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Lent: Day 12 - Justin Martyr: First Apology, Chaps. 1-11

Day Twelve: St. Justin Martyr: First Apology, Chaps. 1-11 Who: Justin Martyr was a Philosopher who converted to Christianity and became a tireless evangelist and apologist. Justin wrote more Christianity than any other person prior to his time. He is classified herein as Eastern, since he a native of Samaria and his thought patterns were Eastern. However, he spent the last years of his life in Rome, where he was executed as a martyr (c. 165). What: An apologetic (defence) essay to explain what Christians believe and do. Why: Justin is demanding the Emperor to investigate accusations and unjust persecution against Christians so that they at least may face a f...

Lent: Day 17 - Justin Martyr: First Apology: Chaps. 60-68

Day Seventeen: St. Justin Martyr: First Apology, Chaps. 60-68 Who: Justin Martyr was a Philosopher who converted to Christianity and became a tireless evangelist and apologist. Justin wrote more Christianity than any other person prior to his time. He is classified herein as Eastern, since he a native of Samaria and his thought patterns were Eastern. However, he spent the last years of his life in Rome, where he was executed as a martyr (c. 165). What: An apologetic (defence) essay to explain what Christians believe and do. Why: Justin is demanding the Emperor to investigate accusations and unjust persecution against Christians so that they at least may fac...

The Problem of Suffering and How We Approach it

...bout it? Christianity isn't about trying to philosophise about why we suffer, but rather it's to do with how we respond to suffering. We accept that it's a reality of our lives and world, and then go about trying to make it better. James makes the point in his epistle when explaining that “pure religion” is “to care for orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27). This is similar to what Isaiah declared about the type of worship that God is truly interested in: Isaiah 58:6-7Is not this the fast that I choose:to loose the bonds of injustice,to undo the thongs of the yoke,to let the oppressed go free,and to break every yoke?Is it not to share...

Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up (Book Review)

...Straight off, this book will challenge you in your thinking and quite possibly in your practice and outworking of life as a Christian—especially if you are from an evangelical/Baptist/non-denominational background. Will the Real HereticsPlease Stand Up The book starts of taking you carefully through some of the practices and beliefs of the early church and those who knew the Apostles personally. It all feels very hopeful and like you're being led onward in a journey towards a certain goal, much of which I'm sure you'll find agreeable in what Bercot points out as discrepancies between early Christianity and today. Then we get to a few points about the Re...

Creedal Christians: The Nicene Creed

...of-Nicaea-Christianity-325 https://www.theopedia.com/ecumenical-councils http://www.prayerfoundation.org/nicene_creed_scripture_basis.htm https://brewminate.com/filioque-and-the-latin-greek-great-schism-of-1054/ http://www.oxfordbiblicalstudies.com/article/opr/t94/e389 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Filioque_controversy http://www.religionfacts.com/da-vinci-code/nicea  ...

Christians and the Coronavirus (COVID-19)

...ritics 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 have done most to i...