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Mar. 23rd, 2005 08:05 amThe following is a rudimentary statement of the thesis which I am developing for my book, tentatively titled The Serpent's Wisdom: Gnosticism and Radicalism within the Early Christian Movement.
In ancient thought, theology was not divorced from politics or economics; and so, what survives today of early Christian literature and which appears primarily or even solely theological is dripping with economic and political overtones. The history and scriptures of the early Christians cannot be properly understood without considering these "mundane" aspects which shaped the course of events and which drove much of the theology.
The environment in which Christianity and Gnosticism were born was one of extreme political and social turmoil. The Roman Empire imposed a political and cultural rulership and had co-opted the Judean leadership, imposing hand-picked kings and high priests, and Hellenizing the culture. There was economic upheaval too; peasants were being displaced and wealth was shifting away from the poor to the wealthy, away from the region and to Rome.
The Jewish religion had a long-standing and unique tradition of speaking up for the poor and down-trodden, in the form of the prophetic literature. Prophets, assuming the tone of divine righteousness, berated the ruling class in times past for oppression and exploitation. So the Judeans used the prophetic voice to express their displeasure with their situation. Suppression of dissidents became more and more extreme; dissidents fled to the desert or to places like Qumran to separate themselves, as much as they could, from the regime they hated.
The Gnostics took an extreme view, demonstrating their contempt for the status quo by depicting the God of the high priest as an insane and arrogant demigod imposing a sleep on people -- the sleep of complacency. They saw the religion of the Hasmoneans as a pacifier, keeping the Jews from seeing what the Romans were doing to them, economically, culturally, and spiritually.
The Christian movement got its start as an egalitarian social aid network in Galilee -- displaced peasants working together to feed their orphans and widows, and tend to their sick. While they were at it, they began to criticize the Romans and their Judean conspirators in Jerusalem and Tiberias. Some within the social aid network took a radical and defiant tone, and the movement was persecuted for it.
Early on, some of the Gnostics saw Jesus as one of their own -- a radical iconoclast and prophet in the old tradition of protest. Many Gnostics joined the Christian movement and portrayed Jesus as a practitioner of their own radical, egalitarian, individualistic, and feminist views. Others within the movement were influenced by Apocalyptic mysticism common at the time.
Many within the early movement were users of mystical and esoteric methods which have been demonstrated to bring about changes in emotion and awareness. A major thrust of the movement sought to find ways to achieve connection with the divine, and with the rhythms of the cosmos, without reliance on the earthly edifice of temples and rites and priests, since these could become corrupted. Hence Jesus was seen as consecrator of a "heavenly" temple much greater than the earthly temple of Jerusalem, which at the time of the early movement was a puppet of the Roman imperial machine.
The peasant movement engaged the attention and interest of a few scribes and others within the educated and privileged classes -- people such as Paul. These people developed a communications network and facilitated the spread and development of ideas. They wrote the gospels and episles. (Some have argued that no peasant movement has ever achieved any degree of success without involvement from a few literates in the upper classes.)
Over the next two centuries, the movement was transformed. The current of radicalism within the movement was not compatible with the structure that evolved as the movement grew. By the latter part of the Second Century, elements of teaching and practice which were seen as threats to the structure -- individualism, egalitarianism, feminism -- were rooted out.
During the second and third centuries, the Christian movement grew, and the Empire declined, to the point where the Empire needed to adopt the social infrastructure of the Christian church for its continued survival. It became increasingly a movement of the middle and upper classes, a movement which supported the Imperial status quo instead of challenging it. This co-opting was completed in the Fifth Century AD when the church became an official instrument of the Imperial edifice.
In ancient thought, theology was not divorced from politics or economics; and so, what survives today of early Christian literature and which appears primarily or even solely theological is dripping with economic and political overtones. The history and scriptures of the early Christians cannot be properly understood without considering these "mundane" aspects which shaped the course of events and which drove much of the theology.
The environment in which Christianity and Gnosticism were born was one of extreme political and social turmoil. The Roman Empire imposed a political and cultural rulership and had co-opted the Judean leadership, imposing hand-picked kings and high priests, and Hellenizing the culture. There was economic upheaval too; peasants were being displaced and wealth was shifting away from the poor to the wealthy, away from the region and to Rome.
The Jewish religion had a long-standing and unique tradition of speaking up for the poor and down-trodden, in the form of the prophetic literature. Prophets, assuming the tone of divine righteousness, berated the ruling class in times past for oppression and exploitation. So the Judeans used the prophetic voice to express their displeasure with their situation. Suppression of dissidents became more and more extreme; dissidents fled to the desert or to places like Qumran to separate themselves, as much as they could, from the regime they hated.
The Gnostics took an extreme view, demonstrating their contempt for the status quo by depicting the God of the high priest as an insane and arrogant demigod imposing a sleep on people -- the sleep of complacency. They saw the religion of the Hasmoneans as a pacifier, keeping the Jews from seeing what the Romans were doing to them, economically, culturally, and spiritually.
The Christian movement got its start as an egalitarian social aid network in Galilee -- displaced peasants working together to feed their orphans and widows, and tend to their sick. While they were at it, they began to criticize the Romans and their Judean conspirators in Jerusalem and Tiberias. Some within the social aid network took a radical and defiant tone, and the movement was persecuted for it.
Early on, some of the Gnostics saw Jesus as one of their own -- a radical iconoclast and prophet in the old tradition of protest. Many Gnostics joined the Christian movement and portrayed Jesus as a practitioner of their own radical, egalitarian, individualistic, and feminist views. Others within the movement were influenced by Apocalyptic mysticism common at the time.
Many within the early movement were users of mystical and esoteric methods which have been demonstrated to bring about changes in emotion and awareness. A major thrust of the movement sought to find ways to achieve connection with the divine, and with the rhythms of the cosmos, without reliance on the earthly edifice of temples and rites and priests, since these could become corrupted. Hence Jesus was seen as consecrator of a "heavenly" temple much greater than the earthly temple of Jerusalem, which at the time of the early movement was a puppet of the Roman imperial machine.
The peasant movement engaged the attention and interest of a few scribes and others within the educated and privileged classes -- people such as Paul. These people developed a communications network and facilitated the spread and development of ideas. They wrote the gospels and episles. (Some have argued that no peasant movement has ever achieved any degree of success without involvement from a few literates in the upper classes.)
Over the next two centuries, the movement was transformed. The current of radicalism within the movement was not compatible with the structure that evolved as the movement grew. By the latter part of the Second Century, elements of teaching and practice which were seen as threats to the structure -- individualism, egalitarianism, feminism -- were rooted out.
During the second and third centuries, the Christian movement grew, and the Empire declined, to the point where the Empire needed to adopt the social infrastructure of the Christian church for its continued survival. It became increasingly a movement of the middle and upper classes, a movement which supported the Imperial status quo instead of challenging it. This co-opting was completed in the Fifth Century AD when the church became an official instrument of the Imperial edifice.
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