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

...] prayers had been uttered over the water, will they be bidden to be baptised afresh? Why not? Because generally the fault in the prayer is more than counterbalanced by the intent of him who offers it; and those fixed words of the gospel (Matt 28:19), without which baptism cannot be consecrated, are of such efficacy, that, by their virtue, anything faulty that is uttered in the prayer contrary to the rule of faith is made of no effect, just as the devil is excluded by the name of Christ. (Augustine, On Baptism VI, 25:47) With that, I don’t think any more needs to be said. The historic Church has already settled this matter many centuries ago, and what the V...

The Deity of Christ in the Gospel of Matthew - Part 2

...God than had been experienced by mankind throughout history. God, not appearing in angelic form or some visual representation in a vision or dream, but actually becoming a man through a real human mother in order to be the Saviour of his people. (Matthew 1:21–23) Matthew tells us his account of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and how he accomplished his task of securing salvation for his people as predicted (Matthew 1:21). The gospel was written after his ascension. Matthew has one final question to ask. Having come closer to us than ever before and fulfilling his purpose, especially after predicting the destruction of the second temple, has Jesu...

Does Jesus mean Hail Zeus?

...may have had something to do with the Latin word apis, meaning bee, but although the bee was a dominant symbol of Ephesus and appeared on many of its coins, this etymology is commonly rejected. More attractive, and now generally accepted among scholars, is the hypothesis that the name Ephesus formed from the Hittite name Apasa, which belonged to the capital of an ancient federation called Arzawa, located in western Anatolia.The name Apasa and thus Ephesus would thus literally mean Later Place —abarim-publications.com So you see, there isn't even a REMOTE connection to Zeus in this one!   Which leads us to Jesus.   "JeSUS means what?" Jesus, whose v...

Lent: Day 10 - Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans

...doctrines had their origins....

Palm Sunday and the End Times

...D) There had been seen hosts joining battle in the skies, the fiery gleam of arms, the temple illuminated by a sudden radiance from the clouds.Roman historian Tacitus in The History, 5.13 (circa 100 AD) Interestingly, this is also something we see in the Book of Maccabees, a chronicle of the Jewish victories against Antiochus Epiphanes IV, king of the Seleucid Empire (175–164 B.C.). It recorded “people all over Jerusalem” who witnessed angelic armies “charging across the sky” for almost forty days: 2 Maccabees 5:1–4About this time Antiochus made his second invasion of Egypt. And it happened that, for almost forty days, there appeared over all the...

Debunking the Myth: The Council of Nicaea and the Formation of the Biblical Canon

...d bishops had no interest in this topic, there are no records from the Council or accounts from eyewitness attendees, such as Eusebius or Athanasius, mentioning any deliberations on the Canon of Scripture. The Origin of the Myth The myth of the Council of Nicaea’s involvement in forming the biblical canon can be traced back to a late ninth-century Greek manuscript known as the Synodicon Vetus. This manuscript, claiming to be a summary of decisions from Greek councils up to that point, presented a narrative where a divine miracle occurred at the Council of Nicaea. According to the manuscript, the Lord miraculously separated the canonical books, placing them...