Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity
Walter Bauer
Number of quotes: 11
Book ID: 458 Page: 135
Section: 2D3A
Indeed, one can scarcely handle the maxim semper aliquid haeret [“something always sticks” (when mud is being thrown about)] more cynically than does this ecclesiastical protagonist, who really does not himself believe the truth of the rumors that he repeats. As we shall see, Apollonius, his comrade at arms, is in no way inferior to him in the defamation of opponents.*John’s note: “ecclesiastical protagonist” The Anonymous*
Quote ID: 8979
Time Periods: 1247
Book ID: 458 Page: 137
Section: 2D3A
Thus, like the matter of the dissolution of marriages mentioned above, something is condemned with language that can scarcely be surpassed and is exhibited in an ugly caricature, although when it takes place in the context of orthodoxy, it is worthy of the highest praise (see above, 121-124). For me, the silence of the older anonymous author indicates that the management of money by Montanus and his adherents cannot have taken the unedifying forms scorned by Apollonius.
Quote ID: 8980
Time Periods: 1247
Book ID: 458 Page: 141/142
Section: 2D3A
Taken as a whole, both of the books with which we have become acquainted here are hardly anything more than abusive satires. That of Apollonius merits the title to a higher degree than that of “the anonymous.” One must reject as biased all of the judgments found in these works, even if they are delivered in the costume of historical narrative, and let the facts speak for themselves. When such a procedure is followed, what is left over? Primarily this (in many cases as an unintentional confession): the prophetic movement appears to have caught on strongly, especially in Phrygia, men and funds flowed into it, and the rigorousness of the view of life prevailing among the Montanists caused many of them to become martyrs, whose blood insured an even more magnetic power. The magnitude of the ecclesiastical defense corresponds to, and attests to, the amount of success realized by the movement. This defense produces discussions in which, to say the least, the church does not always emerge victorious.
Quote ID: 8981
Time Periods: 247
Book ID: 458 Page: 144
Section: 2D3A,2D3B
…other forms of charismatic gifts have by no means disappeared from Christianity (EH 5.3.4).
Quote ID: 8982
Time Periods: 234
Book ID: 458 Page: 147
Section: 2D3A
The Montanist controversy of the second century has, to a certain extent, given us a glimpse of the actual causes, the forces at work, the tactics employed and the forms used in the ideological conflict within Christendom at the time.
Quote ID: 8983
Time Periods: 1247
Book ID: 458 Page: 166
Section: 2D3B
When we move back into the second century, we find Irenaeus expressing the greatest apprehension that his writings against heretics would be altered—naturally, by the heretics (in EH 5.20.2). Likewise Dionysius of Corinth complained about the falsifying of his letters: “I have written letters at the request of the brethren. But the apostles of the devil have filled them with tares, removing many things and adding others. Woe is reserved for them. Since certain people have dared to tamper even with the dominical scriptures, it is not surprising that they have made attacks on less important writings” (in EH 4.23.12).
Quote ID: 8985
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 458 Page: 167
Section: 2D3B
It was by no means always necessary to “falsify” in order to administer a telling blow to one’s opponent. It was also effective, if there were some evidence of his weakness and inadequacy, not to conceal it behind a cloak of kindness and thus consign it to oblivion, but rather, to drag it into the public spotlight and proclaim it in the marketplace.
Quote ID: 8986
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 458 Page: 174/175
Section: 2A4
Letters of recommendation, such as already plagued the life of the Apostle Paul (2 Cor. 3:1), play their role. “Take special care,” says the Peter of the pseudo-Clementine materials, “not to believe any teacher who does not bring a recommendation (testimonium) from Jerusalem, from James the brother of the Lord or from his successor.
Quote ID: 8987
Time Periods: 23
Book ID: 458 Page: 177
Section: 2D3A
“The gospel is preached in such a manner{61} by the holy prophetess Prisca [Priscilla],” says Tertullian, “that only a holy servant would be qualified to serve holiness. ‘For purity,’ she says, ‘is the unifying bond; and they [i.e. the holy] see visions, and when they incline their face downward, they then hear a distinct voice’” (Exhortation to Chastity 10).
Quote ID: 8988
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 458 Page: 180
Section: 2D3A
For Montanism, prophecy is something so characteristic that Tertullian calls the movement “the new prophecy,{69}….
Quote ID: 8989
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 458 Page: 191
Section: 3C2
…Eusebius is guilty of a serious misuse of the superlative (myrioi = “countless,” pleistoi = “very many,” pantes = “all,” etc.) when he deals with the church, its size, its influence, its success, its champions, its sacrifices, and the like, even in cases where the particular piece of evidence he reports actually should have made him more moderate in his claims.What an incredible outburst of faith, worlds away from all reality, characterizes the situation in the apostolic era in this presentation!
Quote ID: 8990
Time Periods: 4
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