[German original, copyright J.C.B.Mohr, Tübingen, 1934] Second German Edition ed and supplemented byGeorg Strecker [Copyright J.C.B.Mohr, Tübingen, 1964] English Translation ed and supplemented byRobert A. Kraft andGerhard Kroedel with a team from the Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins [Copyright Fortress Press, Philadelphia, 1971] Updated Electronic English Edition byRobert A. Kraft [Copyright Robert A. Kraft, 25 February 1991]
Foreword to the Second German Edition, byGeorg Strecker xi Introduction to the English Edition, byRobert A. Kraft xiii ORTHODOXY AND HERESY IN EARLIEST CHRISTIANITY byWalter Bauer Introduction, ET byRobert A. Kraft xxi 1. EDESSA, ET byJohn E. Steely (text) andRobert A. Kraft (notes) 1 General History since Alexander the Great 1-2 Earliest Christianity There: Sources and Their Value Eusebius and the Abgar Legend 2-12 Edessene Chronicle to the Fourth Century 12-17 Reconstruction of Earliest Christian History "Orthodoxy" before Kûnê in the Fourth Century (Palût) 17-22 Predecessors and Competitors of Palûtian Christianity: Marcion, Bardesanes, Mani, and Their Literature (Diatessaron , Pauline Epistles) 22-32 Kûnê and the Emergence of a Powerful "Orthodoxy": Dissemination of the Abgar Legend, Attacks on Rival Groups, Vindication of Paul throughActs of Paul/"3 Corinthians" 32-43 2. EGYPT, ET byDavid Hay 44 Silence of Sources concerning "Orthodoxy" in the Earliest Period of Egyptian Christianity 44-49 Earliest Known Representatives and Literature: Syncretistic Gnostic Writings,Gospel of the Egyptians andGospel of the Hebrews 49-53 Establishment of Ecclesiastical Christianity under Demetrius and His Successors 53-56 The Half-century before the Victory of Demetrius: Origen and Clement of Alexandria 56-60 3. IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH AND POLYCARP OF SMYRNA; MACEDONIA AND CRETE, ET byGerhard Krodel 61 Ignatius and the Monepiscopate: 61-63 The Situation in Christian Antioch 63-66 and among His Addressees in Asia Minor 66-69 Polycarp, Smyrna, and Philippi 69-74 Thessalonica 74-76 Crete (based on Dionysius of Corinth) 76 4. ASIA MINOR PRIOR TO IGNATIUS ET byGerhard Krodel 77 The Addressees in Rev. I-3, Ignatius, and I Peter 77-83 Ephesus and Westem Asia Minor, and Jewish Christian Influence There 83-89 Other Anti-Heretical New Testament Writings: Jude, 2 Peter, Pastorals (and Pliny), 1-3 John 89-94 5. ROME AND CHRISTIANITY OUTSIDE OF ROME ET byStephen Benko 95 Rome and Achaia: Corinth and1 Clement 95-106 Rome and the Opponents of Heresy in the Period between1 Clement and Dionysius of Corinth 106-108 Rome and Christianity in Alexandria and Antioch 108-110 6. ROME'S PERSUASIVE AND POLEMICAL TACTICS ET byRobert F. Evans 111 Rome's Appeal to Apostles, Especially Peter, 111-118 and to Apostolic Succession 118-121 Roman Influence through Teaching and Material Assistance 121-124 Roman-Corinthian Opportunism and Adaptability 124-129 7. THE CONFRONTATION BETWEEN ORTHODOXY AND HERESY: GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS AND OPERATING PROCEDURES ET byDavid Steinmetz 130 Types of Confrontation: Oral and Written Polemics 130-132 The Montanist Controversy as an Example 132-146 8. THE USE OF LITERATURE IN THE CONFLICT ET byHoward Bream and Robert L. Wilken 147 Preservation of the Literature Problem of Identifying Polemical Literature 147-148 The Evidence from Eusebius and His Special Pleading for "Orthodox" Literature 149-158 The Problem of Forgery, Fals~cation, and Public Exposure 158-168 Significance and Influence of Literature 168-169 Concentration of Anti-heretical Literature in the Western Areas, and Paucity of Non-orthodox Polemical Literature 170-173 Types of Literature (etc.) Used 173-190 Relative Numerical Strength of Orthodoxy and Heresy 190-194 9. THE OLD TESTAMENT, THE LORD, AND THE APOSTLES ET byPaul J. Achtemeier 195 Old Testament: Its Role as a Formative Influence 195-202 Lord: Traditions about Jesus in General, 202-206 and the Fourth Gospel in Particular 206-212 Apostles: In General, 212-213 and Paul in Particular 213-228 10. THE BEGINNINGS, ET byJohn E. Steely and John J. O'Rourke 229 Centrality of Rome for Christian "Orthodoxy" and Its Victorious Expansion Eastward 229-232 Early Resistance to Christianity in the East and the Course of the Pauline Mission 232-235 Flexibility, Recalcitrance, and Syncretism: The Situation that Paved the Way for Roman Orthodoxy 235-240 APPENDICESby Georg Strecker 1. ON THE PROBLEM OF JEWISH CHRISTIANITY ET byGerhard Krodel 241 Jewish Christianity in General: Problems and Perspectives 241-244 Legalistic, Greek-Speaking Jewish Christianity TheDidascalia , an Indirect Witness 244-257 TheKerygmata Petrou Source of the ps.