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

When we think of St. Nicholas, two contrasting images often emerge: the cheerful, gift-giving Santa Claus and the fiery bishop who supposedly punched Arius at the Council of Nicaea. The latter story, popularised through memes and tales of “righteous anger,” portrays Nicholas as a defender of truth through violence. But how much of this tale is rooted in fact? St Nicholas of Myra slapping Arius at the Council of Nicaea.Fresco from the Soumela Monastery (Turkey) The truth is both simpler and more profound: St. Nicholas embodied the teachings of Christ, not through impulsive acts of aggression, but through a life of love, generosity, and devotion. Sepa...

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

...ration of Christmas too). Concluding Thoughts To conclude, I think that the Anglican Communion is likely to view the unification of the Easter date as a favourable development and may align its practices accordingly since the wider Western Church has kept with the practice of Rome for centuries already and it would be odd for traditional mainline Protestant churches to want to purposely be unaligned in this area. The broader, less traditional Protestants will potentially respond in various ways, with some denominations embracing the change in the spirit of unity, while others may opt to retain their established traditions. If this proposed change does come ab...

Does Easter Have Pagan Origins?

...much like Christmas and Santa, the character was widely commercialised and used to make money and popularise the Easter holiday. The history of the decorated eggs is much older, but surprisingly, a medieval Christian tradition! During the Lenten fast during the Middle Ages, the restrictions on what you could or couldn’t eat came to rule out meat, dairy and eggs. This was first solidified as a rule at the Council in Trullo (aka the Quinisext Council) in AD 692: It seems good therefore that the whole Church of God which is in all the world should follow one rule and keep the fast perfectly, and as they abstain from everything which is killed, so also should...

Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up (Book Review)

...the early Christmas bore witness to. Well worth the read for anyone who takes their faith seriously. Buy the book here. Bonus: Francis Chan's "Letters to the Church" Letters to the Church I've also just finished reading this book by Francis Chan before starting Real Heretics. Although it's not dealing with the Early Church aspect of looking at the primitive Church, it still looks at similar questions of how can we get back to a simpler, more pure faith that the Apostles and Jesus began. It's definitely a challenging book and had struck me right where I needed it to. It's helped verbalise some of the questions and issues I've had for the last few years...

Humble without the #hashtag

...As much as it a pains me to give this guy any more exposure, sometimes you need to in order to expose something. First, you need to watch the latest video from Joshua Feuerstein to understand what I'm talking about here:     I do this not to further his “cause” or “movement” but rather to counteract it. Mainly with something more practical, but hopefully also with more common sense too. It's things like this that give Christianity a bad name. I mean really, is this really what Christians should be worried about? Why not do something more useful like feed the homeless and start a movement that'll actually benefit society AND do something Jesus...

Horus, Jesus, and Egyptian Mythology: Separating Fact from Fiction

...If you've ever found yourself immersed in the world of ancient Egyptian mythology or perhaps watching a documentary on the subject (or even just browsing social media around Christmas time), you might have come across the claim that the story of Jesus shares striking similarities with the story of Horus, an ancient Egyptian deity. While it might seem convincing at first that there's a direct connection between the two, it's essential to understand that the similarities are often exaggerated in popular culture, and many scholars consider them vastly different. In this article, we'll explore the life of Horus, his birth, the miracles he performed, and the truth b...