Christology in Early Christianity: Collected Essays (Brian E. Daley, SJ) - A Review
As the Christian Community observes
the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea (some more enthusiastically
than others), it is helpful to engage with scholars who have a good handle on
that period. That is especially true when it comes to Christology. While the
Council of Nicaea did not resolve the question of Christ's dual nature as being
fully human and fully divine, it did attempt to address the question of how
Christ fit into a trinitarian vision of God. Numerous studies of early
Christian theology have been published over the years that seek to unpack these
important theological questions. Among the most respected of those scholars is
Brian E. Daley, SJ, Catherine Huisking
Professor of Theology Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame.
Daley’s collection of Essays titled
Christology in Early Christianity, which is edited and introduced by
Andrew Hofer, OP, Ordinary Professor of Patristics and Ancient Languages and Director
of the Doctoral Program at the Dominican House of Studies, is the second of two
collections that draw together Daley’s essays. The other volume is titled Biblical Interpretation and Doctrine in Early Christianity: Collected Essays, which
I have already read and reviewed.
The essays found in this volume
have great value because of Daley's expertise when it comes to early
Christianity. Daley brings to the table a deep understanding of history and the
role it has played in the development of Christian theology. He is also a
deeply committed Christian theologian. In his introduction to the present
volume, Andrew Hofer writes of Daley: “Always attentive to the details of time
in writing historical theology, like a master watchmaker at work in precision,
Brian narrates in faith how the Church moved over the first Christian centuries
to understand the Lord of history—and what that means for us here and now” (p.
12). For many Protestants, especially those with a restorationist bent, such a
vision might seem out of place. Yet even restorationists are a product of that
lineage.
As with the earlier volume on
biblical interpretation, Daley’s essays provide us with an important overview
of early Christian theology, which in this case focuses on Christology. Central
to the conversation are the divergent perspectives offered by theologians
connected with Antioch on the one hand and Alexandria on the other. Daley has a
good handle on the intricacies of these debates that helped create the
doctrinal formulations embraced by Christians even to this day. The essays are
scholarly and at times dense, but are worth engaging.
In editing this volume, Andrew Hofer
has divided the collection of essays into five parts. The opening section
offers "Christological Surveys of the Early Church." This section provides
us with five essays, the first of which is titled "Christ and
Christologies. This essay provides a helpful overview of the Christological
question as it emerged in the early centuries. One of his observations made
here, which makes this volume an important read, is that Christology "has
moved in the last century from being a theological topic which seemed safe and
uncontroversial to an area of bitter controversy and uncertainty" (p. 16).
If true, and I believe it is, then taking a look back to a time when creative
theologians were trying to come to terms with a seemingly unresolvable question
is worth doing. So, with that in mind, Daley provides us with an overview of
Christological developments beginning in the second century. The second chapter
in the section is titled "Seeing God in Flesh: The Range and Implications
of Patristic Christology." Here he offers an overview of contemporary
debates and studies of Christology, as well as revealing the key characters in
the story of the church's Christological debates, with the focus again on
Antioch and Alexandria. Moving forward, Daley’s next essay explores the topic
of "The Persons in God and the Person of Christ in Patristic
Theology" (Chapter 3). Chapter 4 focuses on "The Word and His
Flesh," a chapter that explores Jesus' human weakness and identity as
understood in Patristic Christology, beginning with Irenaeus and moving forward
through time to Maximus the Confessor. In looking at the writings of Irenaeus,
Athanasius, Cyril of Alexandria, and Maximus, Daley reveals the challenges
posed to Patristic Christology by claims of Jesus' humanity. He writes that
"All of these portraits of the person of Christ are way stations in a
continuing process of Christian reflection on who Jesus really is and what he
means for us: reflection that is rooted in the narrative of the Gospels and the
apostolic witness and returns constantly to the New Testament for judgment and
verification." (p. 109). The final essay in this section explores the
perspectives provided by "Antioch and Alexandria." These two schools
of thought diverge in ways, leading to controversy as they offer different
Christological perspectives. Again, Daley provides a helpful overview of the
differences and similarities between the two schools.
Part 2 focuses on "Cappadocian
Christology and the Apollinarian Challenge." Both of these essays focus on
the fourth-century writings of Gregory of Nyssa, the brother of Basil of
Caesarea, and friend of Gregory of Nazianzus. In both essays in this section,
Daley takes note of Gregory of Nyssa's response to the Alexandrian
Christological perspective of Apollinarius. In the first of the two essays
(Chapter 6), which is titled "Divine Transcendence and Human
Transformation," Daley notes that Gregory and the other Cappadocians
focused their attention on the Trinity, as it unfolded in the post-Nicaea era. He
also reminds us that he wrote before Chalcedon, such that his main interest is
not providing a precise definition of the two natures, especially as defined by
Chalcedon. The second of the two essays is titled "'Heavenly Man' and
'Eternal Christ.'" This essay also addresses Gregory's responses to
Apollinarius' Christology, which emphasized Christ's divinity at the expense of
his humanity. Here, Daley once again reminds us that we should not read Gregory
through a Chalcedonian lens, since he predated Nicaea by more than half a
century. In this essay, he focuses on Christ's identity as savior as understood
by Gregory, such that Christ is the “Heavenly Man” and the “Eternal Christ.”
