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The Deity of Christ in the Gospel of Matthew - Part 1

The titles “Jehovah” and “God” given to Jesus in Matthew 1 This is a guest post by “KingsServant”, see Part 2 here. In this series of articles, I want to present the case that Matthew teaches Jesus is God, from the arguments I made in 2 moderated debates with a Muslim apologist, Mohammed Abd al Razack, commonly known as Al Yemeni. Although I will be going into far more detail, not having to deal with the tight time controls of a debate format. The moderated debate on YouTube with me (KingsServant)   Matthew’s teaching of the Trinity and in particular that Jesus is God is by no means limited to the baptismal formula given by Christ after h...

Coffee With Jesus: Luke 24

Brief thoughts from daily devotions The road to Emmaus. A familiar story from the Gospel to many, though today as I read it, I noticed some things which I probably glossed over in previous times. At the start of this chapter we see that some of the women who followed Jesus had gone to the tomb with spices to prepare the body of Jesus, and yet were met with a few surprises: an open, empty tomb and some angels! They ran back to the group of apostles and other disciples to tell the exciting news, and what was their response? “[T]hese words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.” (v.11). They thought it was nonsense! Probably not the react...

Man-Made Tradition vs Apostolic Tradition

Quite often in discussions which are about or involve some aspects of early church history or practices earlier Christians did, someone will inevitably throw out the "show stopper" that is "it's all just man made tradition" therefore not valid and the discussion is over. It’s as though saying it's "man made", without considering anything other than that they can't find an isolated chapter and verse in the bible which states something explicitly, means they've "won" the debate! Nothing more to see here folks, someone told us it's man made so we can all go home now. Either that, or the mere mention of the word “tradition” and suddenly you’re accused of be...

Great is the Mystery of Faith!

A little while ago, I came across a quote on Facebook by a guy called Melito of Sardis.  St. Melito of Sardis Melito was bishop of the church in Sardis (modern-day Sart), a city of Asia Minor near Smyrna (modern-day Izmir, Turkey), and lived between 160-170/177 AD until he was martyred, possibly under the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Due to the close proximity of locations, he may also have known Ignatius who was also from Asia Minor, and potentially was also an acquaintance of Polycarp and his disciple, Irenaeus. There’s also the thought that he may have been the successor to the leader of the church in Sardis, which is mentioned by the Apostle John in Re...

Coffee With Jesus: Luke 22–23

Brief Thoughts From Daily Devotions I’m going to start a new infrequent sub-series called “Coffee with Jesus”, which will be short blogs based on whatever I’m currently reading in the Bible during my morning devotions (as I drink my coffee, hence the name). They won’t necessarily be in any specific order, unless something particularly strikes me each day as I’m reading through a book of the Bible. Today’s observation comes from Luke 22–23 concerning the Last Supper and the crucifixion of Jesus. Reading Luke 22, something stood out to me that I hadn’t considered before: at the Passover meal, Jesus says he won’t drink wine again until the Ki...

Lent: Day 9 - Ignatius to the Philadelphians

Day Nine: St. Ignatius of Antioch: Letter to the Philadelphians (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: As usual, a general call to remain in unity and heed their bishop. Also to avoid listening to Judaizers who would have them follow the Law. 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 As with the re...