A Lesson From Ephesus
and Nestorius
In a small and relatively peaceful village near the city of
Ephesus around 431 A.D., crowds left their meager homes, led by their local
priests, and took to the streets. A nearby
Christian teacher had been teaching that the Virgin Mary was the Mother of
Christ: that she gave birth to Jesus when she was a virgin (as Scripture
attests and as has always been part of orthodox Christian teaching), but Jesus “became
the Christ” at His birth, or at least some time later. In other words, this teacher, who was
following the teachings of a key Christian leader named Nestorius, was saying
that while Mary was the mother of Jesus, she should not be called “Mother of
God”, since Jesus was not always God; rather, He became infused with divinity
after His birth. This nuance seemed too
small for the increasingly popular Nestorius and his disciples to bother
with. After all, they were “close” in
regard to their formulation of doctrine.
This teaching was so offensive, even to the largely
uneducated laity around Ephesus, they took to the streets in protest shouting, “Blessed
Mary, Mother of God! Blessed Mary,
Mother of God!” This protest became widespread until the Christian teacher
spouting Nestorianism (as it came to be known) left the village. This protest was in affirmation of the
Council of Ephesus in 431 AD, which decried Nestorianism as heresy – against official
biblical and Church teachings. The
people of Ephesus, though largely lacking in formal education and literacy,
would not compromise their faith and shouted loud enough to clearly proclaim
what continues to be official Church teaching: Mary should be called “Mother of
God,” not because she is divine, but because Jesus was from eternity fully God,
as well as fully human.
Theology Once
Mattered
As a historical theologian and a pastor, I guess one would
suspect I would enjoy this story, which I read in a work of a Catholic
historian several years ago.
We still protest things these days, and often they are very
important things. But in our American
church culture, including my own denomination, concerns about theological
issues, including the radical nature of Jesus’ own teachings, sometimes take a
backseat to other things. In fact,
theological foundations are often not even invited along for the ride!
I do not think we should walk around as doctrine police,
attacking those whose doctrine does not exactly match ours. Too often Medieval Christianity did this,
even to the point of fighting bloody battles, and Christianity has reaped the
sad consequences of this kind of dogmatism.
However, I confess that I do miss the days when theology
really mattered to Christians.
Did you
know that some of the best-selling books of previous centuries were books on
theology? The earliest days of the
printing press saw mass production of sermons by great Christian leaders,
including Martin Luther and John Calvin.
Christianity in eighteenth century exploded with even secular leaders
providing preaching and writing opportunities for theologians and preachers,
like Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, and George Whitefield. Newspapers printed theological debates
between the likes of these ministers and theologians!
The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries boasted
books from the likes of Paul Tillich and Dietrich Bonhoeffer (theologians who
opposed Nazism and set forth key works of theological discussion), as well as a
plethora of Catholic and even Evangelical theologians whose works were taken
seriously by religious scholars, religious people in the pews, and even secular
media. Writers like R.A. Torrey, Carl
Henry, Jurgen Moltmann, Reinhold Niehbuhr, and Karl Barth, whose works often
targeted academic and clergy audiences, often found their way into bookstores
and mainstream conversations among non-clergy and non-academics of all backgrounds. Even as recently as the 1960s and 1970s,
religious works by the likes of Harvey Cox, Martin Luther King, C.S. Lewis, Francis
Schaeffer, and Catholic writers like Hans Kung could be mentioned in sermons
and in discussions in many Christian settings with at least some
recognition.
Sadly, those kinds of writings and discussions have been
largely cast aside outside of ever-decreasing academic circles. They have been replaced by (Christian)
self-help gurus, popular TV preachers, and even business and money management
writers from outside of the Christian faith.
These are the books we are largely discussing today, and so, when
theological issues arise, our first questions are questions of popularity and
politics and not of theology.
Fruitful Sadness
This is a lament: a sad reflection on a sad situation. Therefore, at the moment, I can offer very
few suggestions in regard to actual solutions.
My hope is that when enough people get sad or even angry at the
situation as it is, more people and groups will take it upon themselves to
intentionally seek change.
The problem, which I contend is indeed a problem, is not
that we no longer take to the streets when someone within our own Christian fold
misstates or misrepresents basic Christian doctrine. Rather, the problem is that we usually do not
even know when Christian doctrine has been misrepresented or misstated. We only know what popular opinion or the most
listened to political gurus have to say, and we follow blindly.
Our churches tend to be governed by marketing principles more
than doctrinal boundaries. Our
universities, meaning Christian universities, tend to be governed by the
loudest donor voices (which take their cues from the same political gurus or
pop culture preachers), instead of the doctrinal foundations upon which they
were established. Agree with the loudest
voices, regardless of your doctrine, and you will have a strong hearing and
following in today’s Christian circles. And
your “fruitfulness” (i.e., your ability to garner a following) will be
rewarded.
Give the most money, and your way will often be heeded,
regardless of the nuances of its doctrinal content. It is no longer common for words such as “heresy”
to even be in fashion, and when it is used, it is often misused or used for
political gain, not for spiritual enlightenment. Many popular movements within Christianity
were once opposed, simply because they were doctrinally unsound.
Poor Nestorius: He was born much too early.
No comments:
Post a Comment