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Man-Made Tradition vs Apostolic Tradition

Quite often in discussions which are about or involve some aspects of early church history or practices earlier Christians did, someone will inevitably throw out the "show stopper" that is "it's all just man made tradition" therefore not valid and the discussion is over. It’s as though saying it's "man made", without considering anything other than that they can't find an isolated chapter and verse in the bible which states something explicitly, means they've "won" the debate! Nothing more to see here folks, someone told us it's man made so we can all go home now. Either that, or the mere mention of the word “tradition” and suddenly you’re accused of be...

Does Jesus mean Hail Zeus?

...self in a debate about this Jesus/Zeus nonsense.     Further Reading Greek “Ge”: http://biblehub.com/greek/1093.htm Latin “Sus”: http://latinlexicon.org/definition.php?p1=1015706 Pegasus: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus#Etymology http://www.dictionary.com/browse/pegasus http://www.constellationsofwords.com/Constellations/Pegasus.html http://www.behindthename.com/name/pegasus Dionysus: http://www.behindthename.com/name/dionysos https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysus#Etymology http://www.pantheon.org/articles/d/dionysus.html Ephesus: https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Ἔφεσος#Ancient_Greek http://www.ety...

What does the word "Catholic" mean?

...tter. The debate is still unsettled on this matter. (The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity, pp.175-177) [3] The Donatists refused to accept the sacraments and spiritual authority of the priests and bishops who had fallen away from the faith during the Diocletian persecution (A.D. 303–305). [4] Even though there was a long period of time when the Eastern and Western churches had a resentful relationship, the date of 1054 is commonly taken as the beginning of the schism, as it is when Pope Leo IX and Michael Cerularius had major disagreements resulting in their mutual excommunication. The Crusades, eventual capture of Constantinople in 1204, and th...

Women should be silent?

...marriage debate is also based on a creation-order logic that God 'made them male and female' (Gen 1:27; Mk 10:6), therefore man/man, woman/woman can't marry - and the church is fighting its hardest to make that apply to all people, secular or otherwise - despite Paul saying judging those outside the church is not our business (1 Cor 5:12). So why in the instance of women being silent, should this same creation-order command from Paul be only situational and the other not? Leaving aside the silence issue for a moment, those women out there who do keep to this non-authority, staying quiet thing - do you follow the preceding verse as strictly?  ...also that...

When Church History and Science Collide

...is up for debate of course; and whether the sign in the sky was pointing to the Schism being a good or bad thing is an issue for another day. But it’s an interesting connection, nonetheless. Let me know what you think in the comments below!   Sources/references: Great Schism | National Geographic Society The Crab Nebula | NASA SN 1054 — Wikipedia Supernova of 1054 and its Remnant, the Crab Nebula — NASA/ADS (harvard.edu) If only they knew what they were looking at! ?? #astronomy #astronomytok #physicstok #spacetok (tiktok.com)...

The Real St. Nicholas: A Man of Virtue, Not Violence

...uring the debate. However, contemporary records do not corroborate this tale. Even Nicholas’s attendance at the council is uncertain, as his name is absent from the earliest participant lists. The story likely arose as a dramatic embellishment to highlight his zeal for orthodoxy. Over time, it has been embraced as a symbol of righteous indignation. Roger Pearse, of the Tertullian Project, summarises this legend succinctly: To summarise again: there is no ancient evidence whatever that St Nicholas punched or slapped Arius at the First Council of Nicaea. The story is not found in any text before the late 14th century, and even that one mentions only “a cert...