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A Journey Through Church History

...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 the Bible and the present day. They fill the void we sometimes wonder about when we get to the end of reading Acts or the Epistles and think, “what happened next?” or “what happened to the Ephesian church after Paul left?” — well now you can read for yourself and see how God continued to grow His Church! Praise for 40 Days with the Fathers: “Timeless truths still for t...

New Covenant Israel is no longer physical (nor literal)!

...e New: Justin Martyr (about 100 to 165): "For the true spiritual Israel ... are we who have been led to God through this crucified Christ." Tertullian (ca.160 – ca.220 AD): “Who else, therefore, are understood but we, who, fully taught by the new law, observe these practices,—the old law being obliterated, the coming of whose abolition the action itself demonstrates. . . . Therefore, as we have shown above that the coming cessation of the old law and of the carnal circumcision was declared, so, too, the observance of the new law and the spiritual circumcision has shone out into the voluntary observances of peace.” (Source: Wikipedia)...

What does the word "Catholic" mean?

...hers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus. Ed. A Cleveland Coxe and Philip Schaff. 2. Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1995. Schaff, Philip and Henry Wace, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Series 2: The Seven Ecumenical Councils. 2. Vol. 14. Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1995. Tertullian. Prescription against Heretics. Ed. Kevin Knight. n.d. 29 July 2021. .        ...

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...

Did the Early Church invent the Trinity?

...08–110 Justin Martyr (c. 150) …and that we reasonably worship Him, having learned that He is the Son of the true God Himself, and holding Him in the second place, and the prophetic Spirit in the third, we will prove. For they proclaim our madness to consist in this, that we give to a crucified man a place second to the unchangeable and eternal God, the Creator of all…  — First Apology 13:5–6, ~A.D. 150 Martyrdom Of Polycarp (c. 155) [Christ] who is the Son of God, we worship, but the Martyrs we love as disciples and imitators of the Lord  — Martyrdom Of Polycarp 17:3, ~ A.D. 155 Theophilus of Antioch (c. 170) In like manner also the...

God from God: The Eternal Son in the Crib

...ugustine, Justin Martyr, and others stressed: “begotten” is relational — not temporal the begetting is eternal — outside time Wisdom existed before creation God has never been without His Wisdom — therefore never without His Son To say “Wisdom was begotten” is not to say “Wisdom began to exist,” but rather “Wisdom eternally comes from the Father.” Before creation began, before the ages existed, before time itself, the Son was begotten —  not as a creature coming into being, but as one who eternally shares the Father’s nature. This is why the Nicene Creed adds: Begotten of the Father before all ages. No...