Ecclesiological Docetism : in early and medieval dissent and heresy in eastern and western Christianity

In the context of the continuity of Christology into
ecclesiology, this thesis investigates the implications of a
Docetic Christology and its consequences in the life of the
church.
Against the background of the development of orthodoxy and
heresy in earliest Christianity it indicates a docetic
Christological/ecclesiological parallel found in the Gnostic
dualist tradition, countered by the catholic one of a
growing orthodoxy, and the continuing influences and
implications in Alexandrian theology.
It notes in this setting the implicit docetic tendency in
'heretical' thought to undermine salvation history
(t'eilsgeschichte), as well as the element of timeliness
which could separate orthodoxy from heresy.
It proceeds by looking at the exegesis of the New Testament
and the Fathers of the church which indicates a
Christological/ecclesiological continuity.
From this context it examines the understanding of Christ as
tradition and Christ as corporate which continues into the
Middle Ages.
It illustrates further, how concepts such as martyrdom and
suffering bear an implicit relationship to Christology and
ecclesiology.
In considering the views of medieval movements in the
context of more orthodox understandings of their age, it
explores the continuity of themes found in them from early
heresy, particularly dualism and its effects. It notes in
particular the role of Platonism in theological
interpretation, and considers the place of the establishment
of the church in the legitimising of a Christological/
ecclesiological view.
These themes and concepts combine to demonstrate the
implications of dokesis within an alternative understanding
of the church, with the rejection of an incarnational
theology, and the development of new criteria for Christian
life.
In this respect it questions how the immediacy of mystical
and spiritual experience relates to ecclesiology.
Taking into account the appeal to primitivism as a motive
for reform which undermined the medieval synthesis and its
doctrine of society, it reviews the late medieval concept of
the invisible church, which prepared the way for the
Reformation.
In this setting it examines the recurring themes which
appear, and concludes by outlining the implications of
ecclesiological docesis for the church of today.