I want to make the creed more controversial rather than less controversial for the right reasons rather than the wrong reasons. It was said of Irenaeus (2nd Century) the early Church Father that “to him ...what was handed down was not a collection of formal beliefs, but a means of living contact with the sources of life, indeed with the Life himself. He felt to the full what a modern writer called “the thrill of [...]
An introductory study of Christian apologetics reveals that the claims of Christianity were presented by the early apostles/messengers as verifiable, objective truth. Whereas most other world religions/cults avoid empirical and historical investigations, Christianity is grounded on real events having taken place (I Cor. 15:17). In fact, Dr. Steven Collins goes so far as to point out "Christianity might be the only belief system in the world that rests its validity on the reality of certain [...]
Could His [Jesus of Nazareth] Words Have Been Recorded in His Lifetime? An elegant young woman, once thought to be the Greek poet Sappho, gazes soulfully out of a first-century B.C. medallion painting from Pompeii, Italy. In her left hand she holds a wooden writing tablet, which would have unfolded to reveal a layer of wax inside; with her right hand she raises a stylus, a pointed tool used to make impressions in the wax. [...]
The "nomina sacra" refers to the "Sacred names" found within Early Christian literature. Theologian Larry Hurtado writes: "The “nomina sacra“, a set of words given special treatment by copyists in ancient Christian manuscripts, continues to be a subject of debate about what the practice signifies and how it originated. The words in question are written in a unique abbreviated form with a curious horizontal stroke placed over the abbreviation. The earliest and most consistently treated [...]
Records of how early Christians worshipped and what doctrine they believed! Trinity, Deity and eternal pre-existence of Jesus Christ Person & Personality of the Holy Spirit. 74 AD The Letter of Barnabas 74 AD The Letter of Barnabas "And further, my brethren, if the Lord [Jesus] endured to suffer for our soul, he being the Lord of all the world, to whom God said at the foundation of the world, 'Let us make man after our [...]
Here are some Church Fathers and their explanation of Genesis 1:26: 74 AD Epistle of Barnabas: "For the Scripture says concerning us, while He speaks to the Son, "Let Us make man after Our image, and after Our likeness" (Epistle of Barnabas, Chapter VI.—The Sufferings of Christ, and the New Covenant, Were Announced by the Prophets.) 150 AD Justin Martyr: Speaking of Jewish theologians Justin calls the Jewish teaching that God spoke to angels a hersey: [...]
Although the unanimous opinion of the apostolic Fathers was that this was Jesus talking to Abraham, such is a guess and not specifically known by scripture. Having said this, the story of Abraham meeting God and the two angels in Genesis 18, is most likely what Jesus meant when He said, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." " John 8:56 What the apostolic Fathers said about Genesis 19:24: 150 AD Justin [...]