With Part 3, we move on to Augustine's
Christology. In this section, we encounter three of Daley’s essays. The first essay (Chapter 8) is titled
"Word, Soul, and Flesh," in which he compares Origen and Augustine on
the person of Christ. He notes their similarities, but also the differences.
Despite the differences, they were both strongly Christocentric. Daley writes
that "both read Scripture as a single proclamation of Christ, a single
Gospel; both understood Christ as God the Son, present in our world in the
fullness of our human nature and sharing our human experience, yet in his
identity divine" (pp. 199-200). The second essay (Chapter 9) explores
Ambrose's influence on Augustine's Christology, especially as Augustine addressed
challenges from Arianism. Finally, we have an essay titled "A Humble
Mediator," which looks at the distinctive elements of Augustine's
Christology. Daley notes that at least on the surface, Augustine's Christology
looks unremarkable. That is because Augustine did not, for the most part,
engage in controversies over Christology. His concerns were different, such
that he was able to focus on matters of sin and grace, while leaving aside
Christology. That is because he lived and worked in between periods of
controversy. During his period of activity, Apollinarianism had been answered
at Constantinople in 381, while Nestorianism did not emerge as an issue until
after his death. Therefore, what we encounter in Augustine is a basic
Christology that assumes earlier developments.
Part 4 is titled "Christology
after Chalcedon." The first of the essays is titled "Unpacking the
Chalcedonian Formula." While Chalcedon appeared to settle the debate
between Antioch and Alexandria (Cyril of Alexandria) due to the help of Pope
Leo I, things are much more complicated than what we see happening on the
surface. What Daley does is carefully unpack the nuances, taking us deeper into
the controversy over the two natures. He argues that ultimately Chalcedon
settled very little but led to "more bitter and lasting disputes."
The second essay in this section is titled "Apollo as a Chalcedonian"
(Chapter 12), in which Daley explores a fragment of an early sixth-century
document that addresses the crisis of 511, when controversy erupted in
Constantinople over what was thought to have been previously settled doctrine.
The document is offered as an oracle of Apollo that supports Chalcedon from
challenges. The next essay (Chapter 13) focuses on "Leontius of Byzantium
and the Reception of the Chalcedonian Definition." Leontius was a
sixth-century theologian who represents a strict Chalcedonian perspective. At a
time when attempts were being made to rethink that formula, he offered a strong
response in support of the original formulation during the Second Council of
Constantinople, which was being overseen by Emperor Justinian. The final
chapter of the section (Chapter 14) focuses on "Nature and the 'Mode of
Union.'" While Chalcedon "settled" the question of the two
natures, the manner of their union continued to be debated. Here, Daley
explores the debates that emerged in the late patristic era. He starts with
Leontius and the role of Neo-Platonism, and includes in the conversation the
later work of Maximus the Confessor and John of Damascus, all of whom agree
that ultimately the union of divinity and humanity is not only relational by
substantial, revealing that God has encountered us in Christ.
My previous encounters with Brian
Daley's works largely involved his work on eschatology and Patristic
apocalyptic theology. So, it should not surprise someone who has read his works
that essays dealing with these subjects would be included. Thus, Section 5 is
titled “Christ in Philosophical and Apocalyptic Traditions." The first of
the two essays is titled "Logos as Reason and Logos Incarnate: Philosophy,
Theology, and the Voices of Tradition." In this essay, Daley explores
various philosophical positions, including Justin Martyr, John of Damascus, and
Thomas Aquinas, among others. He concludes this essay by taking note of
Benedict XVI's speech at the University of Regensburg, in which the Pope
declared that the Christian faith "has always cherished the assumption
that God acts reasonably and that our created reason is grounded in the very
reality of God. Hence Christian faith, since Paul's speech on the Areopagus,
has attempted to connect the proclamation of God's work in history, which has
reached its peak in the death and resurrection of Jesus, with the best
instincts of secular literary and intellectual culture, and to see in Christ
the embodiment of divine reason, the Logos who has become flesh" (p. 365).
That is an important word at a time when many in the Christian world have
embraced forms of anti-intellectualism. The final chapter is titled
"Faithful and True" (Chapter 16). This chapter explores early
Christian apocalyptic thought concerning the person of Christ. He argues that
Christian apocalyptic thought was quickly transformed late in the second
century, such that the apocalyptic dimensions found in the teachings of Jesus,
Paul, and others are downplayed. In this essay, he explores the changing view
of the apocalyptic, especially as it relates to the person of Jesus.
There is a common thread in the
essays that make up Daley’s Christology in Early Christianity, in that
each essay explores elements of early Christology. This is true even of the
essays in Part 5. While each of the essays is an entity of its own, the fact
that the editor, Andrew Hofer, organized the essays in such a way that they
move forward through time, we do get a sense of how Christological developments
occurred over time. As is true of any collection of essays, some essays will be
of greater interest to a reader than others. They can be read individually
without reference to others, though if read from beginning to end, one gets a
sense of how early Christians sought to understand the nature of Christ over
time. Although there are essays that focus on Augustine and acknowledge the
role that Leo I played at Chalcedon, most of the figures discussed are to be
found in the eastern churches, from Irenaeus to Maximus and John of Damascus.
That in itself makes the essays valuable to Western Christians, even Protestants,
for in focusing on Eastern theologians, we discover that our formulations are
dependent on those developments.
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