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Lent: Intro - 40 Day reading plan with the Fathers

This year for Lent I'm following a reading plan which comprises of a collection of extracts from various early church fathers writings. Each day I'm going to write a short overview and any thoughts on the text and link back to the source material so you can also follow along with me too, if you'd like. The overview of each day will probably be posted on the day after. The reading should only take 10-15 minutes of your time, and by day 40, you will have read ten different Fathers: Didache, Diognetus, Polycarp, Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Cyprian, Athanasius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Ambrose of Milan, and Leo the Great. I'll be reading from the “Church Fathers Lenten...

My new book, available now! Take a journey through the first 400 years of Church History in only 40 days!

Take a journey through the first 400 years of Church History in only 40 days! "40 Days with the Fathers" is a daily reading plan/devotional spread out over forty days; and over the course of this reading plan you will read extracts and commentary on 23 different early Church texts from a selection of some of the most influential Church Fathers, such as: Didache, Diognetus, Polycarp, Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Cyprian, Athanasius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Ambrose of Milan, and Leo the Great. These people who came before us, those great men of faith, many of whom suffered persecution and martyrdom to preserve the Church and Christ's mission, bridge the gap between th...

Fasting: A spiritual and physical discipline

...s a daily reading plan and an introduction to the Early Church Fathers that is spread across forty days, originally written as a Lenten reading plan. You can get a copy by clicking here. http://steadfastlutherans.org/2014/03/redeeming-holy-days-from-pagan-lies-ash-wednesday-and-lent-2/ http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/history-of-lent.html http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf204.xxv.iii.iii.iii.html http://www.goarch.org/chapel/calendar/ http://www.infoplease.com/spot/easter1.html http://www.thedidache.com http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/07157.htm https://www.buzzsprout.com/3196/52849-fasting-for-divine-intervention-fa...

Lent Day 21: Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 1-10

...Day Twenty-one: St. Athanasius: Life of Anthony: Chaps. 1-10 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, A...

Lent: Day 11 - Ignatius to Polycarp

...this Lent reading plan, but you can read it in full here at newadvent.org. Scholarly opinion is somewhat divided on the authenticity of The Martyrdom epistle, with some accepting it as totally genuine, others partially and some rejecting it completely. You can read a brief overview on this subject here: biblestudytools.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 who...

Great Lent: The Season of Fasting

...Fasting A spiritual and physical discipline If you are looking for a Lenten reading plan, make sure to check out my book, 40 Days with the Fathers: A Journey Through Church History, which will take you through the first 400 years of church history in forty days! Lent is upon us once again (according to Western tradition), and so I thought it’d be good to write something on the discipline of fasting, which is often neglected or overlooked in many Protestant churches. And much like any major holiday, there is the usual arguments and accusations about how it's all just pagan festivities with a "Christian mask". Easter is no different, and usually gets hit...