The Way of Contradiction
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The Way of Contradiction |
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One of the major points of contention with 2x2s is the belief that their fellowship, unlike other religious groups, does not take a name because Jesus and His followers didn't take a name. Even if it is true that the early church did not take a name for themselves, it doesn't matter because a name exists merely to describe and identify something. Having a name does not guarantee that a particular group is more legitimate than one that has no name, and vice versa. Compare this statement: "In the 100-year history of the New Testament no name was given to the church by its followers." (emphasis added)
with
this one: "Jesus’ followers identified themselves by names such as 'the way;' 'brothers;' 'saints;' 'the Truth' and 'disciples'. (emphasis added)
Both statements are found in the section entitled The Christian Church: What Name Did They Have?. It is clear to see that the premise of the first quotatation is immediately contradicted by the second one when Prue says that although the church did not take a name, they "identified themselves by such names as". It would be a remarkable stretch of reality to attempt to make a distinction between taking a name as opposed to identifying themselves with a name. [Update 2/16/11: In what appears to be a hilarious attempt to circumvent the obvious contradiction Bert has revised the second sentence to read as follows: "Amongst themselves Jesus’ followers used terms such as 'the way;' 'brothers;' 'saints;' 'the Truth' and 'disciples.'" You can change the word from "name" to "term", Bert, but the problem remains the same.]
When we disregard such semantics, an example of one such name (or identification) for the early church is seen in the use of the term "the Way". St. Luke's Acts of the Apostles provides us with the best account of the growth and practices of the early church. In it he records several times that Christians referred to their fellowship as "The Way"; for example: "Now Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that, if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains."
- Acts 9:1-2
In this passage (and the others discussed here), the word "way" (Strong's 3598) in Greek is οδου transliterated as hodou (or hodos, or hodon) and is defined as "a traveled way, road". The metaphorical meaning is "a course of conduct, or manner of thinking, feeling, deciding"; however, the word takes on an additional meaning when used by St. Luke to refer specifically to the Christian religion. In Acts 9:2, "the Way" ( τησ οδου) is, according to Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament, "a common method in the Acts for describing Christianity as the Way of life, absolutely as also in Acts 19:9,23; Acts 22:4; Acts 24:14,22)". Likewise the New American Bible footnote to this verse says it is a name used by the early Christian community for itself. The fact that Luke writes that people "belonged to" the Way gives it a special significance beyond that of simply a course of conduct, just like we "belong" to Christ (Rom 1:6, 1 Cor 3:23, Gal 5:24, etc).
The "Way" is intended to be presented as the only means of salvation (Acts 16:17), reminiscent of Jesus calling Himself "the way" in John 14:6. Recall also Jesus' words in Matthew 7:14, "The gate is narrow and the way is hard...". Accordingly, Luke describes Christianity and the church as "the Way"; it was "...widely used with this meaning by Christians of the period...Sometimes the 'Way' is equivalent to the church of Christ, outside which there is no redemption" (The Navarre Bible Acts of the Apostles: Texts and Commentaries, Four Courts Press, Dublin 2000 pg 209).
Similarly, Peter calls it the "right way" (2 Peter 2:15) and the "way of righteousness" (2 Peter 2:21). Luke also calls it the Way of the Lord (hodon tou theou) οδον του θεου when Priscilla and Aquila instructed Apollos more fully in it. Other passages in Acts (19:9,23; 22:4; 24:14) demonstrate further why the Liddell-Scott Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon identifies hodos (or hodon) as "the [Christian] faith" (III.4):
Acts 19:9 "But when some in their obstinacy and disbelief disparaged the Way before the assembly, he withdrew and took his disciples with him and began to hold daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus."
Acts 19:23 "About that time a serious disturbance broke out concerning the Way..."
Acts 22:4 "I persecuted this Way to death, binding both men and women and delivering them to prison."
Note that in this passage it wasn't just "a" way but rather (taute) "this very" Way. Again, Robertson says it is "the very term used for Christianity by Luke concerning Paul's persecution".
Acts 24:14 "But this I do admit to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect (Strongs 139 hairesis), I worship the God of our ancestors and I believe everything that is in accordance with the law and written in the prophets."
Thayer's definition of hairesis is "a body of men separating themselves from others and following their own tenets [a sect or party]" [Acts 24:5, 14, Acts xxviii, 22]. Paul had been accused of being the ringleader of the sect of the Nazoreans that Prue mentioned. Because Christians in Damascus were still going to the synagogue and Christians in Jerusalem were still going to the Temple, it was necessary for Paul (and Luke) to distinguish Christianity from just another Jewish sect. For both, Christianity was the fulfillment of the Old Testament, a "more excellent way" (1 Cor 12:31). Hence, it was necessary to have a name in order to declare the difference.
Acts 24:22 "Then Felix, who was accurately informed about the Way, postponed the trial, saying, 'When Lysias the commander comes down, I shall decide your case'."
The Tyndale New Testament Commentary on Acts says, "The description of the Christians as 'those of the Way' is peculiar to Acts. It presupposes the use of 'the Way' to mean in effect Christianity [19:9,23, 22:4, 24:14]. (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: Acts, I. Howard Marshall, Inter-varsity Press, Leicester, England 2001 pg 168).
CONCLUSION
1) The claim that the early church did not take a name while simultaneously listing some of the actual names that they used to identify themselves is a direct contradiction. Therefore, the premise is incorrect.
2) Christians did use names to identify themselves - one of the most prominent ones was as "the Way". Luke used the term as more than just a "way of life", but rather for Christianity itself.
3) Despite claims to the contrary, the 2x2 Fellowship did take a name. All over the world they have created names for themselves such as "Christian Conventions" (USA), "United Christian Conventions" (Australia), "The Testimony of Jesus" (United Kingdom), etc.
4) The term "Christian" is a name in and of itself. In fact, it is used 62 times on Prue's website.
5) The reason we name things is for the purpose of correct identification of them. Nonetheless, the absence of a name is completely irrelevent to the quality of the 2x2 Fellowship's beliefs and/or structure.
- Clay Randall, June 12 2006
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