Day: March 12, 2012

[Update 20 Nov 2016: The full text of Couchoud’s Creation of Christ is now available online.]

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Here is a complete list of posts in this series listed in the order in which they appear in Couchoud’s book.

Volume I

Part 1   THE APOCALYPSES  (168 B.C. to A.D. 40)

1. Pre-Christian Foundations of Christianity

I had earlier posted these without the same sorts of commentary as Earl Doherty’s forerunner? Paul-Louis Couchoud and the birth of Christ 

These posts contained PDF files of:

The Foreword

Chapter one: Preliminary

Chapter two: The Profaned Temple (concerning the time of Antiochus Epiphanes)

Chapter three: The Dream of Daniel (the first appearance of the Divine Man/Son of Man as an entirely metaphoric figure)

Chapter four: The Revelations of Enoch (traces the evolution of this Daniel figure)

Chapter five: The Revelations of Moses (continuing the evolution of this figure into a real heavenly person)

2. John the Baptist and the foundations of Christianity

Chapter six of part 1, titled “The Prophet John the Baptist”

3. The first signs of Christianity

This looks at the earliest appearances of uniquely Christian terms for the Christ figure, Christian practices such as baptism and visionary experiences, and the break from John the Baptist. Chapter seven of part 1, titled “Elements of Christianity”. Continue reading “Table of Contents for Couchoud’s The Creation of Christ”

This post contains the final chapter of Couchoud’s The Creation of Christ.

I began this series with a post designating Paul-Louis Couchoud as Earl Doherty’s forerunner. There are notable differences between the two as anyone who has read Doherty and this series of posts will quickly see. I think those differences are worth serious discussion.

Scholarship has moved on since Couchoud and there are a number of areas where refinements are necessary; I and others have pointed to shortcomings in Couchoud’s arguments. But there remains much that is thought-provoking nearly a century after his works were first published.

When I began posting on Couchoud’s book I intended only to address the few chapters on his views of Gospel origins. Given the interest generated I decided to continue posting to cover the whole book even though that meant the chapters would be out of sequence. So my next post will be links to the complete contents in their correct order.

Here is the final chapter. I have included the page references in square brackets.

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JESUS FORMED

JESUS has been definitely formed. His features have been determined and composed. He is still the great heavenly Judge of the Day of Doom; that he has been from the beginning; it was his first function and for long his only function. His Judgment will be preceded by the Resurrection of the Body; on this point the doctrine of the Roman Church has overcome that of St. Paul. It will be followed by eternal life. His Kingdom on Earth will last a thousand years, and in the eyes of God a thousand years are as a single day. His true Kingdom is not of this world, and the expectations founded upon it are not material. The oppressed may not dream of an earthly recompense from him, but after the Judgment is over they will put on as a garment their heavenly glory. The Advent withdraws to a remote future, and the dead will find paradise or hell till the coming of the awaited Day. In the meantime the Church makes its plans for its earthly continuation. The grand descent in glory will be Jesus’s second visit to earth; the first, in humiliation and sacrifice, is henceforth to be the subject of the Christian’s meditation. Continue reading “Jesus Formed (Couchoud)”