Did the first Christians worship Jesus?

slimboyfat

New Testament scholar James Dunn has written a new book called Did the First Christians Worship Jesus? The New Testament Evidence. His answer to the question is a qualified no.

http://www.amazon.com/Did-First-Christians-Worship-Jesus/dp/0664231969/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1284146996&sr=1-1

It is largely a response to the recent scholarship of Larry Hurtado and Richard Bauckham, both of whom argue for a very high Christology among the first Christians. Dunn argues that Hurtado and Bauckham do not reflect the broad testimony of the New Testament documents when concluding that Jesus was worshipped alongside God in the primitive Christian community, in what Hurtado has described as a binitarian form of worship. Dunn points out that the most prominent form worship takes in the New Testament is that of worship of God the Father through Jesus. He also argues that the title of Lord as applied to Jesus did not equate him with God in the eyes of the first Christians, that Jesus was rarely the object of prayer, and that he is not said to have been the object of "cultic devotion" which was reserved for God alone. He even goes so far as to call modern forms of worship that focus on Jesus alone "Jesusolatry".

To be clear, James Dunn remains a Trinitarian Christian, but it is nevertheless striking that many of the points he raises against the worship of Jesus among the first Christians echoes similar arguments that Jehovah's Witnesses have long made.

Larry Hurtado wrote a response to James Dunn's new book in his blog.

http://larryhurtado.wordpress.com/2010/07/22/review-essay-did-the-first-christians-worship-jesus/

http://larryhurtado.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/dunn-was-jesus-worshipped-review.pdf

brotherdan

Christianity has always been an evolving and changing religion. Did the apostles understand all things about God and Jesus? No. Paul himself changed some of his beliefs though the NT. Hebrews, though, does teach that all knees should bend and worship Jesus. If it IS true that the 1st century Christians did NOT worship Jesus, then who is to say that they were right and the 2nd century Christians were wrong? I'm beginning to think that there is too much emphasis placed on what we THINK the 1st century Christians did and believed. They were imperfect too and may have had many flaws in the way they thought of some things.

PSacramento

According to what we KNOW of those days, Jesus was worshpped as the son of God, the embodiment of God, our lord and savioir, the most natural reading of "proskueno" (SP?) is worship. He was the vehicle through which the early christians worshipped and prayed to God.

There was no "worship Jesus instead", you can't have oen without the other.

People tend to think that it is an either/or thing, it wasn't, People worshiped God through Jesus and as such, Jesus was worshiped as the Son of God.

Leolaia

Interesting, I look forward to read how this debate develops. Personally, I think that it is more likely that early Christianity was heterogenous and embraced different (undeveloped) christologies and liturgical practices, perhaps with liturgy and doxologies being further advanced towards a high christology than other forms of religious expression. Unfortunately, there is just not enough evidence from the extant texts to reconstruct satisfactorily the face of early Christian belief and practice.

It would be interesting to see what Dunn has to say about texts like 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.

slimboyfat

On page 34 Dunn says about 2 Cor 12:8-9: "What is so interesting here is not only the fact that parakalein is used in the sense of an 'appeal' made in prayer, but that it is evidently being made to the Lord Jesus Christ... Whatever else we may conclude from the restricted language of prayer and request, then, it is clear enough that Paul understood the exalted Christ as one who could be appealed to for help, a request or petition that can readily be understood as prayer."

On drawing the evidence together relating to prayer in the New Testament Dunn concludes on page 37: "The most explicit prayer language is used exclusively of prayer to God. Jesus himself is remembered as regularly praying to God and giving instruction on prayer to God. With the less explicitly prayer language of 'asking, requesting and appealing to' the picture is somewhat different. Again, where it appears in prayer, the request is normally addressed to God. But in John's Gospel repeated emphasis is placed by Jesus on his disciples' future praying to God 'in his [Jesus'] name'. Paul both appeals directly to Jesus for help from heaven and reflects a commonly used appeal for the Lord Jesus to come (again) from heaven. And the earliest Christians are known as 'those who call upon or invoke the name of Jesus'. If, speaking with tightly focussed precision, 'prayer' as such was not usually made to Jesus in the worship of the first Christian congregations, at least he was regarded as one, sitting at God's right hand, who could be and was called upon, and to whom appeal could be made. Was this more like an appeal to Elijah or like appeals that were later made to saints? Or should it be seen as a typical expression of earliest Christian worship? The answer is not quite so obvious or clear cut as we would like."

brotherdan

Christianity was heterogenous and embraced different (undeveloped) christologies and liturgical practices, perhaps with liturgy and doxologies being further advanced towards a high christology

That was a mouthful Leolaia!!! (That's what she said...) Nice word usage!

slimboyfat

Personally, I think that it is more likely that early Christianity was heterogenous and embraced different (undeveloped) christologies and liturgical practices...

More likely than what? I don't think Dunn or Hurtado would argue that early Christian practice was uniform. That does not preclude sensible answers to the question of whether the first Christians worshipped Jesus that attempt to reflect all the evidence and the complex reality it represents.

slimboyfat

I just noticed JW apologist Solomon Landers has written a positive review of Dunn's book on that Amazon page. And the third review is apparently by another JW going by his use of the phrase "hardcore Trinitarians".

debator

Nope.

Jesus himself clearly indicated by word and deed that worship belonged to his father Jehovah whom he recognised and openly said was the one true God and that his followers would do the same.

John 4:23
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

John 4:21
Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

John 8:54
Jesus replied, "If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me.

Acts 24:14
However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets,

Very scripturally clear cut!

brotherdan

Hebrews 1:6 - And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him."

Very scripturally clear cut!

Did the first Christians worship Jesus?

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