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Why Read The Early Church Fathers?

...that the truth of God doesn't get lost, diluted or warped for selfish gain. We owe much to these men of God and can still learn a great deal from them, as they still speak to us today as part of that great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us (Heb 12:1). This is an excerpt from the introduction to my new book. You can read more from the Early Church Fathers in my new book, 40 Days with the Fathers: A Journey Through Church History, which is available now on Amazon. See lukejwilson.com for more details and to begin your journey through the first four centuries of the Church!  ...

Support Israel? OK, which Israel?

...ther than truth. It makes me wonder about what view of God and theology that person holds to that enables Israel to get a 'free pass' as it were. There's images and videos being posted from both sides, but it seems that when there is something negative against Israel, it's called "propaganda" and staged/fake etc, but the other way around it is terrorism and self-defense by Israel. Then there's those who play the racism card, such as the image to the right, making people feel guilty of Anti-Semitism for not being a die-hard Zionist. But what I'd really like to know is when did Christian's begin supporting any kind of violence or war? I realise the church has a l...

The Eighth Day

...d of this truth and let it transform you. Further Reading: Barnabas, ch 15:8-9 – http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/barnabas-lake.html Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 24 – http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/justinmartyr-dialoguetrypho.html Cyprian, Epistle 58:4 – http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/050658.htm Eighth day quotes – http://preachersinstitute.com/2013/06/05/the-eighth-day/ http://www.patheos.com/blogs/geneveith/2014/04/the-eighth-day/ http://feedingonchrist.com/theological-significance-eighth-day/ http://frankviola.org/2015/01/26/thesabbath/ Didache – http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/didache-r...

The Resurrection as a historical event

...usly, the truth of the resurrection doesn't rely on the Shroud’s authenticity; but if the Shroud is authentic, then it just adds further weight to what Christianity proclaims. Imagine the level of power that must have happened to make something like that, and that is the same Spirit which lives in us! Just think about it, the death of Jesus caused an earthquake across all of Jerusalem, how much more power was there in the life of God coming back in resurrection? Maybe a similar process of how “nuclear shadows” were created? It’s speculation, but it’s definitely interesting. Evidence from Paul Paul talks a lot about Jesus in a spiritual, post-resurr...

Coffee with Jesus: John 1

...grace and truth. “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ John plainly says that this “Word became flesh” (the incarnation of Jesus) and then clearly points to the pre-existence of Jesus here by saying “he was before me”. This isn’t an issue of age either, as John was actually six months older than Jesus, physically speaking (Luke 1:26–27). This also points towards something Jesus later declares about himself in John 8:58 when he says, “before Abraham was, I am.”. So definitely not an age thing! But if that wasn’t clear enough, John really drives the point home in verse 18 by sayin...

An Examination of Conditional Immortality (Part Two)

...from the truth of Christ. With this in mind, not everything going into the Lake of Fire lasts forever, even in the Eternal Conscious Torment (ECT) view, as the objects aren’t necessarily always physical people (like death). What does John call the Lake of Fire, so that we understand what he is witnessing: “the second death”. In that same verse, John juxtaposed the “book of life” with “the second death”, which gives us that stark contrast and helps us to see what exactly the Lake of Fire is: Revelation 20:14–15… This is the second death, the lake of fire; and anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake...