The Development of Orthodox Christianity and the New Testament

The Development of Orthodox Christianity and the New Testament
By Ed Hensley

The Big Picture Comparing the Christian Fairy Tales With the Scholarship of Christianity

My Background Southern Baptist Texas Fundamentalist Churches
Moderate Family Not fluent in Hebrew, Greek, or Latin Not a scholar Send corrections to

The Christian Fairy Tale

God, the creator of the universe, chose the Jews to be his people. Jews were monotheistic (believed in only 1 god) from the start. Only rebellious Jews ever worshipped other gods. God gave Jews the Hebrew Bible (which contains the exact same books as the Old Testament of the bible of my sect of Christianity) as a guide on how to please Him and live good lives. This included many animal sacrifices. The Jews constantly disobeyed God. The Jews were punished by having their kingdom(s) destroyed and by being scattered throughout the world.

Jesus was born around 0 A.D. (Anno Domini, in the year of our Lord) to the virgin Mary. (I will use CE, and BCE) He is both the god of the Old Testament (OT) and is the son of the god of the OT. He is also the Holy Spirit. Around the age of 30 he began his ministry. Around the age of 33 he was sacrificed on the cross. He rose from the dead 3 days later and ascended to heaven. His sacrifice atones those who believe in him for their sins. There is no need for further animal sacrifices or obedience to most OT diet and lifestyle laws other than sex restrictions. True Christians will go to heaven for eternity when they die. All others will burn forever in hell after death.

The early Christian church was united and had one perfect set of doctrines. The New Testament (NT) is the perfect word of god that completes the OT. Early Christians had no disagreement about the 27 books of the NT, which were established shortly after 33 CE. The doctrines and canon of [insert name of Christian sect of childhood] have been the doctrines of Christians since the time of Christ. Christianity is confirmed by the Dead Sea Scrolls and other archaeological evidence.

Trees of Christian Sects As Presented By Very Biased Points Of View

Tree Of Christian Sects?
Very Western Catholic Trunk Where are Syrian, Ethiopian, Coptic?

Very Western. Catholic Trunk.

Eastern Orthodox tree. Did Orthodox Church Split from Catholic Church or vice versa? Eastern Orthodox is the tallest, straightest section with beautiful green leaves. Catholics and protestants are represented by dried up brown leaves on branches that veer awkwardly from the trunk.

Wikipedia - A schematic of Christian denominational taxonomy. The different width of the lines (thickest for "Protestantism" and thinnest for "Oriental Orthodox" and "Nestorians") is without objective significance. Protestantism in general, and not just Restorationism, claims a direct connection with Early Christianity.

How many sects view themselves! This slide is from a Mormon’s blog.

Very Western. Catholic and Orthodox split from “Undivided Church”. Where are Syrian, Ethiopian, Coptic, etc? What happened before 1054?

Very Western. However, it does include “dead” Christianities such as Marcionites, Arionism, and Montanists!

Syriac Tree

Syrian Tree

Best Tree Of Christian Sects!

“Heretical” Sects During Council of Nicea

Scholarly Christianity

Scholarly Christianity - Judaism
Ancient Hebrews evolved from the ancient Canaanite Religion. El Elyon was the most high god of many gods. Ancient Hebrews became monolithic. They believed in many gods, but Hebrews should only worship their god named Yahweh. Ancient Hebrews evolved into monotheism around 6th century BCE, believing Yahweh was the only god. Jews lived under the subjugation of many foreign rules, including Romans in the first century. Jews rebelled against Rome in 66 – 73 CE. The Jerusalem Second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE. Masada fell in 73 CE.

A coin issued by the rebels in 68, note Paleo-Hebrew alphabet. Obverse: "Shekel, Israel. Year 3." Reverse: "Jerusalem the Holy“ – Wikipedia.com

An ancient Roman coin. The inscription reads IVDEA CAPTA. The coins inscribed Ivdaea Capta (Judea Captured) were issued throughout the Empire to demonstrate the futility of possible future rebellions. Judea was represented by a crying woman. – Wikipedia.com

Roman denarius depicting Titus, circa 79. The reverse commemorates his triumph in the Judaean wars, representing a Jewish captive kneeling in front of a trophy of arms. – Wikipedia.com

The treasures of Jerusalem taken by the Romans (detail from the Arch of Titus). Wikipedia.com

The Hebrew Bible has evolved over time. DSS = Dead Sea Scrolls, LXX = Segtuagint, MT = Masoretic Text

Example of Jewish editing. New International Version. Deuteronomy 32:8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel.[b] 9 For the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance. b: Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) sons of God Many scholars believe this passage in the DSS and LXX form supports polytheism. The Most High (Elyon) god divided mankind into nations, giving each son of god their allotment. The “Lord’s” (Jewish God’s) share were the children of Jacob.

The authors of the New Testament (NT) used the Greek Septuagint (LXX) when quoting OT books. Catholics (46 books in OT), Orthodox (51 books), Ethiopians (46 books, or 50 splitting 1 & 2 Kings, etc), and others use the LXX. Protestants use the Hebrew MT and have 39 book in OT. Modern Jews use the Hebrew MT. The Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS - Hebrew) are used by all sides to claim that the Septuagint supports their canons (set of scriptures considered holy).

Jesus was not important historically, as he was not mentioned by any contemporary historians, Jewish, Roman, Greek, or otherwise. The general scholarly consensus is that Jesus was a Gallilean Jew born between 7 and 2 BCE. who condemned other Jews in particular of not following the laws or the spirit of the laws. Jesus is believed to have been crucified by the Romans for rebellion against their authority around CE. There is a small minority of scholars who claim Jesus never existed. Some also claim Nazareth did not exist in the 1st Century.

