Resurrection | early and medieval christian heresy

Justin Becherer
6/10/15
Fight for Salvation and Resurrection

The solidification of ideas of salvation didn’t happen to be conceived in a vacuum for Christianity; it evolved with Christianity from the origins of the religion after Jesus’ death up to the present. That being said early ideas of salvation for Christians varied considerably in regards of which group was thinking at the time. These early years, from around 30 CE to 325 CE, of Christianity were a troubling time for the group that would ultimately triumph as Orthodox. Christian groups all vied for the top spot of being the correct faith and fought each other by naming anyone that opposed them as heretics. Ultimately the Proto-Orthodox group gets the official stamp from the Roman empire as the correct Christian faith through the Nicene council and their views on salvation become the official or correct path on reaching salvation. That left out a rich history of other Christian groups, who are labeled as heretical, views on salvation and what it meant to these groups on reaching or understanding salvation. This paper is going to explore the ideas of salvation and obtaining salvation from early Christian groups known today as Proto-Orthodox, Jewish-Christians, Gnostic, Valentinian, Marcionites, and Thomas groups.
The Proto-Orthodox group, also known as the group who would ultimately triumph over all the other early Christian groups, within its early years fell back upon apostolic succession as a foundation for their claims on authority. Through their claims of apostolic succession they were able to promote their ideas on what salvation meant for them and how salvation was obtained. As Katie Kleinkopf notes the Proto-Orthodox group valued the idea that Jesus had a human body and flesh, which because of this salvation came to include the human body as well as the soul (1). In fact, as Kleinkopf continues to point out, the literature the Proto-Orthodox used or which traditions they wished to uphold such as the virgin birth of Jesus or Jesus feeding thousands of people show the value the Proto-Orthodox had of the body (1). The body becomes equally a part of salvation that the Proto-Orthodox are proposing that along with the soul are saved through salvation. As shown in Paul’s letters the Proto-Orthodox maintained an utmost respect for their bodies by treating them as temples, advocating for abstinence or marriage, and all together trying to remain pure (1). There is a reasoning for these salvation ideas from the Proto-Orthodox group beyond just their interpretations of Jesus’ identity and fleshly body, it goes in hand with the ideas of resurrection. As Caroline Walker Bynum notes the ideas of resurrection in the early years for the Proto-Orthodox involved having an incorruptible body that wouldn’t decay from a resurrection (2). For the Proto-Orthodox group a resurrection wasn’t attainable without salvation because unless a person went through salvation then they weren’t on the right path towards the resurrection that early leaders thought were to happen.
Its arguable that the self-claimed Apostle Paul is one of the champion proponents of Proto-Orthodoxy since he is the earliest writer for Christianity. According to Alan Segal, Paul appears to advocate the followers of Jesus to try to be Christ like and thus salvation and ultimately resurrection can occur (3). For Paul trying to copy Christ’s example meant that one had to be transformed in a sense to be like Christ, and its because of this that a person’s body and soul can become pure (3). Of course Paul is writing in a time of when the apocalypse was thought to happen soon because of the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. Many Jewish communities and early Christian communities believed the end of times was coming and thus many questions pertaining to the apocalypse came about during Paul’s active years. For Paul, as one who never received Greek philosophical education, he believed that during the resurrection the body also would be raised as with the soul since God did the same for Jesus (3). In the views of the Gospel’s authors though a transformation of the body happens with the resurrection as with Jesus’ own resurrection (4). Jesus didn’t simply get resurrected in the body that He died in, His body itself was transformed to grant Him rulership over death (4). Though the Gospels were only in oral tradition during Paul’s ministry and writings Paul does pick up on these ideas of the nature of Jesus’ resurrection. Since Jesus’ body was transformed post-resurrection Paul argues that baptism is necessary for salvation because it transforms a person to be more Christ-like (4). Once salvation is achieved then a person, according to Paul, has a chance of resurrection like Jesus which is one that conquers death (4).
