Heresy of Orthodoxy: How Contemporary Culture’s Fascination with Diversity Has Reshaped Our Understanding of Early Christian

Evaluating historical evidence, this book defends early Christian orthodoxy from the legacy of New Testament criticism: the modern “orthodoxy of diversity.

Beginning with Walter Bauer in 1934, the denial of clear orthodoxy in early Christianity has shaped and largely defined modern New Testament criticism, recently given new life through the work of spokesmen like Bart Ehrman. Spreading from academia into mainstream media, the suggestion that diversity of doctrine in the early church led to many competing orthodoxies is indicative of today’s postmodern relativism. Authors Kstenberger and Kruger engage Ehrman and others in this polemic against a dogged adherence to popular ideals of diversity.

Kstenberger and Kruger’s accessible and careful scholarship not only counters the “Bauer Thesis” using its own terms, but also engages overlooked evidence from the New Testament. Their conclusions are drawn from analysis of the evidence of unity in the New Testament, the formation and closing of the canon, and the methodology and integrity of the recording and distribution of religious texts within the early church.

Books at a Glance

Read an interview from Books at a Glance (Part 1) (Part 2)Read a summary from Books at a Glance

Related Media

Listen to Kevin Boling interview Andreas Kstenberger entitled Whatever Happened to Truth. (Gospel Coalition)

About the Author

Andreas J. Kstenberger is director of PhD Studies and professor of New Testament at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. He is a prolific author, distinguished evangelical scholar, and Editor of the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. Dr. Kstenberger and his wife have four children.

Michael J. Kruger (PhD, University of Edinburgh) is associate professor of New Testament and academic dean at Reformed Theological Seminary, and the author of a number of articles and books on early Christianity.

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