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.

Theology will agree with you that the expression "eternal life" speaks of the quality of life, and that it is experienced here and now. In other words, the expression means sharing in the life of the Eternal one. Look particularly at the present tenses in 1 John 5:10-12, and similar.

Let me give you a purely personal unjustifiable hypothesis: "Death created Sin".

By that I mean that some ancient community asked: "Why did the gods not sustain their creation and permit people to die?". They explained something had happened which displeased the gods, and the name they gave to this cause was "sin".

But that does not resolve the problem of why the execution of a Rabbi provides the reversal of death for others. Does the Bible explain, or does it simply assert? Origen's model lasted for 1000 years until Anselm came up with his model.

If God "gave his Son", then Judas, the High Priests, and the Romans were the good people, doing God's work.

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 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