One group that was very similar to the Proto-Orthodox group is the Jewish-Christian group. While both groups shared Jewish ideas, they were very distinct from each other where the Proto-Orthodox group can be composed of followers from the Gentiles to Jewish people who strictly identified as Proto-Orthodox. The Jewish-Christian group was a group loosely defined as a group of Christians who borrowed Jewish thoughts on issues and could not give up their Jewish identity but still followed Christ’s teachings. This Jewish-Christian group would uphold all the Jewish Laws and traditions, including some groups that believed imitating Jesus’ Jewish life they can obtain salvation (5). However Joan E. Taylor would argue against the term Jewish-Christian because as an umbrella term it unfairly categorizes a group of Christians that leaned more towards Jewish customs. While certain groups like the Ebionites followed Jewish laws and customs to obtain salvation through imitation of Jesus, they don’t represent the views of all Jewish-Christian groups (5). As Oscar Cullmann notes though, death is something that opposes God and with conquering of sin then so too death is conquered (6). This helps explain why there were early Jewish converts to following Jesus’ message and how it expanded rapidly. In fact there may not be a distinction of what salvation meant for the early Jewish-Christians and the Proto-Orthodox, at least in light of the information Cullmann gives. Salvation appears to be equally important for the Jewish-Christians to be the necessary first step in obtaining resurrection as for the Proto-Orthodox. It is as Cullmann points out that it’s the Jewish community that helps influence the Proto-Orthodox line of thinking and even the methods of salvation and resurrection.
Now turning the attention to a starkly different group, the Gnostics proved to be a very troublesome group for the Proto-Orthodox. Vastly different in their ideas regarding Christianity, who Jesus was, what natures Jesus possessed, and so on so forth the Gnostics represented a view of knowledge. Just as Jewish-Christian groups and Proto-Orthodox groups seemed similar in many respects but were inherently different, so too Gnostic groups were different from each other depending on the sect. Even as Roelof van den Broek notes some Gnostics fancied themselves philosophers even when they weren’t but despite this all the Gnostics shared a common theme of searching for knowledge (7). This idea of knowledge being the common theme among Gnostic groups comes from their understandings of the origins of humanity. Many Gnostic groups share the idea of humanity having a divine spark in them, trapped inside a shell of matter (8). As thus many Proto-Orthodox lumped these Gnostic groups into a single category claiming that these heretical groups believe salvation is achieved through knowledge (8). According to Peel’s work on Gnosticism the Gnostics believe that resurrection is attainable through this process of knowledge and knowing where one came from (8).
But the question remains of what knowledge must a Gnostic obtain to reach salvation, whether its external knowledge taught or internal knowledge. J. Zandee explores the Gnostic texts in search for this answer and comes to a conclusion that many Gnostic groups thought the knowledge was internal, known as the pneumatic seed (9). Since the pneumatic seed is within each human being the Gnostics essentially believe anyone can be saved if given the right guidance on how to find this knowledge. However having the right guidance isn’t just enough, the pneumatic seed needs to be sparked by Christ and then after that salvation can be achieved (9). Certain gnostic groups go further than this and claim the ones who are touched by Christ are the elect, a predestined group of people chosen by God who are able to obtain salvation and redemption (9). One specific group of Gnostics, following the leader Justin the Gnostic, held these same beliefs of an achievable salvation through knowledge (10). The difference of Justin’s Gnostic group to other Gnostic groups is that Jesus was a normal human boy who received the knowledge from an angel and went around proclaiming that knowledge (10). Just like in the other Gnostic groups Jesus is important to salvation with Justin’s Gnostic group, but different too because Jesus importance extends to his ability to remain pure from corruption to spread the knowledge of salvation whereas the other groups maintain Jesus must spark the pneumatical seed.
