The Immediate Impact: Peter, Paul and John
Appendix 1
Pre-Christian Influences on Our Life with God
“To an unknown god.” What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.
ACTS 17:23
As I read Plato, he plainly, of all the pre-Christian philosophers, is seen to exhibit the Father and Son from the Hebrew Scriptures. And in his writings I understand nothing else than the Holy Trinity to be implied.
CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA
LONG BEFORE THE BIRTH OF JESUS, several streams of eternal longing joined together to provide insight into the “unknown God.” These writers helped to bring about a more complete understanding of God. We are not always sure what to make of pre-Christian and non-Christian religions. Yet Scripture itself teaches that writings and personalities beyond Scripture contribute to our knowledge of God. Paul writes that in the fullness of time God sent forth his Son (Gal 4:4). Before Jesus, Scripture affirms the pivotal role Jews and non-Christians played in our knowledge and understanding of God. Cyrus the Persian (2 Chron 36), Artaxerxes the King (Neh 2) and Ruth the Moabite (Ruth 4) are but three examples that make this point clear. A fourth and notable example comes from Acts 17 where Paul praises the Athenians for their partial discovery of God.
The convergence of these multiple streams formed many impressions of God, but none served this cause more powerfully than the dominant periods of Jewish life and the golden age of Greek philosophy.
In the same way, the early days of the Christian community witnessed a huge controversy over the right and proper use of higher Greek culture, the legitimacy of its poets and philosophers in providing general revelation of God’s truth, and the role of non-Christian literature in the confirmation, construction and teaching of Christian doctrine. As the first theologians sifted through Greek thought, they attempted to discern what was appropriate for Christian understanding. During this early period, three key life philosophies influenced early Christian thinking and continue to play a role in our understanding today: (1) Stoicism, the most widely held philosophy, (2) a highly spiritualized form of Platonism, and (3) the Christianized philosophy of Aristotle.
The Role of Providence and the Right Use of Reason: The Influence of Stoicism
Stoicism had an enormous influence on early Christian thinking. The influence came in two primary ways: (1) their view of providence, and (2) their emphasis on reason disciplining the passions and emotions. This influence is felt right up to our present time and is helpful for our life today when we discern the nature of this influence.
Prior to the first Christians, the Jewish people stressed God’s providence by emphasizing his active role in the course of history, even the history of other nations. They celebrated God’s faithfulness in carrying out his promises, including his intervention in times of trouble and his judgment for their lack of faithfulness.
The Stoics, however, did not think of providence in this way. As far as they were concerned, God’s providence is apparent in the marvelous order of the universe, in the way things fit together so well. The universe is good as a whole and in every part. It is governed by a single principle that is rational and immanent, vitalizing and directing all things. This principle is manifest as organism in plants, appetite in animals and reason in people. As a result, we carry the possibilities for our well-being in our own hands. Because this orderly cosmos is our dwelling, we should be governed by its laws. Morals, human laws and customs should conform to the unwritten laws of nature. Such a view of providence is one in which God has already provided all we need in order to live well, rather than the Jewish view of God intervening in the course of history to punish or save us. Still, there was enough of the Jewish understanding of the goodness and order of the universe for Christian theologians to complement the Stoic understanding of God’s providence with the Hebrew view of history.
For the Stoic, life governed by reason means we should exercise our reason to control our passions and emotions. We realize our true nature and achieve freedom from the domination of our passions when we are guided by our reason. Otherwise, if we do not allow our reason to govern us, we become a slave of our passions and cannot deal with the horrible events that destroy our wealth, erode our social position and even take our life. When we become free from the power of our emotions, we are able to enter the ideal state of apatheia, the state of existence in which all thoughts, desires and actions are ordered properly. Thus the “ideal” sage is utterly indifferent to all external realities and completely free of the motivating force of affections.
