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Why Read The Early Church Fathers?

...ution 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?”. So Why Read What They Wrote? The Bible didn't just drop out of the sky, all leather bound and ready to read for us to pick up today. There was a lengthy process of selecting and preserving the apostle's teachings which spanned nearly four centuries, and it was due to the Fathers and their faithfulness to the Scriptures that this was possible. No...

Lent: Day 9 - Ignatius to the Philadelphians

...Day Nine: St. Ignatius of Antioch: Letter to the Philadelphians (full text) Who: Ignatius converted at a young age and later became Bishop of Antioch. A friend of Polycarp and fellow disciple of John, there is a long standing tradition that Ignatius was the child that Jesus held in his arms and blessed in Mark 10:13-16 What: As usual, a general call to remain in unity and heed their bishop. Also to avoid listening to Judaizers who would have them follow the Law. Why: Ignatius wrote a series of letters to the churches in Asia Minor whilst en route to Rome to face martyrdom by wild beasts in the Colosseum around 108 AD. When: Around 107-108 AD As with the re...

Before The Pumpkins: Reclaiming All Hallows’ Eve

...with the martyrdom texts in modern English, and a chapter detailing the history of Halloween: Get your free eBook!...