One last important Gnostic group stems from the leader of the group Valentinus, who created the heretical group Valentinians. Valentinus himself was taught by Proto-Orthodox Christians before branching off and creating his own unique sect of Christianity. The Valentinians shared many beliefs with the Gnostics including resurrection being attainable through knowledge (11). Additionally the Valentinians believed the baptism is essential part of the resurrection as well, for it helps with the awakening process of the person going back to the Pleroma (11). As Robert Casey explains in his review of the Valentinian myths the knowledge of where the soul comes from aides in the salvation for the soul (12). It’s evident that the authors of Valentinian works drew upon philosophical ideas, Christian sources, and Greek myths to create their own creation myth that helped demonstrate or solidify their ideas about resurrection and salvation (12). The usage of different ideas to solidify their own idea is their attempts at unity. Unity to the Valentinians was very important, the unity of the Church and the unity of soul to the Pleroma (13). This unity thus becomes another important part of the salvation for Valentinians and their ideas on the resurrection.
Shifting gears over to another Roman heresy from the Valentinians is the Marcionite group that also caused major pains for the orthodoxy in the Roman Christian world. Marcion’s ideas were too heretical to the Proto-Orthodox group because Marcion decided to do away with the Jewish God in his canon and only include Paul’s letters and Gospels that weren’t overly Jewish in writing (13). Marcion’s choices to mutilate Paul’s letters or the Gospel of Luke from any Jewish influence demonstrates his ideas of salvation. Evidently Marcion didn’t like the body and didn’t think that would be saved in part of the salvation because his dislike for Judaism (14). Marcionites believed that the Old Testament God was a weaker, evil God that created the vessels to hold the soul inside and that the God Jesus spoke of was a God that was indescribable, unknowable. The souls came from the God Jesus spoke of, so the Marcionites believed that the salvation was for the soul only (14). It is also evident from Marcion’s theology, Christology, and ideas of salvation that he was influenced by Gnostic ideas.
The last heretical group to look at is a group that used literature works supposedly written by the Apostle Thomas. There are several works attributed to Thomas but one important one is The Gospel of Thomas that has had scholars pouring over its contents to figure out the meaning of the text. This Gospel is composed of sayings from a version of Jesus that speaks mostly in parables with hidden meanings behind his sayings. It’s part of the reason why many scholars were quick to lump the Thomasine group in with the Gnostics because one required a certain knowledge to understand the sayings of Jesus found in the Gospel of Thomas. However recent scholarship isn’t as quick to lump the Thomasine group in with the Gnostic group because of the diversity found within the Gnostic group itself and the distinctions of beliefs found in the Thomasine tradition that separate it from the Gnostics. One difference found in the Thomasine tradition is that this group believed in a light that was trapped within each person that was trying to ascend to the heavenly realm (15). Though this sounds eerily similar to the Gnostic ideas it is fundamentally different from some of the Gnostics in the fact that there isn’t a particular group of people that are saved or have the ability to be saved. Within the Thomasine group the belief is that everyone has this light from the heavenly realm that is trying to return to the heavenly realm (15). As such the Thomasine ideas of salvation is this discovery of light within oneself and tapping into that light to discover the Kingdom of God is within oneself as well as external, the light being internal and external, and also being able to stand at the beginning (15). Salvation becomes possible for all but in reaching this salvation a person must be given proper guidance with knowledge passed down from teacher to student (15). It is the fact that the Thomasine group requires a secret knowledge to be passed down to a student for salvation to occur that many scholars lumped this sect in with the Gnostics. Interesting to note though is the similarities the Gospel of Thomas with the canonical Gospels, more than likely due to the author drawing upon oral traditions circulating around in the area at the time of the creation of the Gospel (16). By taking Jesus away from his Jewish background the author was able to transform the message Jesus was trying to portray and create a mysterious veil around Jesus to give this sect of Christianity an alluring factor to it (16). According to Grant part of the reason why scholars were quick to lump the Gospel of Thomas as a Gnostic text is because the text itself was likely to have been written in an environment that Gnosticism was influential in (16). As a result the Thomasine ideas of salvation become a secretive act that is only attainable through the knowledge given by this group.

