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Lent Day 21: Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 1-10

...se of his faith and trust in Christ’s death and resurrection, that those “who truly fight can say, 'not I but the grace of God which was with me’ (1 Corinthians 15:10)” because we can do nothing of our own. Not boasting nor being puffed up in this victory, he, “having learned from the Scriptures that the devices of the devil are many (Ephesians 6:11), zealously continued the discipline”, because he knew that the devil “would endeavour to ensnare him by other means” still. Continuing more with his discipline, he would not focus nor remember the past, but would press on with the current day and what lay before, meditating on Paul's words; Ph...

Lent Day 22: Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 11-20

..., but the faith as a whole. Anthony is regarded as the father and founder of desert monasticism, and today we will see how it all started. The old hermit that Anthony met previously, he asked to go into the desert with him to dwell, “more eagerly bent on the service of God”. The old man declined due to his age, but also because “there was no such custom” of living in the desert, so Anthony left on his own to live in the mountains and the devil attacked him again. Twenty years of solitude After going into the desert, Anthony arrived at the Nile and found an abandoned fort on the other side of the river, where he set up camp to live, surviving only...

Lent Day 26: Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 51-60

...o come to faith after hearing his reputation for his dedication to the Lord and the wonders worked through him. I hope this inspires you to seek the Lord more and to persevere more with your faith and the discipline of living as Jesus commanded us and as the Apostles taught us via their letters.  ...

Lent Day 30: Cyril of Jerusalem: Catechetical Lectures: Lecture XIX

...into the faith and were undergoing what is called “catechism”, which basically means, a summary of the principles of Christian religion in the form of questions and answers, used for religious instruction. This lecture is on the renouncing of Satan and the turning from worldly things to be focused on Christ now, based on 1 Peter 5:8-14, specifically, verses 8 and 9: Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. Cyril recounts how th...

Evidence of the Trinity in the Hebrew Scriptures

...nshakable faith of the Jew.” Whether Christians are accused of being polytheists or tritheists or whether it is admitted that the Christian concept of the Tri-unity is a form of monotheism, one element always appears: one cannot believe in the Trinity and be Jewish. Even if what Christians believe is monotheistic, it still does not seem to be monotheistic enough to qualify as true Jewishness. Rabbi Greenberg’s article tends to reflect that thinking. He went on to say, “…under no circumstances can a concept of a plurality of the Godhead or a trinity of the Godhead ever be based upon the Hebrew Bible.” It is perhaps best then to begin with the very sou...

John Chau, missionary to the Sentinelese: martyr or madness?

...s for the faith since they stood strong in their convictions in the face of death. For example in the early centuries, on pain of death, the people of the Roman Empire had to swear loyalty to the Emperor and publicly perform some act of worship and veneration towards him. This wasn’t an attempt to root out Christians necessarily, but they did refuse to partake due to their beliefs in worshipping God alone and not committing idolatry by performing an act of worship towards the reigning Caesar. As far as the Romans were concerned, the Christians were traitors and committed a treasonous act. It didn’t really matter why, only that they couldn’t be convinced o...