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What is Advent?

It’s that time of year when Christmas lights and decorations go up, things start to look a little more sparkly, and kids are getting ready to open their Advent Calendars. But what exactly is “Advent”? You may be from a Church tradition which recognises this each year so are more familiar, but if not, you may be curious to know more about this ancient Christian tradition. Advent, derived from the Latin “adventus,” signifying “coming” or “arrival,” stands as a sacred season deeply entrenched in the hearts of many Christians globally. This period of expectant waiting and preparation marks the initiation of the liturgical year in Western Christia...

The Early Concept of the Trinity: Tracing the roots

The doctrine of the Trinity, which asserts the co-equality of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, has deep roots in the early Christian writings of the first three centuries. While the full articulation of the Trinity developed over time, culminating at the Council of Nicaea in the fourth century, references to the equality of these three persons can be traced back to influential documents and the teachings of early Church Fathers in the centuries leading up to this pivotal moment in Church History. Early Church Beliefs and Teachings One of the earliest Christian documents, the Didache, believed to have been written in the late first or early second century, pro...

Keeping Christ in Xmas

The abbreviation “Xmas” often sparks discussions about its origins and whether it diminishes the significance of Christmas. Contrary to misconceptions, the use of 'X' in "Xmas" has deep historical roots dating back to ancient Greek, where it represents the first letter of “Christ” (Χριστός). Additionally, the Chi Rho symbol, formed by superimposing the Greek letters Chi (Χ) and Rho (Ρ), is a notable Christian symbol representing Christ. The Origins of "Xmas" The letter ‘X’ in “Xmas” finds its roots in the Greek letter ‘Chi’ (Χ), which abbreviates the word “Christ” in Greek. This practice of using ‘X’ as an abbreviation for...

26 Differences Between Muhammad and Jesus

If you’ve ever spent any time online, either in random Facebook comment threads or reading the news, I’m sure you’ve come across the claim that Islam and Christianity are basically the same and that “we all worship the same God”, getting lumped together as an “Abrahamic religion” along with Judaism. Muslims claim Islam “is the completed final version of the previous messages originally revealed to Moses and Jesus” which came to “correct the deviations of Christianity”, which had apparently become corrupt by the seventh century when Muhammad came along. But for something which is meant to come from the same God at its core, it would sugges...

Does Jesus mean Hail Zeus?

A meme doing the rounds on the internet You may not have come across the image above before, or the similar variants of it, but it pops up on social media groups every so often. The underlying argument is quite ridiculous, but there does seem to be a sub-culture with Christianity which promotes this as fact quite vigorously. Having seen this get shared at least three times on Facebook in the last month, I decided to add a new category to the blog: Apologetics.   In here will be articles for defence of the faith, though sadly this particular one needs to be against those who are already meant to be a part of the same faith! But many people seem to accept...

An Examination of Conditional Immortality (Part Two)

Welcome to Part Two of my study and examination of Conditional Immortality (aka Annihilationism). If you missed part one, you can read that one here. As with part one, this will be a long post as there is still much ground to cover before we can really grasp the bigger picture about what Scripture teaches. So with that said, I’ll pick right up where we left off. In part one, I covered a lot of New Testament texts, a few Old Testament passages, plus a look at what some of the earliest church leaders also wrote on the topic to the early church. In this one, we will be looking at a few more Old Testament examples and how they relate to the imagery used in Revela...