Sources
1) Kleinkopf, Katie. “Resurrecting the Body: The Valuation of the Body in Proto-Orthodox Christianity, 30-300 AD.” (2011).
2) Bynum, Caroline Walker. The Resurrection of the Body in Western Christianity, 200-1336. New York: Columbia UP, 1995. Print. Lectures on the History of Religions ; New Ser., No. 15.
3) Segal, Alan F. Life after Death : A History of the Afterlife in the Religions of the West. 1st ed. New York: Doubleday, 2004. Print. Anchor Bible Reference Library.
4) Madigan, Kevin, and Levenson, Jon Douglas. Resurrection : The Power of God for Christians and Jews. New Haven: Yale UP, 2008. Print.
5) Taylor, Joan E. “The Phenomenon of Early Jewish-Christianity: Reality or Scholarly Invention?.” Vigiliae christianae (1990): 313-334.
6) Cullmann, Oscar. Immortality of the Soul; Or, Resurrection of the Dead?. Epworth P., 1958.
7) Broek, R. Van Den., and Hanegraaff, Wouter J. Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern times. Albany: State U of New York, 1998. Print. SUNY Ser. in Western Esoteric Traditions.
8) Peel, Malcolm. “Gnostic Eschatology and the New Testament.” Novum Testamentum, 12 (1970): 141-165.
9) Zandee, J. “Gnostic Ideas on the Fall and Salvation.” Numen, 11 (1964): 13-74.
10) Broek, Roelof van den. “Gospel Tradition and Salvation in Justin the Gnostic.” Vigiliae Christianae, 57.4 (2003): 363-388.
11) Bloom, Harold. Omens of Millennium : The Gnosis of Angels, Dreams, and Resurrection. New York: Riverhead, 1996. Print.
12) Casey, Robert. “Two Notes on Valentinian Theology.” The Harvard Theological Review, 23.4 (1930): 275-298.
13) Thomassen, Einar. “Valentinian Ideas About Salvation as Transformation.” Metamorphoses, (2009): 169-186.
14) Head, Peter. “The Foreign God and the Sudden Christ: Theology and Christology in Marcion’s Gospel Redaction.” Tyndale Bulletin 44.2 (1993): 307-321.
15) Davies, Stevan. “The Christology and Protology of the” Gospel of Thomas”.” Journal of Biblical Literature (1992): 663-682.
16) Grant, Robert. “Two Gnostic Gospels.” Journal of Biblical Literature, 79.1 (1960): 1-11.

1) Kleinkopf, Katie. “Resurrecting the Body: The Valuation of the Body in Proto-Orthodox Christianity, 30-300 AD.” (2011).
The author argues that proto-orthodox groups within the first 300 hundred years of valued both the souls and the body of the individual. Using examples of the proto-orthodox Christian groups feeding and healing many of the sick and poor the author is able to make her case in this paper. Additionally she claims that the proto-orthodox groups celebrated Jesus’ birth as well as their own. In her claims the argument she uses is that the proto-orthodox beliefs were a direct retaliation to the beliefs of the Jewish groups and the Gnostic groups within the area. Her strengths of this article is that she is able to utilize primary texts to show the heretical groups ideas and also the proto-orthodox groups ideas. Additionally the author is able to show how the body is important to the proto-orthodox groups in salvation. This is great source for the salvation ideas circulating the early years for the proto-orthodox groups.
2) Grant, Robert. “Two Gnostic Gospels.” Journal of Biblical Literature, 79.1 (1960): 1-11.
The author gives an excellent history of the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Philip found in the Nag-Hammadi library and how there has been recently a new found interest in the gospels in understanding early Christianity. According to the author the disorder of the Gospel of Thomas can be seen as purposeful made by the author of the text. In fact Grant argues that the Gospel of Thomas came around due to the oral traditions circulating in the area of the time, which is why the gospel sort of resembles the synoptic gospels with the teachings of Jesus. Grant is able to show how the idea of salvation for the Gnostics is distorted from the proto-orthodox ideas because the author selectively chooses sayings from the later canonical gospels circulating at the time, while also adding their own, to create a separate group from the proto-orthodox groups. The strengths of this article is that the author is able to admit that he is simply trying to bring an understanding to the field but doesn’t have the complete answers to his own questions. This is a great source for salvation ideas from the Gnostic groups of the early years of Christianity.
