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What does the word "Catholic" mean?

  For many people today, non-Christians and (low church) Christians alike, when they hear the word “Catholic”, certain images spring to mind: the Pope, the rosery, Catholic school, big old churches buildings, choirboys, maybe monks or statues of Mary even; and sadly more recently, sex abuse scandals. But, generally speaking, all of these are actually aspects of Roman Catholicism — a particular branch of Christianity, and not what the word “catholic” truly means as we’ll see when examining how the early church used the word and what the original Greek word means. καθολικός (katholikos) the Greek word where we get the English word “c...

Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up (Book Review)

Straight off, this book will challenge you in your thinking and quite possibly in your practice and outworking of life as a Christian—especially if you are from an evangelical/Baptist/non-denominational background. Will the Real HereticsPlease Stand Up the book starts of taking you carefully through some of the practices and beliefs of the early church and those who knew the Apostles personally. It all feels very hopeful and like you're being led onward in a journey towards a certain goal, much of which I'm sure you'll find agreeable in what Bercot points out as discrepancies between early Christianity and today. then we get to a few points about the Re...

Palm Sunday and the End Times

...dience to the cross and what that accomplished, through parabolic language. It also speaks to the forty year delay between his death and resurrection and the judgement on the nation of Israel. Jesus returned as King, and the Church began to spread the Good News of His Kingdom to the world. This is something we must continue to do until the consummation of the ages and final judgement comes upon the whole world. In the second letter of Peter, the Church then, as well as now, are encouraged in this waiting period before the judgement which will come “like a thief in the night”. the visitation of God for judgement in AD 70 was predicated by signs which Jesus...

7 Ways Jesus Reverses the Curse From Eden

...m endured the cross, disregarding its shame… 3. Jesus dies outside of the gates of the city to make a way for people to enter paradise and have forgiveness of sin; Adam and Eve were forced outside of paradise because of their sin. Genesis 3:23,24…therefore the Lord God sent them forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which they were taken. He drove out the humans, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life. Hebrews 13:12therefore Jesus also suffered outside the city gate in order to sanctify the people by his own blood. 4. Jesus wears a crown...

Jesus, Mithras and Ancient Roman Cults: Separating Fact from Fiction

...Welcome to the next instalment of my series looking at the ancient mythological gods and how they compare to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Mithras is yet another popular ancient god that people like to compare with Jesus and make wild claims about, proposing that they are the same deities with different names. But is this even remotely true? This article has ended up being a bit longer than anticipated as it’s one of the few ancient religions that was contemporary to the birth of Christianity which was seen as somewhat of a rival belief system, so there’s a lot of interesting things to cover! the Origins Mithras has his roots in ancient Persi...

Before the Pumpkins: Reclaiming All Hallows’ Eve

...marked by the cross, but leading always toward resurrection! Dive into the lives and testimonies of these faithful men and women who can still inspire faith in us even now: Before the Pumpkins: the Road To the Lions Before the Pumpkins: Faith In the Flames Before the Pumpkins: the Day Two Women Defied Rome Before the Pumpkins: the Barbecued Deacon You can now get this series as a free eBook for a limited time, complete with the martyrdom texts in modern English, and a chapter detailing the history of Halloween: Get your free eBook!...