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Is fasting an expectation for Christians?

...d on into Christianity quite naturally. During Second Temple Judaism, biweekly fasts were a common practice amongst Jews (see Luke 18:12 for a brief mention of it), and this is what Jesus would have been targeting in his teaching in Matt. 6. A late first century text from the early church, called The Didache (which was a sort of “church handbook”), expands on this teaching of Jesus and demonstrates to us how the earliest believers understood this and carried on the practice of fasting, taking the familiar model they were used to in Judaism, and reshaping it: But let not your fasts be with the hypocrites; for they fast on the second and fifth day of the w...

Was the omniscience of God a developed idea?

...Or do we retroactively place our current theology of God on God? Consider the Garden of Eden: '[T]he Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”'  (Gen. 3:8-10) Now today we make it into a rhetorical question, but was this always so? In this story, God is spoken of almost in a physical-bodily sense as walking in the garden, since "they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden" as he moved about, and then tried to hide themselves from his view! Next think of the tower of Babel - "The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built" (Gen 11:5) - Did he not just know already? Also this story...

The next 50 years

...The next fifty years in this country (the UK), and the U.S. — the West in general especially really — is going to be very interesting for society; for the Church. Mainly for the Church. Society is going through a major shift, almost on a global scale. A great divide is coming and will hit the Church over issues of sexuality and marriage. More so than it might already seem. A great divide is coming Only one side will come out of it as the dominant "winner". The other, to reside in obscurity in the annals of embarrassing history. Everything is being done under the guise of "love" — almost as if to try and shame the Church into looking as though it...

Jesus Like You've Never Seen Before - Discoveries from Early Christian Art

...nverts to Christianity associating miraculous stories with magic. Consequently, in their depictions of these events, they represented Jesus with a wand to signify the miraculous or “magical” acts described in the stories and how Jesus performed them. Lee M. Jefferson of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, wrote in his Biblical Archaeology article, “Jesus the Magician? Why Jesus Holds a Wand in Early Christian Art” (Autumn 2020): The implement that Jesus holds (sometimes called a virga or rabdos) is portrayed as either thick and ruddy, such as on the sarcophagi, or thin and reed-like, such as in catacomb paintings. He uses it in the performance of a...

What is Advent?

...It’s that time of year when Christmas lights and decorations go up, things start to look a little more sparkly, and kids are getting ready to open their Advent Calendars. But what exactly is “Advent”? You may be from a Church tradition which recognises this each year so are more familiar, but if not, you may be curious to know more about this ancient Christian tradition. Advent, derived from the Latin “adventus,” signifying “coming” or “arrival,” stands as a sacred season deeply entrenched in the hearts of many Christians globally. This period of expectant waiting and preparation marks the initiation of the liturgical year in Western Christia...

Great Lent: The Season of Fasting

...istorical Christianity, fast every day until sunset (or 3pm) during your fasting period. Historically also, the Church has always had a weekly partial fast on Wednesdays and Fridays alongside other times (such as Lent). Generally, you can drink what you like (except soup, as it’s still a food), though there are different types of fasts the Church has kept throughout the year (the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches still do this) which have different restrictions, like no alcohol. But plenty of water is ideal in any case. The first five days or so will be the hardest if you observe the strict fast for a longer period of time. Persevere past this as it do...