3) Peel, Malcolm. “Gnostic Eschatology and the New Testament.” Novum Testamentum, 12 (1970): 141-165.
Peel gives a great introduction to the ideas of Gnosticism and the definitions that scholars use to define Gnosticism. Through this introduction he is able to show how many scholars believe that Gnostics held the belief of salvation is attainable in this life and its through the knowledge that they pass down to their followers. However Peel himself is trying to challenge the traditional view from scholars on what Gnostic salvation actually means and tries to give a new definition of the salvation by comparing their views to the views held in the New Testament. The strengths of this article is that the author compares known Gnostic texts to the texts found within the New Testament. However the weaknesses of this article is that the author lumps many of the Gnostic texts known into one broad category of Gnostic and doesn’t attempt to distinguish between the different sects of Gnostic groups.
4) Thomassen, Einar. “Valentinian Ideas About Salvation as Transformation.” Metamorphoses, (2009): 169-186.
The author points out in his argument that Valentinus and his followers may not have been a group that was labeled as a heretic by the main body of the church when Valentinus was alive. Justin the Martyr, a well known figure in Christian studies and is also used as a source for other writers against heretics, may have actually been a Christian who didn’t have much authority or influence within the proto-orthodox Christian group. In the Valentinian group the way to salvation is through unity of the church and the people, and thus salvation is achieved for all if there is unity. This article is great in understanding the history of the Valentinian movement and touches a bit on their beliefs. However the downside to this article is that it doesn’t go into too much detail of salvation ideas for the Valentinians.
5) Broek, Roelof van den. “Gospel Tradition and Salvation in Justin the Gnostic.” Vigiliae Christianae, 57.4 (2003): 363-388.
The author begins the article with a great historical overview on how scholars know of Justin the Gnostic from the sources of Hippolytus. Using such a tricky source of Hippolytus the author attempts to construct the beliefs of Justin the Gnostic and his followers and how they believe to obtain salvation. By showing the evidence of how Justin may have known two of the gospel stories, some of the old testament, and also Greek myths that he incorporated into his theology. The great parts of the article is that the author is able to clearly state the beliefs of Justin from the sources he has, however this is also the negative part of the article since his source is an author who is attacking Justin’s Gnostic group. This is good source for the salvation ideas of the Gnostic groups during the first 300 hundred years of the formation of Christianity.
6) Head, Peter. “The Foreign God and the Sudden Christ: Theology and Christology in Marcion’s Gospel Redaction.” Tyndale Bulletin 44.2 (1993): 307-321.
Head goes explores the ideas presented by Marcion and his followers during the early second century. Bringing up the fact that Marcion disliked the Old Testament and the ideas of the Jewish group bringing into the early Christian groups, Head shows that Marcion’s ideas on salvation is vastly different from the proto-orthodox group. Macion denies the salvation of the body for humans but the soul of the humans can be saved. This article is a great representation of the views from the Marcionite group and their beliefs on salvation.
7) Zandee, J. “Gnostic Ideas on the Fall and Salvation.” Numen, 11 (1964): 13-74.
The author uses many sources, compiling them all together, to give a general overview of Gnostic ideas and their views on salvation. From this overgeneralization of Gnostic ideas comes the authors claims that they believed salvation was attainable for all. The pneumatic seed, aka man, was given the tools necessary for salvation given to Adam from Sophia and passed down through the generations. Jesus helps with this salvation process by exciting this light within the individual. This source is great for a general overview on Gnostic ideas and their views for salvation. However the author combines many texts to give this general overview and in doing so oversimplifies each of these individual groups into one category of Gnostics.
8) Davies, Stevan. “The Christology and Protology of the” Gospel of Thomas”.” Journal of Biblical Literature (1992): 663-682.
