forced Rome to assent

                                    c.         Other Western Churches reject this position

                                    d.         Loss of Persian Christian Churches, which become “Nestorian”

            D.        6^th Ecumenical Council condemns monothelete position that Christ has two natures, but infused with one divine energy/will (no human will)

V.        Separated Old Catholic Churches

            A.        Monophysite Communion of Churches

                        1.         Egyptian Coptic Church and Ethiopian Church

                        2.         Syrian Jacobite Church and Malabar Jacobite Church of India

                        3.         Armenian Church

            B.        Nestorian Church

                        1.         Christians of Persia and Central Asia (9^th–14^th Centuries)

                        2.         Evangelize China

                        3.         Take as theologians Theodore of Mopsuestia and Antiochene school

                        4.         Represent non-Hellenized, Semitic Christianity outside Greek Empire

VI.      Mariology and Christology

            A.        New Testament Mariology

                        1.         Virgin birth: Nativity stories of Luke 1–2 and Matthew 1–2

                        2.         Mary as the New Israel or redeemed humanity (Luke)

            B.        Ante-Nicene Mariological developments

                        1.         Mary as New Eve (Irenaeus of Lyons, fl. 160; Tertullian of Carthage, fl. 200)

                                    a.         Parallels Jesus as New Adam

                                    b.         Reverses disobedience of Eve

                        2.         Perpetual Virginity of Mary (Protoevangelion of James, late II C.E.)

            C.        4^th–5^th Century developments

                        1.         Expansion of perpetual virginity of Mary (Jerome, late IV C.E.)

                                    a.         Brothers of Jesus as “cousins”

                                    b.         Mary physically a virgin in parte and ex partu

                        2.         Apocryphal gospels of Mary’s assumption into paradise

                                    a.         Ps. John the Evangelist Dormition of Mary

                                    b.         Ps. Melito, Transitus Maria

                        3.         Theotokos—Mary as Mother of God, Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451)

            D.        Theological significance of Mariology

                        1.         Not “deification” of Mary (i.e., incorporating Mary into doctrine of God)

                        2.         Mariology as completion of Christology: Humanity/Church responding to, redeemed by, and transfigured by Christ as both male and female