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An Examination of Conditional Immortality (Part One)

...nemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. 1 thessalonians 5:3When they say, “there is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! 2 Peter 3:7But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgement and destruction of the godless. As you can see from these few examples, there is a pretty uniform semantic range here, which in an...

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

...bolism of the cross from the writings of Moses, which he “borrowed in like manner”, he inadvertently recognises the Trinity. Plato does this by saying that the “power next to the first God” which was placed crosswise is second, and then speaks of a third, the Spirit of God, because he read that he “moved over the waters” from Moses (Gen 1:2). But despite this, Justin closes his argument by reiterating his previous point that because Moses predates all the Greek thinkers and writers, what Christians preach, no matter how similar sounding it is to certain Greek fables and myths, is imitation. It is not, then, that we hold the same opinions as ot...

What was so good about Good Friday?

...I remember when I was growing up, this was a question I would often wonder about and ask. People would say "because Jesus died on the cross!", which was of little help to me as I would then think, why was Jesus dying a good thing?  But this is a question I'm sure many people will have asked themselves when they consider the name of their Bank Holiday, and probably a question they got an unsatisfactory answer to - if they got one at all! Really though, this holiday time should be more well-known and recognised than Christmas. While the birth of Jesus is important, it isn't actually central to the Faith, nor is it really emphasised much in the New Testament...

Lent Day 24: Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 31-40

...ves [with the cross] … and pray, and you shall see them vanish.” “But if they shamelessly stand their ground”, Anything warns, then fear them not and don’t think that they may be good spirits. “For the presence either of the good or evil by the help of God can easily be distinguished” – the evil comes with much fear and distraction on our minds so that we are not focussed right on God. Whereas good spirits from the Lord, come “so quietly and gently that immediately joy, gladness and courage arise in the soul” since the Lord our God is ours, and their, joy and the “thoughts of the soul remain unruffled and undisturbed”. Just as we see...

Lent Day 26: Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 51-60

...Day Twenty-six: St. Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 51-60 Who: Bishop of Alexandria; Confessor and Doctor of the Church; born c. 296; died 2 May, 373 AD. He was the main defender of orthodoxy in the 4th-century battle against the Arianism heresy. Certain writers received the title “Doctor” on account of the great advantage their doctrine had on the whole Church, Athanasius especially for his doctrine on the incarnation. What: the biography of Anthony the Great’s life, which helped to spread the concept of Christian monasticism, particularly in Western Europe. Why: From the letter’s own prologue: “the life and conversation of our holy Father,...

Lent: Day 7 - Ignatius to the Trallians

...against [the cross of] the Lord?”. We don't see much of this heresy around today, though it has its forms here and there (such as within Islam), but it's not such a great threat to the Faith anymore. Even so, remembering the fact that Jesus was indeed “revealed in flesh, vindicated in spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, [and] taken up in glory” (1 Tim 3:16) is the cornerstone of our faith. Anything less is not the Gospel, and that is what Ignatius was emphasising to this church. I'm going to close by quoting Ignatius’ “history of Christ” just because I really like the way it summarises the Gospel:...