The Stoic notion of apatheia motivated the early desert fathers to pioneer the ascetic practices of Christian spirituality. These monks, who withdrew to the Egyptian wilderness, believed they must resist the devil in the same way Jesus did in order to prove their total devotion to God. One of their richest legacies is the teaching that in order to control the passions, or the “eight deadly thoughts” (gluttony, lust, avarice, self-pity, anger, sloth, vainglory and pride), we must follow the path of trial and temptation that connects us directly with the trials and temptations of Jesus.
According to these monks, once we are converted, we are assailed by these deadly thoughts, just as Jesus was tempted in the wilderness after his baptism. These disruptive appetites and passions threaten to control us. They hinder the work of God so we are unable to love either our neighbors or God as Jesus taught us to do.
This can be illustrated by the deadly thought of avarice. Evagrius of Ponticus (345-399) said:
Our need for material goods suggests to the mind a lengthy old age, the inability to perform manual labor (at some future date), famines that are sure to come, sickness that will visit us, the pinch of poverty, the great shame that comes from accepting the necessities of life from others, and much more. Thus, the urge to give to others in need, which comes to us spontaneously since the Holy Spirit at work in us is generous, is hampered and even choked to death by these fears.
Not only is the general purpose of controlling the passions similar to the Stoics but the monks even used the stoic term apathy to describe their goal. But (and this is an important but) however much the monks were influenced by the Stoics, they had a very different purpose in mind. Unlike the Stoics, who sought to become independent and autonomous, the monks sought to become free of the control of their passions in order to follow God. For them the goal of apathy was not to become unfeeling but to have the blessing Jesus promised his followers, purity of heart, so that they could love freely and be unhindered. In fact, the Stoic goal of autonomy was seen by the Christians as the deadly thought of pride.
God’s Favorite Pre-Christian Philosopher: The Influence of Plato
The second significant pre-Christian influence is Plato. Plato illustrated to the early Christians that misplaced desire and disordered love are the two greatest challenges to our life with God. Like Stoicism, Plato and a highly spiritualized form of Platonism were used by early Christians to defend themselves against their opponents. This Neo-Platonism is influential even up to our present time.
The first Christians pointed to various ways in which Plato agreed with their outlook. He, like Jesus, turned from the material world as the center of ultimate reality to emphasize an eternal realm, which for Plato was the realm of ultimate ideas. He, like Jesus, believed that this world was the handiwork of a power greater than ourselves and above and beyond our comprehension, emphasizing that this world is neither our home nor our ultimate destiny. Plato, like the Jews and first Christians, has a story of the Fall. Although he has various aberrant ideas (including his belief in the transmigration of the soul, the movement of the soul at death into another body, and his emphasis not on marriage but on communal living) many of Plato’s most compelling insights were appropriated for use in Christian theology and spirituality.
At the heart of Plato’s work is his belief that we always desire, but we do not always desire properly. How then do we direct desire to its proper satisfaction in order to fulfill the meaning and destiny of our life. In The Symposium, for example, love, as a spiritual force, is the mediating link between earth and heaven. Love cultivates desire. It longs for knowledge. It leads to understanding. But love disordered by misplaced desire destroys knowledge and understanding.
Immediately you can see how critical this notion is for us today. The disordering of love by misplaced desire is ruinous for the human soul. We desire food to eat and clothes to wear. We desire sexual satisfaction. We desire to exercise our gifts and abilities in order that we can make a unique contribution to the quality of our community. But when these desires become disordered, we seek their fulfillment in ways they were never intended to be satisfied. The satisfaction of a desire contrary to its original intent disorients us from the habits and patterns that produce meaning and purpose for our life.
Of course, desire itself is not evil. It is the inappropriate satisfaction of an appropriate desire that becomes evil. And the result is a ruined soul.
The influence of this idea on early Christian spirituality is impossible to overstate. It illustrates that misplaced desire and disordered love are the two greatest challenges to our life with God. At the heart of Plato’s Symposium is the belief that love is the spirit that leads us to a deeper desire for the transcendent good. For Christians, when love is disrupted, our capacity to know and serve God is disrupted as well.
