THE MYTH OF CHRISTIAN BEGINNINGS: History's Impact On Belief

by Robert L. Wilken ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 8, 1970

This study undertakes a critical examination of the Christian attitude toward change, as reflected in the manner in which the church has used the past in its construction of doctrine and ecclesiastical order. Aware of the new consciousness of history which is abroad today, with its corollary that all history is remembered selectively by one generation or another, the author applies this point of view to the history of the church and its formulation of its faith. Among the determinative idem that emerged early were those that the myth is more truthful than the actual event, and that ""truth is older than error."" This latter premise, which received elaboration in Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, has persevered throughout the Christian era. The Reformation reopened issues as to what the pristine truth was but did not challenge the assumption that that truth was normative. Newman sought to adapt this static conception of doctrine by his theory of ""The development of doctrine,"" which amounted to saying that the essential ancient truth reappears at various times under different forms historically conditioned, but it does not itself change. The problem for the church today, however, is that this assumption of the authentic truth of the past can no longer be taken for granted. How, then, does the Christian continue to hold the past in his memory while at the same time he makes the necessary changes required by the present? This is a scholarly book, but written in a style accessible to serious lay readers.

Pub Date: Jan. 8, 1970

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1970

Categories: NONFICTION