The Forgotten Creed

October 15, 2018

What animated the first Christians? Patterson (George H. Atkinson Professor of Religious and Ethical Studies, Willamette Univ.; The Lost Way) contends it was not the divinity of Jesus nor the theory of atonement but rather an egalitarian vision of God's rule. Patterson starts with a meticulous reconstruction of Christianity's earliest creed based on Galatians 3:28 (there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female), which he argues the Apostle Paul adapted from a preexisting baptismal formula. He then examines how this creed shapes Paul's theology. Paul was most animated in there being neither Jew nor Greek in a way that managed to affirm each. This analysis is followed by an explanation of early positions of authority, and how Christianity drifted into a more conventional Roman social structure. VERDICT Patterson's overall analysis helps resolve a number of aspects of Paul's writings that appear to be in tension. It also provides a positive and nuanced approach to addressing issues of power and diversity.--James Wetherbee, Wingate Univ. Libs., NC

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Starred review from August 27, 2018
In this academic yet readable exploration of a well-known passage from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians, Willamette University religion professor Patterson (The Gospel of Thomas and Christian Origins) unpacks the intent behind what he considers the earliest Christian baptismal liturgy. The letter, in part, reads, “As many of you who have been baptized have put on Christ: there is no Jew or Greek; there is no slave or free; there is no male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Diving into scriptures, noncanonical texts (such as the Gospels of Thomas and Mary), and Greek and Roman contemporaneous writings, Patterson offers a comprehensive overview of the Greco-Roman world at the time of the early Jesus movement. He lucidly details the conflicts between Greeks and Jews, the slave economy, and the gender dynamics of the Greco-Roman world. Positing that this creed offers an alternative to “the oldest cliché” (prayers of thanksgiving for not being born a slave, woman, or foreigner that were common in Greco-Roman society of the time), Patterson claims that “the first followers of Jesus were taking on race, class, and gender.” Through Paul’s letter to the Galatians, Patterson’s concise, impressive book perceptively uncovers the divergent tendencies of the early Christian era.