Shaping Christian Identity: The False Scripture Argument in Early Christian Literature

211 Pages·2015·0.72 MB·English

by  Kevin M. Vaccarella

Florida State University Libraries
Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School
2007
Shaping Christian Identity: The False
Scripture Argument in Early Christian
Literature
Kevin M. (Kevin Michael) Vaccarella
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THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

SHAPING CHRISTIAN IDENTITY: THE FALSE SCRIPTURE ARGUMENT

IN EARLY CHRISTIAN LITERATURE

By

Kevin M. Vaccarella

A Dissertation submitted to the
Department of Religion
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Awarded
Summer semester, 2007

Copyright © 2007
Kevin M. Vaccarella
All Rights Reserved
The members of the committee approve the dissertation by Kevin M. Vaccarella defended on

June 7, 2007.

___________________________
Nicole Kelley
Professor Directing Dissertation

___________________________
John Marincola
Outside Committee Member

___________________________
David Levenson
Committee Member

Approved:

______________________________________
John Corrigan, Chair, Department of Religion

________________________________________________
Joseph Travis, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences

The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and confirmed the above named committee

members.

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For Jenness

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ACKNOWLEGMENTS
My dissertation began with an exploration of texts and a setting with which I was not
very familiar. My eventual proficiency with the subject matter was due to a combination of my
growing interest in the material and the patient guidance of my dissertation director, Nicole
Kelley. It was she who first suggested I investigate the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies. Dr.
Kelley’s enthusiastic direction through the Pseudo-Clementines has always been coupled with
the freedom to explore comparisons with other writings – a freedom that eventually led me to the
Didascalia Apostolorum and Ptolemy's Letter to Flora. I offer my sincere thanks to Dr. Kelley
for inducting me into a realm of wonderful and obscure writings. I would also like to thank the
remaining members of my dissertation committee, David Levenson and John Marincola. My
years of classes with Dr. Levenson helped shape my graduate career. His wide range of expertise
in all matters of the ancient Mediterranean region is evident not only in his proficiency with a
staggering amount of texts but also in his ability to teach his students in a way that conveys his
own academic curiosity. I am grateful for his guidance over the years and, more specific to this
project, his help navigating the Syriac of the Didascalia. Dr. Marincola’s expertise in ancient
rhetoric proved a welcome addition to my committee. His insights into the texts and attention to
my Greek proficiency have been greatly appreciated. I am grateful to all of my committee
members for tirelessly editing the various drafts of the project. Any remaining errors are mine.
I would also like to thank the members of the Religions of Western Antiquity fall
colloquiums for their contributions to the shape of my dissertation. No graduate candidate can
survive the necessary years of schooling without the support of his fellow students. Although I
appreciate the collegiality of numerous graduate students during my residency in Florida State’s
Religion Department, I am particularly indebted to the friendship, encouragement, and
scholarship of Jordan Smith, Scott Cason, and Jim Lehman. In addition, Chris Newcomb and Bill
Lyons, as well as their families, generously shared their experience, guidance, and support
during my initial years at Florida State University and continue to do so. Thanks are also due to
both Florida State University and the Department of Religion for supporting my research and
conference travel with various grants over the years.
My family also deserves acknowledgment since they have filled my sails when there was
no wind. My parents, Rick and Dee, brothers, Mike and Brian, as well as my entire Pittsburgh
family have had to endure my accounts about the ups and downs of graduate life – not to
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mention the fortitude to listen to my project summaries and updates. My family’s interest in
discussing my work, ability to help me relax, and the wisdom to know which of these two paths
was needed at any given time has made all the difference. In particular, I would like to thank my
parents who have always supported and encouraged my choices in life, whether academic or
otherwise, and have sacrificed so much of themselves to ensure the happiness of their children.
Finally, my life as I know it could not exist without the loving support of my amazing
wife, Jenness. Her patient endurance during my many years of schooling and commitment to my
goals has, at times, rivaled my own. I have been able to pursue and complete my education only
through her infinite understanding and encouragement. I owe her a debt of gratitude that
outweighs even my student loans. I dedicate this work to Jenness for all the love and laughs she
has shared with me over the years and those that are yet to come.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract ................................................................................................ viii

Chapter 1: Introduction........................................................................................ 1
1. Interpretation of Scripture and Jewish Christian Relations .................... 1
1.1. The Interpretation of Scripture....................................................... 1
1.2. Conflict and Competition............................................................... 3
1.3. Struggling for Identity.................................................................... 8
2. Shaping Christian Identity: The False Scripture Argument.................... 13
2.1. Defining Identity............................................................................ 13
2.2. The False Scripture Writings ......................................................... 17
2.3. A History of Scholarship on the False Scripture Strategy............. 21
3. Project Outline........................................................................................ 27

Chapter 2. Ptolemy's Letter to Flora and the Tripartite Division of the Law..... 34
1. Introduction............................................................................................. 34
2. Ptolemy: Biography and Influences........................................................ 35
2.1. Ptolemy and Flora.......................................................................... 35
2.2. Ptolemy and Valentinus................................................................. 38
2.3. Ptolemy and Marcion..................................................................... 43
3. The Nature of the Law and the Three Lawgivers................................... 47
3.1. Those Who Misunderstand the Law.............................................. 49
3.2. The tripartite Division of the Law................................................. 58
3.3. Ptolemy and the Mosaic Law......................................................... 71
4. Ptolemy, False Scripture, and Christian Identity.................................... 75
4.1. Competing Interpretations of the Mosaic Law.............................. 75
4.2. Conclusion..................................................................................... 79