Davies makes interesting claims about the Gospel of Thomas and how salvation works for the group that used the Gospel of Thomas in their beliefs. One of these claims is that Jesus himself is not needed for salvation. The author explains how salvation is obtained when realizing Jesus is part of the primordial light and what they seek is within themselves. This light is essential to the salvation for the group that uses the Gospel of Thomas. The author gives great clear and concise information on the salvation given in the Gospel of Thomas.
9) Taylor, Joan E. “The Phenomenon of Early Jewish-Christianity: Reality or Scholarly Invention?.” Vigiliae christianae (1990): 313-334.
Taylor goes into detail on the criteria of what a Jewish-Christian group falls into and what texts belong to the jewish-Christian groups. She then attacks these notions of what a Jewish-Christian group should be because it doesn’t fully explain a group that kept its Jewish traditions while also being Christian. But she does argue that its through the identity of the Jewish heritage that the Apostles and Jesus shared and the ideas from the Jewish groups helped influence Christianity in it’s ideas of salvation. This text has many great points that the author brings to light for the reader but it doesn’t focus too much on the ideas of salvation of the Jewish-Christian groups.
10) Cullmann, Oscar. Immortality of the Soul; Or, Resurrection of the Dead?. Epworth P., 1958.
Cullman gives a great overview on the ideas of death by the early Jewish groups near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Its easy to see how these ideas influenced the early leaders of the proto-orthodox group on how Jesus’ crucifixion led to the conquering of death. Cullman also gives a great overview on the ideas circulating for the proto-orthodox group and their beliefs on the resurrection of the body. This article is great for ideas circulating the proto-orthodox groups in the early years of Christianity formation. However the negative side to this article is that the author focuses on Greek ideas on death and early Christian ideas on death.

11) Casey, Robert. “Two Notes on Valentinian Theology.” The Harvard Theological Review, 23.4 (1930): 275-298.
Casey begins his article on the origins of gnostic myths and what may have influenced their creation and ideas proposed in the myths. In the case for the Valentinian myths, Valentinus used early Jewish scripture and the John gospel to create his myth on the origins of the world. Additionally Valentinus utilizes the Greek myths in the area to help flare up his myth to give it a bit more credibility to a more philosophical thinking group. Through this myth is the ideas of salvation in Valentinus mind, brought to humanity through Jesus. This article has an excellent history and in-depth analysis of Valentinus’ ideas and what may have been an influence to Valentinus on his myth creation.
12) Bynum, Caroline Walker. The Resurrection of the Body in Western Christianity, 200-1336. New York: Columbia UP, 1995. Print. Lectures on the History of Religions ; New Ser., No. 15.
Bynum gives a great review and exploration of Proto-Orthodox thinking on resurrection and salvation. Going into great detail on how the Proto-Orthodox thought on what the resurrection looked like and how it was attainable makes this source a great source for Proto-Orthodox thinking. The downside to this work is that she only briefly goes into these ideas.
13) Segal, Alan F. Life after Death : A History of the Afterlife in the Religions of the West. 1st ed. New York: Doubleday, 2004. Print. Anchor Bible Reference Library.

Segal gives great insight into one of the most abused Proto-Orthodox writer, but also most influential, Paul. Going into Paul’s writings or letters he is able to give a great representation of Paul’s ideas on resurrection and salvation. Segal is also able to go into detail on how Paul thought these acts were attainable. This is a good source for Paul’s ideas.

14) Madigan, Kevin, and Levenson, Jon Douglas. Resurrection : The Power of God for Christians and Jews. New Haven: Yale UP, 2008. Print.

15) Broek, R. Van Den., and Hanegraaff, Wouter J. Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern times. Albany: State U of New York, 1998. Print. SUNY Ser. in Western Esoteric Traditions.

16) Bloom, Harold. Omens of Millennium : The Gnosis of Angels, Dreams, and Resurrection. New York: Riverhead, 1996. Print.