Source: Crispin Fletcher-Louis, Jesus Monotheism: Christological Origins: The Emerging Consensus and Beyond, vol. 1 (Eugene, OR: Whymanity Publishing, 2019), 3–30.
5. The_Problems_of_Christ_Devotion.mp4
5. Christ_Devotion_History_Meets_Idolatry_Critique.m4a
This theological excursus shifts focus from historical inquiry into the origins of Christ devotion to exploring the difficult theological problems raised by the emerging scholarly consensus. A central concern for confessing Christians is finding a theological warrant for the practice of "worship" of Jesus, discerning what constitutes appropriate devotion versus sinful or idolatrous worship. The author scrutinizes Hurtado’s model, which attributes the rise of Christ devotion to powerful religious experiences, questioning whether such subjective origins provide a solid foundation for two millennia of orthodox belief, especially when visions and dreams are considered a notoriously shaky foundation for religious claims. Finally, the text presses the serious and enduring charge of idolatry, arguing that if early Christ worship arose from followers projecting divine attributes onto the exalted Jesus, then modern devotion risks being a form of communal delusion structurally akin to ancient pagan idol worship.
For two millennia, the Christian practice of worshipping Jesus has been understood by its adherents as a bedrock belief, built upon a solid, historically verifiable foundation rooted directly in his life, teachings, and resurrection. This devotion is seen not as a later invention but as the logical and necessary response to the reality of God's self-revelation in Christ.
Yet, in a stroke of profound historical irony, this very model—often championed to secure a historical basis for orthodox belief—unwittingly validates the core arguments of Christianity's sharpest critics. It accomplishes this by raising two deeply unsettling questions that strike at the faith's foundation: first, were the "experiences" that sparked the worship of Jesus a divine revelation or a psychological delusion? And second, is the very structure of this worship fundamentally different from the idolatry it claims to oppose?
1. A Faith Born from Experience, Not Events?
An emerging consensus among historians, championed by scholar Larry Hurtado, posits that devotion to Jesus as a divine figure began remarkably early. This model argues that the practice was not a slow development but a sudden explosion sparked by powerful and subjective "religious experiences"—such as visions and dreams—that his followers had after his death. In this view, the worship of Jesus originates not from the historical events of his life but from the post-crucifixion experiences of his grieving disciples.
The problem here is not just the subjective nature of visions; it is that this model displaces the traditional claim that Christian revelation is grounded not in private experience, but in public historical events—namely, the Incarnation (the life and teachings of Jesus) and his resurrection. By grounding a global faith in subjective experience, the theory rests on what the source calls a "notoriously shaky foundation." It opens the door to a deeply counter-intuitive possibility: that these powerful spiritual encounters might not have been divine revelation at all. Instead, they could be interpreted as a form of "communal delusion" or a sophisticated psychological mechanism for coping with the intense grief and "cognitive dissonance" caused by the brutal and unexpected crucifixion of their leader.