2 of 2

Some people claim that this difference is part of the "Hellenization" of the gospel as it moved from Hebrew to Greek culture. But Skarsaune makes a telling point: Evidence shows that "most Hellenists actually reacted with disgust and contempt at the very idea of a divine incarnation, and with charges of blasphemy when they heard that the incarnate Son of God had suffered the uttermost shame of crucifixion."

So if this teaching really wasn't crafted to appeal to Greek culture, where did it come from?

Skarsaune traces the New Testament passages about the pre-existence of the Son of God (1 Cor. 8:6; Col 1:15-17; Heb. 1:2-3; Rev. 3:14; John 1:1-4). All of these passages cast the Son in the role of the mediator of God's creative activity.

When Jewish texts talk about some being that participates in God's creation, they talk about "Wisdom." In both the biblical book of Proverbs and the apocryphal book of Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom is personified and is said to participate in God's creative activity.

The apocryphal book of Sirach takes it a step farther by talking about Wisdom seeking a place to dwell on earth (become incarnate?) but finding none until "the Creator of all things … chose the place for my tent." This is the same tent metaphor John uses in saying that the Word became flesh and (literally translated) "tented among us." Of course, this does not refer to just any tent, but to the wilderness tabernacle, the tent that was the dwelling place of God's glory.

Not only are there parallels between the New Testament language about Christ's pre-existence and earlier Jewish texts about Wisdom, there are additional parallels with Jewish writings about God's law, the Torah. Jesus scandalized people by speaking God's law in his own name. People thought he was blasphemous because he forgave sins. He offered weary people his "yoke"—the very word the rabbis used about the Torah. He said that where two or three gathered in his name, he would be with them—just as the rabbis said that where two or three sat with the Torah, God's Shekhina presence would be with them. Jesus is not a spokesman for Wisdom, says Skarsaune. He is Wisdom in person. He is not a spokesman for the Torah. He is Torah in person. And he is God's Shekhina presence in person. This kind of Christology could only arise in a Jewish context, not a Hellenistic one.

Now consider the lines about the nature of the Son that the Nicene bishops inserted into the formulations. They all emphasize that the Son is of the same "stuff" as the Father. When an artist creates a work of art, it is something different from the artist. But when an artist begets a child, the child is of the same stuff as the artist. The older Jewish texts about Wisdom talked about her being related to God as radiance is to the source of light. In the 200s, Tertullian picked up on this analogy as he wrote about the relationship between the Father and the Son, and in the 300s, the Nicene bishops condensed it into that little phrase, "Light from Light."  All of these Nicene images parallel Jewish sources about Wisdom and Torah, the same sources echoed by the New Testament writers and the post-apostolic writers.

The critics who once charged that the creed's theology was distorted by Greek philosophy now need to recognize that it is actually very biblical—and Jewish.

Read David Neff's 2003 review of In the Shadow of the Temple.
Read a 2003 interview with Oscar Skarsaune.

Read more about the Nicene Creed and why it is important to the church today.

Copyright © 2005 Christianity Today.Click for reprint information.

first page |  2 of 2

share this page

FREE E-Newsletter Sign up for the ChristianHistory.net e-mail newsletter. Discover more about your Christian heritage with this weekly e-newsletter that features key people, topics, and events from the history of Christianity.      RSS Feed   RSS Help