Posts by Doug Mason

27

A chapter on The Trinity

by Doug Mason in

as i work my way through the history of judaeo-christian salvation, i have drafted a chapter on the trinity and early christology.

as before, i am seeking corrections, advice, and suggestions.. the chapter is available at: http://www.jwstudies.com/formative_christianity_s_christological_combats.pdf.

while preparing this chapter, i realised that i am not looking at the "evolution" of soteriology.

Doug Mason

Hi Snowbird,

I think you will find that other Roman emperors were responsible for persecuting Christians.

Constantine had a dream (vision) which included a Christian symbol. He said that if he won the battle against his enemy the following day, he would become a Christian. In reality, he was not baptised until he was on his death bed - and the ceremony was performed by an Arian Christian (not by a Trinitarian).

It is absolutely my pure guess and assumption that Constantine's support for Christianity was deeply influenced by his mother Helena (Helen). Read the article at Wiki about her:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena_(empress)

As emperor, Constantine's main interest lay in maintaining peace throughout the Empire, so the dissensions within the eastern part of Christianity deeply troubled him, especially as he could not understand why the eastern churches were embroiled in the minor matter of the nature of God and of Jesus Christ.

When he convened the Council of Nicaea, hardly any of its delegates came from the western church, and the Bishop of Rome played no part in it or in its outcomes.

Doug

27

A chapter on The Trinity

by Doug Mason in

as i work my way through the history of judaeo-christian salvation, i have drafted a chapter on the trinity and early christology.

as before, i am seeking corrections, advice, and suggestions.. the chapter is available at: http://www.jwstudies.com/formative_christianity_s_christological_combats.pdf.

while preparing this chapter, i realised that i am not looking at the "evolution" of soteriology.

Doug Mason

Hi,

As I work my way through the history of Judaeo-Christian salvation, I have drafted a chapter on The Trinity and early Christology. As before, I am seeking corrections, advice, and suggestions.

The chapter is available at: http://www.jwstudies.com/Formative_Christianity_s_Christological_Combats.pdf

While preparing this chapter, I realised that I am not looking at the "evolution" of soteriology. Rather, I am uncovering "revolutions" and upheavals. So I have amended the Study's title and the names of each major section to reflect this.

I have updated the Draft of the overall material to include this latest chapter. This is available at: http://www.jwstudies.com/Take_a_look_over_my_shoulder.pdf

Many thanks for your interest and help,

Doug

18

Colossians and The Gospel of Thomas - a work in progress

by Doug Mason in

as i prepare the pre-draft stage of my study into the evolutions of salvation, i have drafted a chapter on colossians and on the gospel of thomas.

http://www.jwstudies.com/colossians_soteriologies.pdf.

http://www.jwstudies.com/the_soteriology_of_thomas.pdf.

Doug Mason

HTBWC,

All of the Gospels owe their origin to oral transmission. Mark, the earliest, was written 40 years after the "Jesus-event". Jesus wrote nothing. None of his hearers wrote anything. It was an oral society.

Each Gospel is the stories by a particular community. Each Gospel often tells us much more about the community than it does about Jesus. This understanding accommodates the differences between each of the Gospels, whether canonised or not. The Gospels are neither biographical nor are they literal narratives.

Dooug

18

Colossians and The Gospel of Thomas - a work in progress

by Doug Mason in

as i prepare the pre-draft stage of my study into the evolutions of salvation, i have drafted a chapter on colossians and on the gospel of thomas.

http://www.jwstudies.com/colossians_soteriologies.pdf.

http://www.jwstudies.com/the_soteriology_of_thomas.pdf.

Doug Mason

fulltimestudent,

Thanks for your thoughts. I have no knowledge or information about the Thomas Christians of India at the moment. I will save your post for my records.

Perhaps I could mention the the Indian Thomases when I get to my final Chapter. I will make a note to myself to follow up on it at that time.

I currently have the thought that when I do get to the final Chapter (dealing with contemporary soteriologies) that it is possible I might find some interesting ties into the modern-day Orthodox Church. I understand that its ideas on the execution (crucifixion) of Jesus are at odds with those of the Western (RC and Protestant) Church.

Doug

18

Colossians and The Gospel of Thomas - a work in progress

by Doug Mason in

as i prepare the pre-draft stage of my study into the evolutions of salvation, i have drafted a chapter on colossians and on the gospel of thomas.

http://www.jwstudies.com/colossians_soteriologies.pdf.

http://www.jwstudies.com/the_soteriology_of_thomas.pdf.

Doug Mason

Hi HTBWC,

In my presentation, I tried very hard to focus on the contents rather than being concerned with the discussions about whether it is a 1st century or 2nd century document. For my purposes, I simply want to show the soteriologies that have been in play over time are quite varied.

I am not passing judgment on the veracity of any form of soteriology. I simply record them. Each soteriology was genuinely held by a group of faith.

As I noted, I see many similarities in soteriology between Colossians and Thomas. I suspect that Ephesians owes much to Colossians. The sequence in the NT is determined by length, not by chronology.