Chapter 3. The Second Legislation of the Didascalia Apostolorum .................. 81
1. Introduction............................................................................................. 81
1.1. Background.................................................................................... 82
1.2. The Meaning of deuterosis ............................................................ 85
2. Analysis of the Second Legislation......................................................... 87
2.1. The Original Law........................................................................... 88
2.2. The Second Legislation.................................................................. 91
2.3. The Role of Christ.......................................................................... 101
3. The Didascalia, the Second Legislation, and Christian identity............. 103
3.1. Internal Conflict in the Community............................................... 103
3.2. A Christian Audience..................................................................... 105
3.3. Markers of Identity......................................................................... 108
3.4. “the people”.................................................................................... 109
3.5. The Gentiles................................................................................... 114
3.6. Conclusion..................................................................................... 117

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Chapter 4. The False Passages of the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies.................. 119
1. A Brief History of the Pseudo-Clementines........................................... 119
1.1. Source Criticism and the Pseudo-Clementines.............................. 119
1.2. Source Criticism and the False Passages....................................... 122
2. The Homilies and the False Passages...................................................... 128
2.1. The Nature of the False Passages................................................... 129
2.2. The Purpose of the False Passages................................................. 132
2.3. Discerning the False Passages....................................................... 135
2.4. Categories of False Passages......................................................... 140
3. The Homilies, False Passages, and Religious Identity............................ 156
3.1. The Homilies and Social Identity................................................... 156
3.2. The Homilies and the Rehabilitation of the Gentiles..................... 159
3.3. The Homilies and Continuity with Judaism................................... 161
3.4. The Homilies and the Marcionites................................................. 166
3.5. Conclusion..................................................................................... 170

Chapter 5. Conclusion......................................................................................... 174
1. Common Elements of the False Scripture Argument ............................. 174
2. Explaining the Commonalities................................................................ 182
3. Implications for Future Study................................................................. 188

Bibliography ................................................................................................ 192

Biographical Sketch............................................................................................. 202

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ABSTRACT

Christian communities in the first four centuries struggled to construct and maintain a
sense of social identity in a time when there were no stable descriptions for Christianity or
Judaism. Competing social identities emerged among Jewish and Christian groups as various
authors worked to construct and maintain communal boundaries regarding acceptable (and,
simultaneously, unacceptable) beliefs and practices. While some Christian groups rejected
certain traditions, other groups found reasons to adopt them. These choices contributed to a
community’s borders; they constitute what makes “us” different from “them.” The recent work
of Daniel Boyarin and Judith Lieu illustrates how literary analysis reveals the way texts
contribute to the construction of social identity. An author (re)presents the community’s values
and beliefs, whether real or idealized, not only to establish an identity but also to maintain that
identity. An investigation of early Christian texts regarding their attitudes toward the Mosaic
law, then, provides a window into the process of identity formation.
This dissertation is an examination of a peculiar scriptural hermeneutic that claims that
certain biblical mandates found in the scriptures are false. Any beliefs or regulations contained in
the supposed false portions of scripture can be rejected on the grounds that they are not part of
God’s eternal laws. The distinction between the authentic and the false passages has been
revealed by Jesus Christ and passed down to his most faithful followers. The false scripture
argument is found, to my knowledge, exclusively within Ptolemy's Letter to Flora, the
Didascalia Apostolorum, and the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies. Ptolemy's Letter to Flora teaches
that the law has been instituted by three sources – none of which is the High God. Instead,
Moses, the Jewish elders, and the demiurge are responsible for the law contained in the
scriptures. Christ, an emissary of the High God, is sent to validate those laws that reflect the
nature of the High God. On the other hand, the Didascalia Apostolorum claims that all of the
scriptures were instituted by God. However, only the Decalogue constitutes the eternal laws of
God delivered to Moses. The other laws were established by God through Moses as a
punishment upon the Jews as a result of the golden calf incident. These secondary laws have
been abrogated since the arrival of Christ. In the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies, the false passages
of scripture have been instituted by Satan and his forces in order discern the faithful from the
wicked, the latter of which follow the regulations found in the false passages. Like the
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Didascalia, the Homilies claims that Christ, the true prophet, has arrived to discern the true
passages from the false ones.
Although there are overlapping tenets, each text presents a unique explanation of the
origin and catalogue of the false sections of scripture. The variation in the false scripture
argument reflects each author’s distinctive effort to construct communal boundaries in the face
of social competition. The competition can stem from the attraction to the ways of Judaism or a
defense against the beliefs of other Christian groups, such as the Marcionites. The false scripture
argument functions as a rhetorical tool designed to demarcate the author and his community as
the true followers of God since they alone possess knowledge of, as well as the means to
distinguish, the false passages of scripture. The false scripture argument shapes the community’s
religious life by barring members from dangerous practices while at the same time validating the
traditions accepted by the author and his community.
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