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Lent: Day 13 - Justin Martyr: First Apology, Chaps. 12-23

...rguing in Greek philosophy and was a way of reasoning with clever, but false arguments, that just sounded good – whether or not they were accurate was besides the point. The Teachings of Jesus Justin lists out a whole page full of quotes from Jesus, all of which we’d recognise from the Gospels, from his teachings on looking at a women with lust, to divorce, to praying for your enemies to not worrying about life. It’s a nice summary of Jesus’ moral teachings on the way in which we should strive to live, which Justin then follows on from with more of Jesus’ teaching on responding to violence and in swearing oaths saying, “[Jesus] has exhorted us to l...

Creedal Christians: Introduction

...e used by Greeks and Jews of his day. Contrast Paul's wording to the Galatians... "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus." (Apostle Paul, Gal 3:28) With that of the Greek and Jewish sayings: “There are three blessings for which I am grateful to fortune: First, that I was born a human being and not one of the brutes; Next, that I was born a man and not a woman; Thirdly, a Greek and not a barbarian” (A quote attributed to Socrates or Thales; Diogenes Laertius, Thales 1.33). “Blessed are you, Lord, our God, ruler of the universe who has not...

The Relationship Between Jesus and Sophia

...ia is the Greek word for God’s Wisdom.And God’s Wisdom is a Woman. Her name is Sophia.Sophia was there at the beginning of creation. She birthed the world into existence.Deuteronomy 32 says that God gave birth to the people. That was Sophia.Christians began to associate Sophia with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is Sophia. She is the divine feminine who is the Third Person of the Trinity.Sophia is our divine Mother.God is She who loves you.❤️❤️❤️ — via @adamericksen A lot of the comments under that post seemed to find it quite affirming in some ways, others were confused as they’d never heard this before (and rightly so) but were keen...

The Coming of Jesus: Coming on the clouds

...pse" is a Greek word which simply means "revealed" or "revelation" - as in, being shown something by divine beings/intervention that was once hidden, and is also a genre of writing in Judaism and Christianity encapsulating prophetic texts of this nature. Likewise, "Armageddon" is a Hebrew word which is the name of a place in Israel. Only in modern culture have these words taken on the meaning "end of the world." With that in mind, let's look at the other references to God coming on the clouds through the Old Testament, and what it means. I'll add some emphasis to some of the verses just so you can see what I'm pointing out. Isaiah 19:1-2 An oracle concernin...

Lent: Day 17 - Justin Martyr: First Apology: Chaps. 60-68

...s all the Greek thinkers and writers, what Christians preach, no matter how similar sounding it is to certain Greek fables and myths, is imitation. It is not, then, that we hold the same opinions as others, but that all speak in imitation of ours. Baptism There's a short overview of the rite of baptism and how that what Jesus preached about being born again in John 3:5, was also prophesied by Isaiah: Isaiah 1:16-20 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from your souls; learn to do well; judge the fatherless, and plead for the widow: and come and let us reason together, says the Lord. And though your sins be as scarlet, I will mak...

Creedal Christians: The Apostle's Creed

...from the Greek word καθόλου (kathólou) which literally means “on the whole” or “according to the whole”, often translated as “universal” or “global” in modern usage. Additional Phrases Other than the “catholic” addition, there’s two more noticeable additions that weren’t in the Old Roman Creed, but that still have their basis in Scripture. The first is one that can be quite controversial, depending on how it gets translated, is: “descended into the grave”. You may also see this worded as “descended into hell”, which is where the controversy can come in. Apart from the obvious meaning that Jesus died and was buried, it...