From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Proto-orthodox Christianity is a term created by religious philosopher Bart D. Ehrman. Ehrman described this as one of the many religious sects that followed the teachings of Jesus Christ, yet this one was able to become the dominant form of modern Christianity that is still practiced today. The appellation proto-orthodox Christians recognizes that a certain sect developed which incorporated ideas from the Jewish-Christian adoptionists, the Marcionites, and the Gnostics. It also recognizes this as a group which,

“stifled its opposition, it claimed that its views had always

been the majority position and that its rivals were, and

always had been, ‘heretics,’ who willfully ‘chose’ to reject

the ‘true belief’.” ^[1]

In order to form a canon of autochthonous Christian works, proto-orthodox Christians went through an arduous process that wasn’t sanctioned until the fourth century; when Athanasius; a powerful bishop of Alexandria, Egypt had established a list of the current New Testament’s twenty-seven books. “Proto-orthodox Christians argued that Jesus Christ was both divine and human, that he was one being instead of two, and that he had taught his disciples the truth.” ^[2] This statement of course, is obviously incorporating many of the other Christian sects views, as well as opposing some as well.

In the canon, Jesus is characterized as a Jewish faith healer who dealt primarily with the unseemly, the people who were perceived as the underbelly of the Jewish class system. Jesus working miracles on the poor was uncommon during an era “in the ancient world [where] most people believed in miracles, or at least in their possibility.” ^[3] Although the practice of faith healing was prevalent most healers copiously profited off of their miracles, while Jesus still wandered around in caves and lurked in the homes of prostitutes. This is the Jesus who sought out the most disadvantaged and said, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.” ^[4]

1. ^ Bart D. EhrmanThe New Testament: A Historical Introduction, p. 7.
2. ^ Bart D. EhrmanThe New Testament: A Historical Introduction, p. 7.
3. ^ E.P. SandersThe Historical Figure of Jesus
4. ^ various source, The New Testament, Matthew 21:32