Concordia Theological Monthly
Article Title
Publication Date
4-1-1967
Document Type
Article
Keywords
early church, faith, apostolic fathers, irenaeus, authority, canon, clement, dogma, postapostolic, tertullian
Submission Type
Bible Study; Lecture; Sermon Prep
Abstract
A question sometimes posed by aides of dogmatic development within the church is this, “Would St. Peter have understood the technical Christological terms employed by the Nicene Creed or the Chalcedonian Formula?" Assuming that the answer is no, the questioner proceeds to insist that the development of dogma therefore represents a change, if not a deterioration of the pristine Gospel. Adolph von Harnack's well-known "fall of the church" theory is based on the assumption of a radical discontinuity between the kerygma of the Beatitudes and the dogma of later centuries. Somewhere and somehow, to use Chesterton's phrase, "the puppy became a cat instead of becoming more doggy." The relevance of the question is seen in light of contemporary efforts at renewal of the church.
Disciplines
History of Christianity
Submission Cost
Free
Submission Audience
Laity; Ministers; Scholars
Recommended Citation
Volz, Carl
(1967)
"Aspects of Change in the Postapostolic Church,"
Concordia Theological Monthly: Vol. 38, Article 25.
Available at:
https://scholar.csl.edu/ctm/vol38/iss1/25
