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Lent Day 32: Cyril of Jerusalem: Catechetical Lectures: Lecture XXI

...fter they had been baptised. When: Around 348-350 AD You can find today’s reading on page 156 here: lentfatherscomplete.pdf   Today's lecture on the mysteries by Cyril, is on “chrism” and is an exposition based on 1 John 2:20-28 1 John 2:20,28But you have been anointed by the Holy One … that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming. This was a new one to me today, I've never come across the word chrism before. From the passage of Scripture this lecture is based on, I guessed it was something to do with anointing and on looking it up I found that it's actually a type of oil used in baptism: “...

Is there salvation for fallen angels?

...devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. #4 Salvation is for humans Salvation appears to be only something that God designed for humans, and is apparently something that makes the angels curious. 1 Peter 1:12[Salvation is the] good news by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look! Christ came as the "second Adam" (1 Cor 15:45) to rectify the problems caused by the first Adam. We humans are all "in Adam" (1 Cor 15:22), whereas angels are not. They are sometimes called "sons of God" — we...

The Temptations of Jesus: Worship and Glory

...hat Satan had when he says that authority “has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please”. Here he tries to use this authority to give Jesus anything he wants – with one small catch: he must bow and worship Satan! This is another example of how focusing on this life and our own power and influence can take our eyes off God and place worship and glory elsewhere — either on ourselves or on other people/things. In this case the devil tried to get Jesus to worship him in exchange for the glory of all the nations of the earth, but once again Jesus lays the smackdown on the devil with the written word of God. Worship God. Serve only Him. What...

The Temptations of Jesus: Complacency

...So now we are at the end of the temptations that Jesus endured in the desert, and I wanted to look at what happens at the end. So often I think this aspect is overlooked when we read of this time in Scripture. Let’s take a look at the text: Matthew 4:11Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. Luke 4:13When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time. The two Gospel accounts both give us a varying perspective with different details. Afterwards, the devil leaves and angels “suddenly” come. This is almost a temptation in itself; one to think we are all good and safe now we've won the battl...

The Reformation: A Sound-Bite History (Book Review)

...This short little book on the Reformation and some of the leading men who helped to kick-start it and continue to fan its flames has been very enjoyable to read. It really is a “sound bite history” as the chapters are short and snappy, and really only cover the absolute basics of each of the Reformers lives. The book has seven chapters, with six of them dedicated to an individual who had a pivotal role in the beginnings of the Reformation: Martin Luther, John Wycliffe, John Huss, John Calvin, Hugh Latimer and George Whitefield. The Reformation:A Sound-bite History I found it to be very educational and easy to read and digest; gleaning just enough info...

Patristics.info has launched!

...Hey everyone, so I’ve launched a new website called Patristics.info to be a new resource for all things early church related. I’ve added a few texts which I already had formatted from my book manuscript, plus other resources like timelines, maps, recommended books etc. I’ll be adding more soon in the coming days. I’ve also created a “topical index” page too which is auto-generated from the tags on the pages to aid with searching, plus I created a word highlighter on each page so you can search keywords in a text and have them highlighted if you’re looking for particular things. If anyone would like to be involved to contribute resources or blog...