Blog Search Results

Great is the Mystery of Faith!

...trampled death under foot, and bound the strong one, and set man free, then did the whole creation see clearly that for man's sake the Judge was condemned, and the Invisible was seen, and the Illimitable was circumscribed, and the Impassible suffered, and the Immortal died, and the Celestial was laid in the gave. For our Lord, when He was born man, was condemned in order that He might Show mercy, was bound in order that He might loose, was seized in order that He might release, suffered in order that He might feel compassion, died in order that He might give life, was laid in the grave that He might raise from the dead. – Melito of Sardis, Discourse on Soul...

Coffee With Jesus: Luke 22–23

...efore his death, he says “I thirst” and drinks the wine. This is recorded in more detail in Matthew and John: Matthew 27:48At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. John 19:29–30A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Even the use of hyssop here in John’s account points to something often overlooked but extremely significant to the Jewish people as it points back to the very first...

Lent: Day 14 - Justin Martyr: First Apology, Chaps. 24-35

...ened with death simply for being called as such. He then goes on to outline the various different gods and magicians that the Greeks believed in and how in all their various and blasphemous ways, yet all under one name or doctrine, they are still free from threat. But even in spite of death, Christians will still worship Jesus because through him they have learned to despise and reject these false gods and demons. Guilt of harming children Justin condemns the practices of “exposing children” – which in this context seems to mean sexually abusing them. He explains that Christians have “been taught that to expose newly-born children is the part of wicke...

Lent: Day 13 - Justin Martyr: First Apology, Chaps. 12-23

...ven after death souls are in a state of sensation” and thus there is an afterlife worth considering. He goes on to say that because these practitioners of divinations etc are granted favours, that the Christians should also be granted the same because they “more firmly” believe in God, “since we expect to receive again our own bodies”. The resurrection is something which seems to be a sticking point to accept, but they “maintain that with God nothing is impossible” and goes on to contrast the way in which they will be planted like seeds in the ground through death, so that in the future they will come up with new bodies. To try and explain this co...

What was so good about Good Friday?

...t is the death of Jesus and his subsequent resurrection. While there does seem to be some evidence to suggest that by the 2nd Century, early Christians were celebrating Easter, it sometimes feels like the Modern Church has placed more emphasis on Jesus's birth in terms of celebrations and events, than it does for his resurrection. Though that's probably partly due to Western culture and the so-called "War on Christmas" making some churches push Christmas harder. I digress. Paul makes his view on the resurrection, and thus the whole point of Christianity, quite clear in 1 Cor 15:12-19 (emphasis mine) — Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead,...

Lent Day 23: Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 21-30

...ead us to death and not into God's righteousness (James 1:14-15,20), he instructs that instead we must be watchful against our desires and the enemy, guarding our hearts (Prov. 4:23), since that can lead us down a path towards deception and sinfulness. We battle against demonic forces From here he begins some lengthy teaching on how our battles aren't against flesh and blood, but the “authorities”, “cosmic powers” and the “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12), whose number is great in the “air around us”, he says. Going into a little more detail on the deceptions of demons, Anthony explains how the more Christians press...