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Before The Pumpkins: The Day Two Women Defied Rome

...father, a pagan, begged her to renounce the faith and save her life, but she would not. In her prison diary — one of the earliest surviving Christian texts written by a woman — she records their suffering and her unshakable resolve and faith. After she was arrested with her companions, she wrote of a moment when her father came and tried to persuade her to sacrifice to the Emperor and deny her faith: When my father, out of love for me, tried to turn me from my faith, I said to him: ‘Father, do you see this vessel here — a water pot or whatever it may be? Can it be called by any other name than what it is?’ He answered, ‘No.’ Then I sai...

Christians and the Coronavirus (COVID-19)

...even the pagan critics of Christianity sit up and take notice. The Emperor Julian in 362 AD wrote about how the “atheists” (i.e. Christians) demonstrated better virtue and benevolence than his own people and priests did, and to their shame, because the Christians not only looked after their communities, but the wider population and strangers too! While this quote isn’t specifically related to a time of pestilence, it serves as a good example of the general attitude of early Christians in normal times: …why do we not observe that it is their benevolence to strangers, their care for the graves of the dead and the pretended holiness of their lives that ha...

The Historic Practice of Abortion and How Ancient Christians Responded

...speaks of pagans “exposing” their children and how they get taken up by compassionate passers-by if they get found in time. Children were often exposed, Lactantius (c. AD 304) explains, if the parents were “too pious” to strangle their newborn infant! In 361, Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate wrote a letter to the pagan high-priest Arsacius complaining that the Christians were showing up the state by being too kind to everyone with their acts of charity! …why do we not observe that it is their benevolence to strangers, their care for the graves of the dead and the pretended holiness of their lives that have done most to increase atheism [Christianity...

26 Differences Between Muhammad and Jesus

...was not a pagan contrast with the Church; it was not an alien enemy. It was a perversion of Christian doctrine. Its vitality and endurance soon gave it the appearance of a new religion, but those who were contemporary with its rise saw it for what it was not a denial, but an adaptation and a misuse, of the Christian thing. It differed from most (not from all) heresies in this, that it did not arise within the bounds of the Christian Church. The chief heresiarch, Mohammed himself, was not, like most heresiarchs, a man of Catholic birth and doctrine to begin with. He sprang from pagans. But that which he taught was in the main Catholic doctrine, oversimplified. (p...

Does Jesus mean Hail Zeus?

...eing some pagan deity name for “Zeus”. No, Jesus doesn't mean "hail Zeus" The whole argument hinges on the sound of the suffix “sus” being similar to “Zeus” and is apparently also the Latin word for the Greek god’s name, and the “Je” meaning “Hail”, therefore Jesus means “Hail-Zeus”. The whole 'argument' shows a total lack of even very basic knowledge in ancient languages which can be found from multiple sources online. See the image to the right for a breakdown of the Greek words for "hail" and "Zeus".  Another, similarly blasphemous argument, goes further to say that “Je-Sus” is a compound word, and that it means “Earth...

What was so good about Good Friday?

...ys were a pagan/Roman tradition, the Christians had nothing to do with it. It wasn't until around the 4th Century when Pope Julius declared December 25th as the date in order to corresponded with the Roman feast of Saturnalia. But the real celebration, and the main thrust and focus in the New Testament is the death of Jesus and his subsequent resurrection. While there does seem to be some evidence to suggest that by the 2nd Century, early Christians were celebrating Easter, it sometimes feels like the Modern Church has placed more emphasis on Jesus's birth in terms of celebrations and events, than it does for his resurrection. Though that's probably partly...