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Lent: Day 4 - Polycarp to the Philippians

Day Four: Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians (full text) Who: Polycarp of Smyrna, who was a direct disciple of the apostle John. We also have some information about Polycarp via Irenaeus (who knew Polycarp) in his book, Adv. Haer., III.3.4: “But Polycarp also was not only instructed by apostles, and conversed with many who had seen Christ, but was also, by apostles in Asia, appointed bishop of the Church in Smyrna”. What: Lots of exhortations are contained in this letter, and is also referenced by Irenaeus as being for “those who wish to do so, and are anxious about their salvation, can learn the character of his (Polycarp's) faith, and the preachin...

Christians and the Coronavirus (COVID-19)

...://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/what-early-church-teach-coronavirus/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_of_Cyprian http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250109.htm https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Letters_of_Julian/Letter_22 https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/11/solving-the-mystery-of-an-ancient-roman-plague/543528/ http://stretchtheology.com/christians-and-pandemics-through-the-ages-260-1347-1665-2020/ https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2020/february/coronavirus-christians-and-christ-centered-response.html https://biblemesh.com/blog/the-compassion-of-early-christians/...

BOOK REVIEW: Four Views on Hell 2nd edition

...is not a gospel solution (i.e., to eradicate sin from the sinners), but a terminator solution (i.e., to eradicate the sinners themselves). This is a drastic way of winning creation – like winning all the votes in an election by killing those who would have voted differently….Is this not a pyrrhic victory?”40 This incongruous analogy (God is not a vote-seeking candidate in an ‘election’ but a perfect Creator-Judge passing life or death verdicts, as just about every relevant biblical image from Genesis to Revelation suggests) reveals that Parry must also regard God’s OT executions as failures, since he claims that future eschatological execution...

26 Differences Between Muhammad and Jesus

...to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed!” (Gal 1:8). I’ll add more commentary at the end, so without further ado, here are 26 differences for your consideration: Muhammad said Allah hates those who don’t accept Islam. (Qur’an 3:32, 22:38, 30:45).  ? Jesus said God loves everyone, and he came to lay down his life for the world. (John 3:16; 10:11; 16:27; 1 John 3:16; 4:7–8) Muhammad said, “I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah” (Muslim 1:33)  ? Jesus said, “He who lives by the sword will die...

Is it the end of the world as we know it?

...lared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you.” For this reason, those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed. I've already wrote extensively on this topic before, here and here, which you can read and comment on, if you want. I believe wholeheartedly, that if you want to make a good and positive difference in this world, then our theology and doctrine has to be right. Because when it's wrong, it can lead to all sorts of wrong actions and atrocities in the name of God. Believing national Israel and geographical Israel is still something separate and special from the rest of us being one of those...

Lent: Day 8 - Ignatius to the Romans

...Day Eight: St. Ignatius of Antioch: Letter to the Romans (full text) Who: Ignatius converted at a young age and later became Bishop of Antioch. A friend of Polycarp and fellow disciple of John, there is a long standing tradition that Ignatius was the child that Jesus held in his arms and blessed in Mark 10:13-16 What: A challenging letter in which Ignatius pours himself out to the Roman church about his impending martyrdom. Why: Ignatius wrote a series of letters to the churches in Asia Minor whilst en route to Rome to face martyrdom by wild beasts in the Colosseum around 108 AD. When: Around 107-108 AD On reading the introduction to this letter my first th...