Doug

18

Colossians and The Gospel of Thomas - a work in progress

by Doug Mason in

as i prepare the pre-draft stage of my study into the evolutions of salvation, i have drafted a chapter on colossians and on the gospel of thomas.

http://www.jwstudies.com/colossians_soteriologies.pdf.

http://www.jwstudies.com/the_soteriology_of_thomas.pdf.

Doug Mason

Thank you so much, Sylvia. You are a great help.

Your eyes and mind are exactly what I was hoping for.

My delay in responding is due only to our time differences. Greetings from Melbourne in the land of Oz.

Regards,

Doug

18

Colossians and The Gospel of Thomas - a work in progress

by Doug Mason in

as i prepare the pre-draft stage of my study into the evolutions of salvation, i have drafted a chapter on colossians and on the gospel of thomas.

http://www.jwstudies.com/colossians_soteriologies.pdf.

http://www.jwstudies.com/the_soteriology_of_thomas.pdf.

Doug Mason

waton,

I used to have doctrinal views. Today I am an interested observer.

I sincerely hope that when people see the wide range of ideas concerning "salvation" throughout the centuries and millennia, along with its troubled history, that they will see the idea for what it is.

On a purely selfish and personal level, I am 76 years old and I thus need the mental stimulus. I see this present Study taking some time yet before I can put it to bed. As you would see, it's already about 160 pages and I think I am halfway gathering the material (before editing). That is one reason I release each Chapter as I go, indicating that they will be subjected to later editing. I think people would find being confronted cold with a 300-page document daunting.

Doug

18

Colossians and The Gospel of Thomas - a work in progress

by Doug Mason in

as i prepare the pre-draft stage of my study into the evolutions of salvation, i have drafted a chapter on colossians and on the gospel of thomas.

http://www.jwstudies.com/colossians_soteriologies.pdf.

http://www.jwstudies.com/the_soteriology_of_thomas.pdf.

Doug Mason

For me, the overarching questions are:

"What is the power that mysticism and mythology hold over otherwise rational people?"

"Why should anyone believe these mystical musings, especially from thousands of years ago and from very different cultures?"

I do not know the answers.

18

Colossians and The Gospel of Thomas - a work in progress

by Doug Mason in

as i prepare the pre-draft stage of my study into the evolutions of salvation, i have drafted a chapter on colossians and on the gospel of thomas.

http://www.jwstudies.com/colossians_soteriologies.pdf.

http://www.jwstudies.com/the_soteriology_of_thomas.pdf.

Doug Mason

waton,

The NRSV reads:

"He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

Yes, all in the present tense. I was particulalrly struck at the similarity of the idea expressed in such passages in Colossians with the sentiments expressed by the writers of the Gospel of Thomas.

My investigation into Thomas has opened my eyes to the very different attitude that the Orthodox Church has to the death of Christ and to salvation. Their ideas, I believe, align with those of Thomas. More research and understanding required on my part. I wonder what the Orthodox Church's attitude is to Gnosticism?

Is the WTS a gnostic body?

Doug

18

Colossians and The Gospel of Thomas - a work in progress

by Doug Mason in

as i prepare the pre-draft stage of my study into the evolutions of salvation, i have drafted a chapter on colossians and on the gospel of thomas.

http://www.jwstudies.com/colossians_soteriologies.pdf.

http://www.jwstudies.com/the_soteriology_of_thomas.pdf.

Doug Mason

Thank you, Sylvia.

Colossians 4:16? In the NRSV it reads:

"And when this letter has been read among you, have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you read also the letter from Laodicea."

We should not imagine a "church" in terms of today's understanding. There would be a handful of people, possibly meeting in a shop or someone's house. As the sentence indicates, few could read and even fewer could write. Thus the writer of this letter (epistle) expected it to be read out to them and then to the group at Laodicea. I cannot confirm what the letter to the Laodiceans said.

So I see these as circulars, designed to keep the groups advised (and managed).

Paul, Jesus, and the Baptist were convinced that the "end" was imminent, taking place in their own day. We can hear the questions in the minds of the Thessalonians as they grappled with the fact that it had not yet taken place, and some of them had even died before the cataclysmic divine intervention had taken place. With his determination that the end was upon them, Paul was never concerned about church organisation or structure -- or being married. But by the end of the first century, wild enthusiasm gave way to sombre reflection that time had passed without anything happening.

So we read instructions regarding church structures, organisation, and the need to be married creeping in. This is just one of the reasons that scholars do not believe Paul had any hand in the Pastorals (Timothy, Titus). There are, of course, other indicators.

May I throw another one at you, if you do not mind? The book of Acts is widely accepted as being the product of the early second century and that it is a carefully crafted religious novel. And do not think that the Gospels present an actual biography. The earliest (Mark) was written 40 years after Jesus was executed. Matthew was written by another group about 15 years later - long after Jeruslem had been attacked by the Romans. These people had no written record of what Jesus said or did. Jesus did not write anything nor did any of his immediate hearers. They lived in an oral society, relying on memory.

Doug