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the Early Concept of the Trinity: Tracing the Roots

the doctrine of the Trinity, which asserts the co-equality of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, has deep roots in the early Christian writings of the first three centuries. While the full articulation of the Trinity developed over time, culminating at the Council of Nicaea in the fourth century, references to the equality of these three persons can be traced back to influential documents and the teachings of early Church Fathers in the centuries leading up to this pivotal moment in Church History. Early Church Beliefs and Teachings one of the earliest Christian documents, the Didache, believed to have been written in the late first or early second century, pro...

Lent: Day 7 - Ignatius to the Trallians

Day Seven: St. Ignatius of Antioch: Letter to the Trallians (full text) Who: Ignatius converted at a young age and later became Bishop of Antioch. A friend of Polycarp and fellow disciple of John, there is a long standing tradition that Ignatius was the child that Jesus held in his arms and blessed in Mark 10:13-16 What: Ignatius urges the church to continue in unity and to honour their leadership. This letter also gives a defence against certain heresies. Why: Ignatius wrote a series of letters to the churches in Asia Minor whilst en route to Rome to face martyrdom by wild beasts in the Colosseum around 108 AD. When: Around 107-108 AD the letter to the Tr...

He is risen!

  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. — 1 Peter 1:3-5...

Understanding the New Testament: Inspiration, Canonisation, And Historical Context

A common modern perception of the inspiration of Scripture often portrays it as a rigid, divine dictation of words from God to be written down verbatim. This perspective leads to concerns among some religious communities, such as Muslims, who view any alteration or addition to the text as a potential threat to the entire faith. the Islamic understanding of inspiration emphasises direct and unalterable divine dictation, contributing to their scepticism of multiple Bible translations, which they falsely label as “corruption”. In contrast, the Biblical inspiration of the Scriptures has never been viewed as a literal divine dictation, as if the apostles were un...

Who was the real Santa Claus?

It's that magical time of year when the lights go up, the trees get decorated and a familiar bearded man in a red suit pops up everywhere. He goes by a few names: Santa Claus, Father Christmas, and Saint Nick. But who was the real Santa Claus? Well, to answer that, we need to go way back in history to the fourth century to a Bishop called Nicholas of Myra (present-day Demre, Turkey). Memes abound about St Nicholas and Arius Some early lists place him as one of the Bishops who attended the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, and there are some questionable legends which state that he was temporarily defrocked (removal from office) and imprisoned during...

Where Hal Lindsey and Dispensationalism Went Wrong

This is a guest post from Charles Meek Hal Lindsey’s bookthe Late Great Planet Earth Hal Lindsey’s book the Late Great Planet Earth, first edition in 1970, sold over 40 million copies. Gullible Christians got sucked into Lindsey’s soon-end-of-the-world cult-like poppycock. As time has passed without his version of Armageddon taking place, we can now objectively analyze where Lindsey went wrong: Lindsey (p. 54, 181), like other dispensationalists, placed the beginning of the end with Israel becoming a nation in 1948. He thought all prophecy would be fulfilled within a 40-year generation (Matthew 24:34). But 1988 came and went, proving him to b...