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My new book, available now! Take a journey through the first 400 years of Church History in only 40 days!

Take a journey through the first 400 years of Church History in only 40 days! "40 Days with the Fathers" is a daily reading plan/devotional spread out over forty days; and over the course of this reading plan you will read extracts and commentary on 23 different early Church texts from a selection of some of the most influential Church Fathers, such as: Didache, Diognetus, Polycarp, Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Cyprian, Athanasius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Ambrose of Milan, and Leo the Great. These people who came before us, those great men of faith, many of whom suffered persecution and martyrdom to preserve the Church and Christ's mission, bridge the gap between th...

The Resurrection as a historical event

...y place! Ignatius gives us an early insight into the understanding of this descending and rising out of that “prison” Hades (or Sheol in Hebrew), by linking it to the event in Mat 27:52 – “For Says the Scripture, ‘Many bodies of the saints that slept arose,’ their graves being opened.  He descended, indeed, into Hades alone, but He arose accompanied by a multitude” – Ignatius to the Trallians, ch. IX The nature of the resurrection Firstly, the resurrection is spiritual. Though spiritual isn’t the only type of resurrection taught in the New Testament, many people think that’s it’s purely a physical act only. Many times in Scriptu...

Did the Early Church invent the Trinity?

...etters of Ignatius (108–110) long before Nicaea codified the terminology. Not only are these very early texts, but the authors are links back to the Apostles themselves, having sat under, and learnt from them. Could they have got such a core belief wrong so soon after learning from Paul or John? It’s highly unlikely. So, to display this as plainly as possible, and to act as a proof against those who would like to rewrite history and say that “the Church invented the Trinity/deity of Christ at Nicaea”, below is a large selection of quotes from Apostolic period onward showing that Christians everywhere for all time have believed Jesus was the divine Son an...

Free Early Church Resources

...ourney of Ignatius to his Martyrdom The whole journey covers about 1524 miles (2454 km)! Blue pins are the known route that Ignatius took Green pins are where he stopped to write his epistles (zoom in and click the pins for info) Red pins are the conjectured route   Chronological Timeline of the New Testament and other Early Church Texts and Events A timeline of when the New Testament and other early Patristic works were written*, plus significant historical events which may have influenced certain writings. KEY:Orange = New TestamentDark Green = Apostolic Fathers (c.70 - c.150 AD)Light Green = Ante-Nicene Fathers (pre-325 AD)Light Orange = Post-N...

Why Read The Early Church Fathers?

...Why read the Early Church Fathers? Maybe for some of you reading this, the question might better be phrased as: who are the Church Fathers? No doubt you will be familiar with some of their names: Augustine, Jerome, Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin Martyr et al. You may have even read portions or quotes by some of these men. But that still doesn't really explain to you who they are and why you should care, much less actually read any of their works. My new book deals with a selection of some of the most influential Early Church Fathers, sometimes also referred to as the Apostolic Fathers (if they lived between AD 70-150), or collectively as the Ante Nicene...

Lent: Day 4 - Polycarp to the Philippians

...ters from Ignatius with this one, which were highly commended to be read and passed on amongst the churches. Overall, this letter feels very familiar and is just as encouraging as the Pauline letters we read in the New Testament, well worth at least one read through in full....