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A Historic Easter Change Is Coming — But Will Protestants Get On Board?

...Apostolic origin claiming they got their practice from John himself. But the Julian calendar, which is what the Church used in the fourth century, was increasingly out of sync with the actual solar year, so March 21 — generally assumed to be the date of the Northern Hemisphere’s spring equinox — gradually “drifted” away from the actual equinox. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII reformed the calendar, hence the Gregorian Calendar, dropping 10 days and making the equinox fall on March 21 again. Most Eastern Christians did not adopt the new calendar and stayed with the Julian one, leading to a situation where Easter occasionally is on the same day as t...

Biblical Inspiration and the Canon: How We Got the Bible

...truct the original text with a high degree of confidence. We possess over 5,800 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, along with thousands more in Latin, Syriac, and other languages. Among these, we have fragments from the second century, including Papyrus 52 (P52), a small portion of John’s Gospel dating to around AD 125. By the fourth century, we have complete copies of the New Testament, such as Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus. With this wealth of manuscript evidence, scholars can compare variations and confidently determine what the original text said. A Comparison of Manuscript (Mss.) Evidence for Ancient Writings Bart Ehrman, a nota...

The Two Babylons Exposed: The Book That Misled Millions

...not mean origin. If that logic held, then even Jesus’ resurrection would be suspect because pagan cultures also told resurrection-like stories. Yet the gospel stands apart — not because of myth but because of history and revelation. Why Hislop’s Work Persists Even though The Two Babylons is poor scholarship, it’s unfortunately had a long shelf life. That’s partly because it appeals to a certain kind of suspicion. If you’re already sceptical about the Catholic Church, Hislop offers an easy explanation: “It’s all pagan!”. But history isn’t ever that simple. And theology — especially the theology handed down through the ages by the...

David, Saul, And How We Respond To Broken Leadership

...When we think about David and Saul, we often focus on David’s rise to kingship or his battle with Goliath. But hidden within that story is a deep lesson for today’s generation about leadership, resistance, and the power of revolutionary love. At a recent youth training event (thanks to South West Youth Ministries), I was asked how I would present the story of David and Saul to a Christian teenage youth group. My mind turned to the politics of their relationship, and how David accepted Saul’s leadership, even when Saul had gone badly astray. David recognised that Saul was still God’s anointed king — placed there by God Himself — and that it w...

The Coming of Jesus: Coming on the clouds

...Coming on the clouds of heaven Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory. When people read Jesus saying that he will be "coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" in Matthew 24:30, it often taken to mean that he will be doing that literally as opposed to figuratively. Kinda like this, but on clouds.   Careful now, before you put on your heretic hunting hats and grab your pitchforks — let me explain why I say that Jesus wasn't telling his fol...

Lent Day 18: Cyprian: On the Unity of the Church: 1-9

...ed the “origin of that unity” for which the partnership of the Apostles began the Church. To strengthen his argument for unity within One Church, he quotes Paul in Ephesians 4:4-6, calling it the “sacrament of unity” by which we know the true Church. In speaking of the Bishops, or the “episcopate”, Cyprian says they above all need to uphold this unity of faith, because they are “held by each one for the whole” so that they are undivided as the Church is undivided and one. I like the analogy Cyprian uses to describe the unity and “oneness” of the Church, in comparing it to things in nature: As there are many rays of the sun, but one ligh...