Z následujících přednášek mě zaujal především Caryho postřeh v sedmé přednášce, totiž to, že křesťanské zaujetí správnou doktrínou je patrně jedinečným rysem křesťanství. Většina náboženství takovýto důraz na správnou doktrínu nemá (rozhodně to platí např. pro taoismus a do velké míry i pro budhismus). V deváté přednášce Cary stručně a výstižně vykládá to, co si raní křesťané berou od stoiků (moralismus) a co od platoniků (immaterialismus Boha a nesmrtelnost duše) a co naopak zavrhují.
Přednáška 6: Různé formy raného křesťanství
"Although Jewish Christian groups remained in existence, the Christian church was largely Gentile by the 2nd century. Among Gentile Christians a large variety of offshoots arose, most of which rejected the Jewish roots of Christianity in favor of a more spiritual view of the universe. Called Gnostics, they typically regarded the physical world as a prison to be escaped after death by souls making use of special or hidden knowledge (gnosis) so as to rejoin a divine world of spiritual beings or aeons beyond the visible heavens. Christ is a savior-aeon who enters this evil world without ever taking a real body, because matter is evil. And he is far above the Jewish God, who is so proud of creating this foul material world. The “lost gospels” recovered in recent times are Gnostic documents, one of which may contain hitherto unknown sayings of Jesus."
Přednáška 7: Vznik křesťanské doktríny
"Because Christianity is based on faith in a particular person, it has a great concern with sound doctrine, which is to say the right teaching of what to believe about this person, Jesus Christ. A mark of orthodoxy in doctrine was catholicity or universality, as opposed to the fresh new ideas proposed by charismatic leaders of subgroups or sects, which the larger church (called the “Great Church”) called “heresies.” Orthodoxy was preserved and heresy resisted by the social structure of the Great Church, in which bishops kept local congregations in touch with each other, aiming to preserve the apostolic tradition of teaching handed down to them. The earliest Christian writings did not include treatises on theology or doctrine but rather defenses of the faith against pagans, Jews, and heretics. Brief summaries of Christian teaching were found in what were called “rules of faith” and creeds."
Přednáška 8: Křesťanská četba
"Christian reading begins with the New Testament writers reading the scriptures of Israel as bearing witness to Jesus Christ. Characteristic of the Great Church is the determination to continue reading these scriptures (which Christians later came to call the Old Testament) as authoritative even for Gentile Christians, despite the fact it is the history of the Jews and many of its laws do not apply to Gentiles. One key strategy for such reading is typology, in which people and events of the Old Testament prefigure those of the New Testament. Another key strategy is allegory, in which the text has another meaning in addition to its literal sense, one which points beyond historical events to eternal truth."
Přednáška 9: Užití filosofie
"Ancient Christian writers’ interaction with philosophy was deep and long-lasting. Agreeing with the philosophers’ emphasis on reason, wisdom, and happiness, the church fathers adopted many themes of Stoic moralism as well as Platonist metaphysics, though not without critical modifications. When warning about the danger of the passions, they often sounded like Stoics, but did not accept Stoic materialism. And when insisting on the immortality of the soul and the contrast between body and soul, they often sounded like Platonists, though they eventually rejected the Platonist notion of the Fall of the soul into bodies. They thought the Platonists were right in teaching that the divine nature was beyond change and passion, a point which has become increasingly controversial in recent years."
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