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Lent: Day 15 - Justin Martyr: First Apology, Chaps. 36-47

...in how it has been fulfilled through Christ in the Christians who follow him: Isaiah 2:3-4For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.He shall judge between the nations,and shall arbitrate for many peoples;they shall beat their swords into plowshares,and their spears into pruning hooks;nation shall not lift up sword against nation,neither shall they learn war any more. I know many people today read this passage as something future and yet to be fulfilled, thinking it is speaking of a global event where all people suddenly stop making war. But Justin gives us an example of how early Christians interpreted this, and it...

Lent Day 19: Cyprian: On the Unity of the Church: 10-18

...ce”. He has much harsher words about them too, which I just have to quote in full so you can really understand how serious this matter of creating heresy and schism was taken: [They are] deceiving with serpent's tongue, and artful in corrupting the truth, vomiting forth deadly poisons from pestilential tongues; whose speech does creep like a cancer, whose discourse forms a deadly poison in the heart and breast of every one. No minced words here, that's for sure! These are also the people Jeremiah prophesied about too, he says, quoting Jer 2:13; 27:15; 23:21-22 as one combined paragraph against the heretics. Explaining more about how these schismatics o...

Lent Day 34: Cyril of Jerusalem: Catechetical Lectures: Lecture XXIII

...rved this has been down through the centuries. For example, in the Anglican order of service, the Liturgy of the Sacrament has these phrases: The Lord be with you and also with you Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give thanks and praise. Holy, holy, holy Lord… These are word-for-word what Cyril writes about when explaining the way in which a church service is conducted. The only main difference, other than different wording elsewhere, is that the Anglican service begins with the sign of the peace as a handshake between members of the congregation, whereas the ancient church was i...

Did a Roman Catholic priest perform 'invalid' baptisms for years?

...You may have seen in the news lately, a Roman Catholic priest in Arizona, USA, has apparently performed “invalid” baptism for years, well over a decade, even. Due to this, now thousands of people are stressing about whether their baptism counted or if they need to be re-baptised due to the error by Rev. Andres Arango! This has caused concern over the other sacraments these people have partaken in since their baptism, such as the Eucharist, and whether they should have even been allowed it. The Diocese of Phoenix is trying to identify people baptised by Arango so that they can track them down for re-baptism (and possibly, re-confirmation and whatever other r...

Rob Bell's “Love Wins” (Review)

...uth" that has somehow got lost, changed, misrepresented and mixed up in Medieval tradition and imagery over the last few centuries. Anyone who is aware of the controversy that was/is surrounding this book and who heard that that Rob Bell "doesn't believe in hell" can rest assured that this isn't the case. To quote the book, Bell writes: "There is a hell now, and there is a hell later, and Jesus teaches us to take both seriously." (pg. 79) It's not only that he believes in hell "later" (i.e. after death), but also that because of our freedom of will in this life we can, and do, create hell on earth through our actions and sins. Likewise, we can also crea...

Lent: Day 1 - The Didache

...Day One: the Didache (in full) Who: Written by an anonymous author, possibly multiple sources compiled into one book at a later date. The title translates as “the teaching”, or in its full tithe: Teaching of the Twelve Apostles. What: The Didache is basically a church handbook with a summarised collection of the basic teachings of the Church and Gospel, aimed at local church leaders and new converts. Why: Tradition has it as being a collection of the apostles teachings, so it was probably written to preserve this information as they grew older or died, or moved away from the communities they planted. When: Between 70-100 AD The Didache is one of my...