-Clementines 257-271 The Ecclesiastical Attitude and "Ebionism" 272-284 Conclusions 284-285 2. THE RECEPTION OF THE BOOKrevised and augmented by286 Reviews and Notices of the Original Edition: Continental Protestant, English Language, Roman Catholic, Synthetic Summary of the Reviewers' Comments 286-297 Turner's Reply to Bauer 297-302 General Influence of the Book 302-303 Ehrhardt's Positive Appraisal 303-306 Contemporary German Scholarship 306-308 Summary and Prospectus 308-316 Comprehensive Index 317 [v]Robert A. Kraft
In earliest Christianity, orthodoxy and heresy do not stand in
relation to one another as primary to secondary, but in many
regions heresy is the original manifestation of Christianity. In
the present work, Walter Bauer[1] has developed this thesis in a
consistent fashion, and not only has called into question in a
fundamental way the traditional understanding of the development
of church history and the historical foundation of
ecclesiastical-orthodox self-understanding, but at the same time
has indicated new directions for ecumenical discussion. The
unfavorable political situation was, above all, responsible for
denying the book a wider influence. Thus in the field of
international scholarship, W. Bauer is known far less for being
the pioneer of the approach to church history presented herein
than as the author of the
Just a few weeks before his unexpected death on 17 November, 1960 Walter Bauer had learned of the proposed new edition and, with kind words, expressed agreement with the plan and with the person of the reviser. The task that faced the undersigned [vi] was first of all to correct typographical errors and other minor oversights, and to introduce such improvements as were envisioned by the author, according to his annotated copy.[3] Apart from these additions, the text of the work has remained unchanged -- it was even possible to Retain the same pagination. Secondly, it was necessary to deal with the current state of the discussion. This task is undertaken in a double appendix, so as not to infringe upon the character of the original work. Following the original plan, this supplementary material includes a more detailed consideration of Jewish Christianity, and, in addition, an account of the reception of the book. In both parts an effort has been made to indicate possibilities and directions for elaborating Bauer's position and to provide a critical evaluation of more recent investigations of similar orientation.[4]
Thanks are expressed to all who have contributed to the
production of this edition; in particular to Prof. D. Philip
Vielhauer, from whose suggestion the form of the supplementary
material essentially derives, and to Frau L. Bauer, who with
constant, kindly assistance made accessible her husband's
literary remains, and placed at my disposal the manuscript of the
book, notes from three lectures that were delivered in September
and October of 1933 on the same subject in Uppsala and
Sondershausen, the author's annotated personal copy, and also his
collection of reviews. My wife has assisted me in the expansion
of the index and in reading proofs, and thus, with the others
named, also deserves the thanks of the reader.
Bonn, September 1963
[ET xiii]
It is not surprising that Bauer's investigation of "orthodoxy" and "heresy" in early Christianity has had relatively little direct influence on the English-speaking world (see appendix 2) and, despite its obvious significance and its presence on reading lists for advanced study in Christian origins, never has been translated into English. The book was written for a rather limited audience -- it is not an introductory volume for the beginner, nor is it a synthesis of modern opinions about the subject matter, but was written for scholars, as an original, front-line contribution to the progress of historical investigation. Bauer presupposes that his readers are conversant with the subject matter at more than an elementary level (see below, xxiv f.). In short, this investigation originally was oriented toward an audience that would be difficult to find today outside the hallways and classrooms of the best institutions of higher learning.
There is also another reason that became increasingly obvious
to those who contributed their time and energy in preparing this
edition. Quite apart from the difficulty of the subject matter
(particularly in chap. 1!), Bauer's German style presents
a complex and frustrating problem for the translator who hopes to
capture something of the "tone" or "flavor" of the original as
well as representing accurately its content. Bauer writes in a
dynamic and highly sophisticated manner, mixing precision with
irony and even insinuation, pictorial language with careful
presentation of the historical evidence, hypotheses and caveats
with the subtle use of overstatement and understatement in
cleverly nuanced expressions. His German is literary but [ET xiv]
not necessarily formal. Long sentences with closely interrelated
parts appear alongside brief, sometimes cryptic or oblique
comments couched in clever, often scholarly German idiom.
Frequently the presentation flows along rapidly in an exciting
manner, despite the difficulties of the subject matter -- but its
flow is such that the motion is difficult to capture in
translation, and is sometimes even difficult to follow in the
original, unless one is already completely steeped in the
evidence being discussed and in Bauer's general orientation
toward it! Nor is it easy to represent the variety and nuances of
his choice of vocabulary -- e.g. some readers will perhaps cringe
at such renderings as "ecclesiastical" for orthodox seemed less than fair to Bauer's intention.
Hopefully his meaning will not be seriously obscured in such
instances.
(1) The pagination of the original has been retained wherever possible by the use of bracketed bold type numbers inserted into the text at the appropriate places. Thus there should be little difficulty in using this edition to locate material referred to in earlier publications based on the two German editions (except for the footnotes which have been renumbered, and for appendix 2, which has been extensively revised).
(2) English translations (or equivalents) have been supplied for all non-English material (ancient or modern ) found in Bauer- Strecker, apart from a few Latin or Greek phrases included in standard English dictionaries. It should be noted, however, that although this edition may note the existence of an available ET (English trans lation) of mateial which Bauer (or Strecker) cites, the ET of that material which is supplied has been made especially for this volume [ET xv] with particular regard to the use made of the material in the German edition. This applies to modern as well as to ancient literature (cf. e.g. 44 and n.1 there). With some exceptions, the Greek, Latin, and Syriac words and passages found in Bauer-Strecker also are retained in this edition (Greek and Syriac in transliteration), and sometimes an ancient text has been expanded or supplied by the editors to help clarify the argument (e.g. xxiii n.1). In most instances, the ancient sources are referred to by English forms of their titles, rather than Latin or Greek -- a practice not without its frustrations, especially for the scholar!
(3) In the case of ancient texts, an attempt has been
made to refer to standard editions in current use as well as to
convenient ETs as available. For texts to which frequent
reference is made in various parts of the book, this
bibliographical information is included under the appropriate
listing in the index; otherwise it is supplied in footnotes at
the place of occurrence. Nevertheless, the reader/user will find
that such tools as the patrologies of Altaner and/or Quasten, or
for the less traveled paths of chap. 1, the
(4) Where ETs or new editions of modern works mentioned by Bauer-Strecker are known to the editors, they have been included (or sometimes substituted) in the footnotes. Occasionally references to recent discoveries relevant for Bauer's argument also are added (e.g. 42 n.99).
(5) In general, the original footnote procedures have been modified considerably so that cross-references and brief references to ancient sources appear in the text itself, while longer references that might tend to interrupt the presentation unduly are contained in footnotes along with references to modern literature, parenthetical comments, supplementary information, and the like ( see e.g. 2 n.3 for an example of reshuffling and revision). Full bibliographical information normally is provided at the initial reference to modern works; thereafter, the author's name and a short title appear. The index is so constructed as to facilitate locating such bibliographical data.
Meanwhile, it was discovered that John E. Steely of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary had been at work independently on a translation of the book. When he learned of the PSCO project, he made his rough draft translation available (extending through the opening pages of appendix 1, without footnotes) and agreed to cooperate as a member of the team in seeing the project through to its completion. His draft proved useful not only as an extra checkpoint in editing the work of the team, but was used as the basic translation for two chapters of this edition. The translation team generously agreed that any monetary profit from the book should be channelled through the PSCO for the establishment of a series of scholarly publications dealing with Christian origins apart from New Testament proper.
Appreciation is due to Fortress Press for encouraging this
project and undertaking to publish it, and to the many members
and friends of the PSCO who became involved at various levels --
including a special debt to Niel J. McEleney of St. Paul's
College in Washington D.C. for working through the final draft
and offering several valuable suggestions. Professor Strecker
also deserves thanks for making himself available by mail,
especially in connection with the revision of the second
appendix. Finally, for the often thankless task of transforming
complicated handwritten materials into the final product
presented here, mention should be made of those who, like Joan
Krodel and the secretaries from the Department of Religious
Thought at the University of Pennsylvania, contributed their time
and talents.
July l970
[1]
"Orthodoxy" and "heresy": we all know what enormous importance is attached to these two concepts for the history of our religion. Usually, however, investigation of this subject tends to focus upon the later epochs. The period of Christian origins is, as a rule, passed over rather briefly. Of course, the "errors" combatted in the earliest literature of Christianity are described and investigated from various points of view, with this or that result. But this is usually done with implicit, or even explicit, assent to the view that any such divergence really is a corruption of Christianity.
But if we follow such a procedure, and simply agree with the
judgment of the anti-heretical fathers for the post-New Testament
period, do we not all too quickly become dependent upon the vote
of but one party -- that party which perhaps as much
through favorable circumstances as by its own merit eventuaIly
was thrust into the foreground, and which possibly has at its
disposal today the more powerful, and thus the more prevalent
voice, only because the chorus of others has been muted? Must not
the historian, like the judge, preside over the parties and
maintain as a primary principle the dictum
In our day and age, there is no longer any debate [2] that in terms of a scientific approach to history, the New Testament writings cannot be understood properly if one now looks back on them from the end of the process of canonization as sacred books, and prizes them as constituent parts of the celestial charter of salvation, with all the attendant characteristics. We have long since become accustomed to undertanding them in terms of their own time -- the gospels as more or less successfuI attempts to relate the life of Jesus; the Pauline letters as occasional writings, connected with specific and unrepeatable situations, and having spatial as well as temporal limitations to their sphere of authority. We must also approach the "heretics" in the same way. We need to understand them also in terms of their own time, and not to evaluate them by means of ecclesiastical doctrine which was developing, or which later became a ready-made norm.
We can determine adequately the significance the "heretics" possessed for nascent and developing Christianity only when we, insofar as it is possible, place ourselves back into the period in which they went about their business, and without hesitation cast all our preconceived ideas aside. We must remain open to all possibilities. What constitutes "truth" in one generation can be out of date in the next -- through progress, but also through retrogression into an earlier position. The actual situation in one region may not obtain in another, and indeed, may never have had general currency.
Perhaps -- I repeat, perhaps -- certain manifestations of Christian life that the authors of the church renounce as "heresies" originally had not been such at all, but, at least here and there, were the only form of the new religion -- that is, for those regions they were simply "Christianity." The possibility also exists that their adherents constituted the majority, and that they looked down with hatred and scorn on the orthodox, who for them were the false believers. I do not say this in order to introduce some special use of language for the investigations which follow, so that "orthodoxy" designates the preference of the given majority, while "heresy" is characterized by the fact that only the minority adhere to it. Majority and minority can change places and then such a use of language, which would be able to represent this change only with difficulty, would easily lead to obscurities and misunderstandings. No, even in this book, "orthodoxy" and "heresy" will refer to what one customarily and [3] usually understands them to mean. There is only this proviso, that we will not hear the two of them discussed by the church -- that is, by the one party -- but by history.
In order to exclude from the outset all modern impressions and judgments, I will proceed from the view concerning the heretics and their doctrines which was cherished already in the second century by the ancient church, and will test its defensibility in hopes of discovering, by means of such a critical procedure, a route to the goal. The ecclesiastical position includes roughly the following main points:
(1) Jesus reveals the pure doctrine to his apostles, partly before his death, and partly in the forty days before his ascension.
(2) After Jesus' final departure, the apostles apportion the world among themselves, and each takes the unadulterated gospel to the land which has been allotted him.
