Blog Search Results

Lent: Day 11 - Ignatius to Polycarp

...tools.com/history/. In brief though, if it is genuine, the letter is supposed to written by those who accompanied Ignatius on his travels through Asia Minor and who also witnessed his execution in Rome. After a lengthy trip, they eventually landed in Rome where Ignatius “was thus cast to the wild beasts”. The believers in the city “spent the whole night in tears” and prayer to the Lord, and it is recorded in the closing chapter of this letter that some “saw the blessed Ignatius” standing with them and embracing the group, and “others beheld him again praying” for them and lastly, some saw him sweating and “standing by the Lord” as though com...

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

...lines the history of Christ; that he born for a purpose and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and how they learned he was the Son of God to be worshipped. …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 Demonic Influences This is the start of misunderstanding, and Justin goes on to explain how it is the demons he previously mentioned (see yesterday's reading) that go about...

Creedal Christians: Introduction

...d as oral history, which was handed to them by the eye-witness Apostles themselves. These creeds were eventually used in the daily liturgy and worship of the Church as part of baptisms and hymns, and were also expected to be committed to memory by new converts to the faith. Another well-known example of what could be arguably a creed of sorts, is found in Galatians 3:28 which, upon further inspection, appears to contradict and oppose the more popular expressions and "blessings" that were used by Greeks and Jews of his day. Contrast Paul's wording to the Galatians... "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male...

An Examination of Conditional Immortality (Part One)

...ue to its history, it took on a more eschatological/spiritual meaning as a place of judgement and destruction. Hades (Sheol)This is the Greek form of the Hebrew Sheol found in the Old Testament, usually (and properly) translated as “grave”, or meaning the general place of the dead (similar to the place of the same name in Greek mythology). TartarusThis only appears once in the New Testament in 2 Peter 2:4 and is used in relation to the angels who sinned and were put in chains. Interestingly, it’s another word borrowed from Greek mythology, for the prison where the Titans were sent as punishment. If you are interested in how we got the word “hell”...

The Historic Practice of Abortion and How Ancient Christians Responded

...daism’s history, too. So it should come as no surprise that even today, Christians generally oppose the practice of abortion and its legality, and have despised modern laws in favour of it, such as the recently overturned Roe v Wade in the United States. There’s a lot more that could be said about the uniquely American situation, and how the country needs better social support to go alongside this decision, but space won’t allow for that here. In today’s world, this issue has become highly charged and political, and even the worldwide Church isn’t as unified on this issue as it once was, historically speaking. Hopefully, people will come to reconside...

When did Christians become so whiny?

...ch/church-history/timeline/1-300/what-were-early-christians-like-11629560.html http://www.originalchristianity.net/?p=2333...