There were multiple versions of early Christianity with a variety of beliefs about the nature of Jesus and the relationship with Judaism and the OT. I will focus primarily on Ebionites and Marcionites. I will briefly mention Gnostics and Montanus at a later time. Ebionites were very Jewish Christians, believed in 1 god, and obeyed the OT laws. They believed Jesus was completely human and not divine. They believed Paul was the arch heretic. - Claim to be modern Ebionites.

Marcionites were Gentiles who claimed Jewish practice was harmful for a relationship with god. They believed in two gods, one Jewish and one Christian. They believed Jesus was completely divine and not human. They rejected the OT as a book inspired by the inferior god of the Jews. They believe Paul to be the one true apostle of Christ. Marcion (a real person considered a heretic by Proto-Orthodox Christianity) created the 1st Christian NT Canon around 144 CE. It contained a version of the gospel of Luke and 10 of the 13 letters of Paul, namely Romans, 1st & 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st & 2nd Thessalonians, and Philemon. It rejected the OT, Matthew, and John.

Orthodox Christianity was forged over 3 centuries, culminating in the Council of Nicea in 325 CE. The Proto-Orthodox Christians increased in power and started discussing their own canons and doctrines (partly due to influence of Marcion). The Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in 312 CE. Edict of Milan in 313 made Christianity legal. Constantine Ordered the Council of Nicea (present day Iznik, Turkey) in 325 to settle disagreements on Christian doctrine. The Nicene Creed and Constantinople Creed in 381 formalized Christian doctrine.

“Heretical” Sects During Council of Nicea

The Christian NT was forged over several centuries. Lists and canons were created by several early Christians after Marcion. Constantine ordered Eusebius to produce 50 bibles in 331. He had 340 scribes working for him to complete this task. No such bible exists today, but it is believed that this set influenced future canons. The first list of the currently accepted 27 NT books was not until 367 CE in a letter from Athanasius. Christian churches generally agree on the books of the NT.

Many books not in the NT today were considered scripture by many early Christianities. The Codex Sinaiticus is the oldest collection of the 27 books of the New testament. It also contains the extremely anti-Jewish Epistle of Barnabas and the apocryphal Shepherd of Hermas. There is no indication that these two books are of lesser stature than the other 27.

Many books not in the NT today were considered scripture by many early Christianities. This is a scene from The Acts Of John that was painted in a chapel around 1300 CE.

John and the Bed Bugs, From the Acts of John 60 Now on the first day we arrived at a deserted inn, and when we were at a loss for a bed for John, we saw a droll matter. There was one bedstead lying somewhere there without coverings, whereon we spread the cloaks which we were wearing, and we prayed him to lie down upon it and rest, while the rest of us all slept upon the floor. But he when he lay down was troubled by the bugs, and as they continued to become yet more troublesome to him, when it was now about the middle of the night, in the hearing of us all he said to them: I say unto you, O bugs, behave yourselves, one and all, and leave your abode for this night and remain quiet in one place, and keep your distance from the servants of God. And as we laughed, and went on talking for some time, John addressed himself to sleep; and we, talking low, gave him no disturbance (or, thanks to him we were not disturbed). 61 But when the day was now dawning I arose first, and with me Verus and Andronicus, and we saw at the door of the house which we had taken a great number of bugs standing, and while we wondered at the great sight of them, and all the brethren were roused up because of them, John continued sleeping. And when he was awaked we declared to him what we had seen. And he sat up on the bed and looked at them and said: Since ye have well behaved yourselves in hearkening to my rebuke, come unto your place. And when he had said this, and risen from the bed, the bugs running from the door hasted to the bed and climbed up by the legs thereof and disappeared into the joints. And John said again: This creature hearkened unto the voice of a man, and abode by itself and was quiet and trespassed not; but we which hear the voice and commandments of God disobey and are light-minded: and for how long?

Many books not in the NT today have been edited. Most changes are insignificant, but some are very significant. There are more variations in early Christian manuscripts than there are words in the NT. Example of the book of Hebrews editing in the picture.

Christians still do not agree on books of the OT, and some sects accepts additional books. Jewish leaders had there own synods which developed over centuries into today’s approved MT. Martin Luther did not like some Catholic doctrines, many of which were supported by verses in Maccabees. He got rid of Maccabees by rejecting books in the LXX that were not in the MT in his bible. He published the NT in 1522 and the OT in Luther also did not believe in the authority of NT books Hebrews, James, Jude and Revelation. The Catholic Church responded by approving the Deuterocanonical books in 1546.

The Catholic Church responded by approving the Deuterocanonical books in These books are now considered equal in authority to all previously canonized books. The vote was 24 yes, 15, no, and 16 abstaining. Only 44% of those present approved this important decision! It is now officially heretical to question the authority of these books! Protestants started putting these books in an apocryphal (doubtful) section, as the 1611 King James Version (KJV) did. Protestants have now removed these books completely, as the official 1895 KJV did. Today’s official KJV is more recent than The Origin of Species!

Christian Canons Today
Screen shots of the websites above are listed in the next few slides.

Old Testament of Major Sects

New Testament of Major Sects

The Coptic Bible

Ethiopian Bible

Topics of this Study Early Versions of Christianity
Development of Orthodox Christianity Development of Christian Canons Selecting Books for the Canons Editing the Books of the Canons Books No Longer in the Canon(s) Development of Anti-Judaism in Christianity Non-Canonical Books and Myths referenced in the NT Important Contradictions in the OT and NT

Books Used In This Study
Lost Christianities, Bart Ehrman Misquoting Jesus, Bart Ehrman Jesus Interrupted, Bart Ehrman Richard Carrier Black and White pictures from Ehrman with permission Other images from Wikipedia and other public websites Best image of tree of Christian sects from Concordia University website. Map of early Christian sects from University of California.

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