In another work, Phaedrus, this theme is extended. In several key passages Plato identifies themes that will become hallmarks of Christian thinking: the nature of the soul, the competition between reason and desire, the role of reason and the progressive unfolding of wisdom and insight.
The right use of reason is the culminating principle of Phaedrus. The higher elements of the mind guide us into the highest expression of life. Here permanence, happiness and contentment overcome the debilitating gravity of evil. When we are overcome with the power of goodness, we gain self-mastery, inner peace and lasting contentment. In this way, we are able to direct desire to its proper satisfaction.
In one of the most famous passages of Phaedrus, Plato uses the analogy of two horses and one charioteer to expand his treatment of the human soul. Here Plato demonstrates the role of reason in the spiritual life as we learn how to discipline our mind appropriately in order to attend to God properly. Reason can prove neither the existence of God nor the reliability of intellectual virtue. What reason can prove is the way specific human actions lead to the appropriate or inappropriate satisfaction of human desire.
Phaedrus attempts to illustrate how “will” (the white horse) and “desire” (the black horse) can be contained through “reason” (the charioteer). The implication, of course, is that reason is supreme, and when understanding is present, reason can guide will and desire to their appropriate end. The chariot, as the vessel carrying human life, only arrives at its appropriate end when all three human powers are coordinated appropriately.
Finally, in The Republic, Plato captures the goal and destiny of human life. The central unifying theme is articulated in the “Allegory of the Cave,” where the dynamics of human transformation are placed in dramatic relief. The story begins with mindless slaves shackled to a horrible existence of endless and meaningless activity. Although everyone has succumbed to a slave mentality, one bold individual begins to think and decides to discover the nature of the reality behind the shadows. This thought gives rise to desire, which in turn gives rise to action. As a result, the desire to know causes him to turn from his mindless existence in the cave to pursue understanding of the ultimate nature of all reality. (This is precisely the image that C. S. Lewis uses in his book The Silver Chair.)
What is important—and particularly useful in later Christian thinking—is the emphasis on the change of perspective that begins with a turning or a conversion. As this turning progresses, deeper levels of knowledge and understanding unfold. This is not instantaneous knowledge but a progressive unfolding that leads to profound insight.
The significance of Plato’s thought to Christian spirituality comes in three dramatic forms. First, this idea of turning or converting is pivotal to Christianity. Coupling this idea with the teaching that no one ascends to full knowledge of God without going through a laborious process became a hallmark of monastic spirituality. The second contribution is Plato’s emphasis on how hard it is for those who are enlightened to return to their former existence in order to assist others in turning from the shadows to encounter the reality of the transcendent good. Early Christians quickly realized that once an individual has ascended to the heights of divine insight and illumination, the obligation to return and assist others in this journey must be tied to rigorous discipline and Christian devotion. Finally, Plato’s understanding of the soul helped to shape the view of the capacities of the human soul as memory, intelligence and will. This triad dominated Western Christian spirituality for centuries to come.
The Ordering Power of Habit and Wisdom: The Influence of Aristotle
After Plato the key themes he first introduced were amplified. In the writings of his greatest student, Aristotle, the disordering effect of runaway desire was replaced by the ordering power of habit and wisdom. Beyond Plato no other non-Christian influence on Christian thinking has been greater than that of Aristotle. Of particular significance is Aristotle’s emphasis on habit, the way in which it is cultivated, its central role in the development of virtue and the role of virtue in the acquisition of wisdom.
