Orthodoxy

(Gr. orthos, “right,” “true”; doxa, “opinion”). The closest NT concept is “truth” and correct belief; the NT writers declare an orthodoxy revealed and governed by the Spirit of God. A determined attack has been mounted in modern times by critic after critic, attempting to prove that the early church was divided into many camps, and the original “message of Jesus” was either altered or utterly lost (see, e.g., Tubingen School). While it would be untenable to hold that all of the universal church will be agreed on all points, the standard of orthodoxy-the Word of God set forth in the first Christian century-continually demands that all else be measured by it.