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Lent: Day 9 - Ignatius to the Philadelphians

...natius emphasised the role of the Spirit here because there were apparently those who were trying to cause division, and this message he brought spoke right into the heart of that situation, presumably dissolving the situation before it got out of hand, and putting the fear of God in them. This in itself shows us the importance of listening to the Spirit for our guidance in all situations, and is a good example of the outworking of what Jesus promised his followers when he said not to worry about what you'll say because the Spirit will give to the words (Jn 16:13; Mk 13:11). Like in his letter to the Magnesians, Ignatius again highlights the importance of avoi...

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...

The Coming of Jesus: Coming on the clouds

...en' which has all sorts of implications that we often miss by either not knowing much of the Old Testament, or because we're not Jewish with a better understanding of these prophecies. As a small note too, it's also these visions of Daniel that Revelation in the New Testament takes a lot of its imagery from and describes the same events – I will be touching on that more in the next part in this series. Often times, our thoughts on these phrases or this kind of prophetic language, is coloured by our upbringing or teaching from a church, or even by secular culture which has taken this imagery and "hollywoodized" it. You need only Google for "apocalypse" or "ar...

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...