For Aristotle, the goal of the spiritual life is eternal contemplation of the “unmoved mover.” In order to attain this goal, we must cultivate virtue. Virtue is not easily attained, but ascends through two levels. First, moral decency directs our bodily appetites to their proper satisfaction. Then, after satisfying our physical desires, we are able to concentrate on the higher- order activities of the mind. Habit and virtue are dual elements of human character. Without the satisfaction of our desires and the development of moral virtue, the ability to think and develop intellectual virtue is impossible. The foundation of intellectual virtue is the ability of the moral virtues to harness the desires of the flesh and channel these desires into their proper avenues of satisfaction. Even more, virtue is understood as good habits we can rely on in order to make our lives function well.
Although the full thrust of Aristotle’s influence would not be felt until the thirteenth century with the rise of Thomas Aquinas, the significance of his teaching on wisdom and habit and its influence on early Christian spirituality is staggering. Habit works to satisfy our innate human desires in a way that orders human life. Without good habits we are not able to satisfy the yearnings of the human heart in a way that is consistent with the goal and destiny of our life. Habit becomes a second nature as powerful as our first nature and helps to shackle the disorienting power of misplaced desires. If we do not develop sound moral habits then we will not be able to develop the intellectual habits that cultivate wisdom and lead us to God.
This second aspect, developing wise and proper thoughts that lead to God, is the benchmark for measuring the strength of our habits. The power of the human mind to concentrate on God is directly tied to the ability of human passion to be quiet. If our passions are not quiet, then we are disrupted and our ability to attend to God is disrupted as well.
Aristotle, like Plato before him, has a huge body of literature, which casts a long shadow over Western civilization. His role in elevating habit and the necessity of developing moral virtue in order to cultivate intellectual virtue laid the groundwork for his enduring contribution to Christian spirituality.
Searching for One Fixed Point: Scripture
In addition to the influence of several streams of early Greek philosophy, the first Christians relied heavily on their Jewish heritage. Of particular influence is the centrality of the Hebrew Bible as both the formative and authoritative text of the community. This development was absolutely essential to early Christians—and to us today.
Subsequent to the Jewish loss of the land and the first temple, the pressing question arose as to how an individual and a community could find God. Through a variety of developments, Jews and then the first Christians, came to the startling insight that God could be experienced apart from any specific time or place.
As the focus shifted from a static time and a specific place, the Jews, and then the first Christians, gravitated to the biblical text and their interpretation of it as the one fixed point that could guide their understanding and experience of God. In this context the importance of the Bible as the bearer of divine meaning is central. As a result, the first Christians embraced the authority of Scripture and captured the deeper spiritual meanings concealed in the written text.
Jewish mystical thought at the time of Jesus amplifies themes consistent both with ancient Jewish teaching and the contemplative ideals of Plato. These ideas include: one transcendent God, a cosmos ruled by providence, a definable moral order, the ultimate foundation of all of life is beyond this life, and our daily experiences in life are influenced by the ultimate reality beyond our earthly existence.
In this context Jewish exegesis teaches that the written Word of God reveals the complete will of God. Thus Scripture plays an integral role in our awakening to our life with God. It is also in this context that the partial and incomplete understandings of Plato and the Greek contemplative tradition take on greater significance as written Scripture joins with Greek philosophy in forming the integrating center for all truth and value.
The perfect embodiment of this early development was Philo (20 B.C.-A.D. 50), an Alexandrian Jew who synthesized the Greek contemplative ideal with the monotheistic faith of the Hebrew Bible. Philo utilized the levels of reality identified by Plato, but introduced his own unique understanding, suggesting that we progress through the stages of body, intellect and soul in our quest for God. He emphasizes, for example, the allegorical, deeper reading of Scripture, while introducing a method that captures the way language-forms help us know and experience God. The most significant deficiency in Philo, however, and one which the first Christians worked hard to counter, was his lack of focus on the importance of a sustaining community as the context within which we establish and nurture our life with God.