(3) Even after the death of the disciples the gospel branches out further. But now obstacles to it spring up within Christianity itself. The devil cannot resist sowing weeds in the divine wheatfield -- and he is successful at it. True Christians blinded by him abandon the pure doctrine. This development takes place in the following sequence: unbelief, right belief, wrong belief. There is scarcely the faintest notion anywhere that unbelief might be changed directly into what the church calls false belief. No, where there is heresy, orthodoxy must have preceded. For example, Origen puts it like this: "All heretics at first are believers; then later they swerve from the rule of faith."[1]
This view is so deeply rooted, and so widely held, that it applies even to such personalities as Mani, who is supposed to have been a presbyter of the church and a valiant warrior against both Jews and pagans, but then left the church because he took it as a personal offence that his students received such scanty recognition ( see below, 39). In general, it is an opinion of orthodoxy that only impure motives drive the heretic from the church -- indeed, this must be so if the evil one is at the bottom of it all. Already Hegesippus, who was in Rome around the year 160, asserts that after the martyr's death of James the Just, Thebutis had begun to corrupt the church, which until then had been a pure virgin, [4] through false belief, because he had not succeeded James as the leader of the Jerusalem community (EH 4.22.46). We hear similar things about Valentinus (below, 39 n.91, and 128), Marcion,[2] and Bardesanes (below, 38 f.).
(4) Of course, right belief is invincible. In spite of all the efforts of Satan and his instruments, it repels unbelief and false belief, and extends its victorious sway ever further.
Scholarship has not found it difficult to criticize these
convictions. It knows that the ecclesiastical doctrine was not
yet present with James; likewise, that the twelve apostles by no
means played the role assigned to them out of consideration for
the purity and revealed nature of ecclesiastical dogma. Further,
historical thinking that is worthy of this name refuses to employ
here the correlatives "true" and "untrue," "bad" and "good." It
is not easily convinced of the moral inferiority attributed to
the heretics. It recognizes there the same embarrassed, and thus
artificial, claim that emanated from Jewish Christianity when it
asserted that Paul had sued for the hand of the high priest's
daughter and, when it was denied him, began to rage against Torah
(Epiphanius
Sooner or later, however, a point is reached at which criticism bogs down. For my tastes, it all too easily submits to the ecclesiastical opinion as to what is early and late, original and dependent, essential and unimportant for the earliest history of Christianity. If my impression is correct, even today the overwhelmingly dominant view remains that for the period of Christian origins, ecclesiastical doctrine (of course, only as this pertains to a certain stage in its development) already represents what is primary, while heresies, on the other hand somehow are a deviation from the genuine. I do not mean to say that this point of view must be false, but neither can I regard it as self-evident or even demonstrated and clearly established. Rather, we are confronted here with a problem that merits our attention.
In this way, the subject of my book is defined more precisely, and I am left free to bypass much else that also could be treated under the title I have selected. For example, I do not intend to present once again a description of the tenets of the ancient heresies, but I presuppose that they are well known, along with many other things. We live in a time that demands concise discussion, and repetition of what already has been presented in a suitable manner [5] should not be tolerated. Therefore, he who opens this book in hopes of finding therein a convenient synopsis of what fellow-scholars already have contributed to this or to that aspect of the theme will be disappointed.
As we turn to our task, the New Testament seems to be both too unproductive and too much disputed to be able to serve as a point of departure. The majority of its anti-heretical writings cannot be arranged with confidence either chronologically or geographically; nor can the more precise circumstances of their origin be determined with sufficient precision. It is advisable, therefore, first of all to interrogate other sources concerning the relationship of orthodoxy and heresy, so that, with the insights that may be gained there, we may try to determine the time and place of their origins. I have chosen to begin with Edessa and Egypt so as to obtain a glimpse into the emergence and the original condition of Christianity in regions other than those that the New Testament depicts as affected by this religion. //end of introductory materials//
[1] On the person and work of Bauer, see the memorial issue NTS 9
(1962/63): 1-38 (with presentations by F. W. Gingrich, W.
Schneemelcher, and E. Fascher); also "In Memoriam Walter Bauer,"
[2] [W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich,
[3] [The addition of two footnotes (51 n. 31, 59 n. 59) and a reference to Josephus at the end of 153 n. 12 should be noted, as well as the inclusion of an index of modern authors.]
[4] [The second appendix has been extensively revised and restructured by R. A. Kraft for this English edition.]
[1]
[2] [Epiphanius