Originally Posted by EarlDoherty

Not quite. Strictly speaking, I would label the Odes "proto-Christian". They do not contain the same degree of "Christ" belief that Paul and Hebrews do. Quite apart from not having any sacrificial redeemer, the "son" and "beloved" (along with Sophia/Wisdom) of the Odist seem still to be regarded as aspects or "emanations" of God, rather than fully distinct divine personages. A kind of 'hypostatization' that is only half-way there. The Odes are still thoroughly God-centered. But the Odist is under the influence of what I have called the "intermediary son" concept characteristic of the Hellenistic era (including in Platonism), which in one direction grew into the full fledged divine Christ/Son of cultic Paulinism. Hebrews 1:2-3 and Colossians 1:15-20 are further along than the Odist's "Word". This "Word" is also not yet "Christ mythicism" since it is not envisioned as a distinct subordinate deity operating in his own right, as Paul sees his Christ. The Odist and his community do seem to be "Jewish" though not of the 'mainstream' character.

It is precisely this profuse variety, this wide range of (often incompatible) treatment of that "intermediary son" concept that we find in the record surrounding earliest Christianity which strengthens the case for recognizing the evolutionary process which gave rise to the Christian religion we know, and its lack of a single point or figure of origin. It has proven a heck of a problem for orthodox scholars who are constantly having to come up with ways to force all of this variety into some kind of response to Jesus of Nazareth. In regard to the Odes, J. H. Charlesworth has put himself through hoops trying to find the Gospel Jesus, and even his death and resurrection, alluded to in those hymns. Of course, they are not there, as my website article demonstrates.

Earl Doherty