Mormon scholarship, apologetics, and evangelical neglect: Losing the battle and not knowing it?

Trinity Journal, Fall 1998 by Mosser, Carl, Owen, Paul

Mormons have written several studies in this area.bs As usual, Hugh Nibley led the way.69 He began with a book published under the title, The World and the Prophets. This book is the edited transcript from a series of talks originally delivered to an LDS radio audience between March 7 and October 17,1954 entitled "Time Vindicates the Prophets."70 In this book, according to the foreword by R. Douglas Phillips, Nibley

describes with great clarity the process by which the Church changed from an organization with inspired prophets into a thoroughly different and alien institution built upon the learning of men. He shows how prophets were replaced by scholars, revelation by philosophy, inspired preaching by rhetoric.

Whatever one may think about Nibley's conclusions, the breadth of learning displayed in these lectures is intimidating. In them he discusses hundreds of texts from Papias, Clement, Ignatius, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Athanasius, Augustine, and Chrysostom (among others). In classic Nibley style, all references are personally translated from Greek and Latin originals; rarely are translations listed for modern German, French, or Italian works.

Mormon intellectuals do not confine their reconstruction of early Christian history to Latter-day Saint audiences. In an attempt to reach a wider academic audience C. Wilfred Griggs has published a book-length history of early Egyptian Christianity.72 By its frequent bibliographic listing in standard church history reference books, it appears that Griggs's work has been received favorably.73 Though in no way an explicit apologetic for Mormonism, this book lends much support to the LDS thesis. In it he argues that earliest Christianity, as it was introduced to Egypt in the first century, was not the same species that was later identified as "orthodox." Griggs declares that "a radical bifurcation of Christianity into orthodoxy and heresy cannot be shown to have existed in Egypt during the first two centuries."74 His study of many early Christian and Gnostic papyri found in Egypt during the last hundred and fifty years leads Griggs to agree with Bauer's main thesis.75 That is, certain manifestations of Christianity which the church later renounced as heresies "originally had not been such at all, but at least here and there, were the only form of the new religion-that is, for those regions they were simply 'Christianity."'76 What later heresiologists like Irenaeus identified as "Gnosticism" in Egypt was simply "Christianity" to the Egyptians.77

Griggs portrays a version of early Christianity quite different from the nascent Catholicism which later developed into "orthodoxy." This version had a more extensive literary tradition, broader theological tendencies, and more esoteric ritual practice.78 He maintains that the archaeological evidence points to a version of Christianity

based on a literary tradition encompassing both canonical and noncanonical works (both categories being named as such here in light of their later status as defined by the Catholic tradition). ... Egyptian Christians did accept the Apocalyptic literary tradition so notably rejected by the Western Church, especially as reflected in the Resurrection Ministry texts, but not at the expense of the gospel or epistolary tradition of the emerging Catholic Church.79 This version of Christianity thrived in the Nile Valley for quite some time.so Its demise began at the end of the second century with the Bishop of Alexandria being influenced by Irenaeus's Against Heresies. The Bishop and his successors, in a vie for prestige, increasingly aligned themselves with the powerful "orthodox" episcopates. As the power of the Alexandrian episcopate extended over greater geographical area, the original apocalyptic form of Christianity was increasingly condemned as heretical. When the Alexandrian bishops finally held ecclesiastical power for all Egypt, rival versions of Christianity were systematically wiped out.sl The correspondence with the LDS doctrine of apostasy should be obvious.82