The Fall of Judah: The Rise of Scripture Following the Destruction of the First Temple
The role of Scripture in the development of early Christian spirituality is significant and legendary. Following the Babylonian captivity (sixth century B.C.), Jewish self-consciousness underwent two significant transitions. First, the loss of the temple forced the Jews to look for new ways to find and encounter God. Then, following this loss, a shift in emphasis toward the correct interpretation of Scripture became primary. These two developments motivated the earliest followers of Jesus to lay down priorities that endure to this day. At the very center of these priorities is Scripture as the formative and authoritative guide for all believers. As a person reads Scripture and seeks guidance from the Spirit of God, its deeper meaning (the mystical or allegorical sense of Scripture) is made clear to the believer.
Jesus as the Central and Integrating Force
In this matrix, where the forces of Jewish faith and Greek philosophy collide, Jesus becomes the central integrating force for all Christian spirituality. His life and work become the dynamic center of what it means to become a Christian and to gain intimate knowledge of God. Despite certain efforts to undermine the integrity of the New Testament witness, the accounts of Christ’s life (the Gospels) and the interpretations of these events (the Epistles) have defined the way believers measure their progress in the spiritual life. As these first communities formed around the living witness to Jesus Christ, they effectively mediated his presence to all subsequent generations.
The life of Jesus becomes the paramount example of one who realized the perfection of the love of God in his earthly life. For the Christian community, Jesus exists to connect every generation of Christian believers to the life with God we long for and seek. Through consistent participation in the community of faith we can make progress in our spiritual life by identifying with the life of Jesus and embodying in our own life the perfect love and holiness that God intends.
The Immediate Impact: Peter, Paul and John
This focus on the life of Jesus is amplified by the written testimony of his first disciples. In the writings of the earliest New Testament texts, Peter, Paul and John began to interpret the meaning of Christ’s life to the first Christians. The commitment of the first Christians to modeling their life after the life of Christ gave shape and force to the earliest Christian understandings of our life with God. Combining ecclesiastical concerns and sacramental practices, the first Christians practiced a form of scriptural interpretation that would dominate Christian spirituality for twelve centuries.
In this context the goal of reading Scripture is to recreate an awareness or consciousness of Christ as articulated by the original New Testament writers. By reading, meditating and praying the Scriptures, and basing this activity within the broader context of the worshiping community, believers are able to understand the life and work of Jesus Christ and appropriate this understanding for their own life. Thus the goal of Christian spirituality is to find God present and active in his written Word.
Beyond the scope of the life of Jesus presented in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), two other sections of the New Testament play a prominent role in the shape and force of Christian spirituality. The writings of Paul and John both serve constructive roles in shaping the Christian understanding of our mystical union with God.
Throughout Paul’s writings, an emphasis is placed on contemplation and the way it leads us to a perfection of the image of God (Acts 9; 1 Cor 12:12; 2 Cor 3:17-18; 12:1-6). At the core of this perfection is the goal to have our life identify so intimately with Jesus Christ that we become like Christ. To amplify this process, Paul uses the term in Christ 164 times in placing a central accent on our life being united with Jesus so that we can become like him.
Extending Paul’s thought and placing Jesus in the center as the Enlightener of all life, the apostle John demonstrates how our life in Christ provides new levels of understanding. Throughout his writings John consistently demonstrates the way our identity in Jesus Christ produces an immediate identity with God. In this context the goal of the Christian life is not simply to imitate Christ’s activities but to develop a consciousness of union with God that fulfills all the longings of the human heart.
As we look back at each of these early influences on the shape and force of Christian spirituality, they help us understand the way the Christian life begins, evolves and takes on ultimate meaning in each successive age. They also help orient us to the enduring aids we need in every stage of Christian devotion.
Between the close of the first century and the dramatic unfolding of events subsequent to Constantine conquering the Roman Empire in the fourth century, Christians endured ten of the most pernicious waves of persecution in the history of civilization. Although these campaigns of persecution waxed and waned, they left an indelible mark on the Christian community and the Roman Empire. Of particular consequence was the need to show the relevance and reality of our life with God while enlisting passionate followers into the way of Christ.