Plato’s works are considered among the finest of the ancient philosophers, and his “Republic” has been called “the highest point to which ancient thinkers ever attained.”[1] Plato was deeply affected emotionally and politically by the prosecution and execution of his mentor, Socrates. In watching the Athenian democracy at work, Plato was severely disappointed in its […]
“Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.”[i] This quote illustrates the fact that if we don’t know the mistakes that people have made in the past, we can quite easily make similar erroneous decisions. It should be noted, however, that some things in the past were not errors, and are actually better
“God in America” or “Church and State in the United States”? Read More »
And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.[Matthew 21:22] Introduction The Limits of Believing What Did Jesus Teach? More Examples of Jesus’ Teaching of Miraculous Believing Jesus Rebuked Those That Didn’t Believe Jesus Marveled at and Praised Those That Believed Miraculously The Challenge of Believing Miraculously Conclusion Introduction Believing
Jesus Taught Miraculous Believing Read More »
In preparation for this section on ancient philosophy on this website, I basically reviewed four books besides online sources. Look at the emphasis on Plato in these books: Chapter 1 of “The Story Of Philosophy” is entitled “Plato”.[1] In the first paragraph on the first page of the book, the first reference to particular philosophers
The philosophers talked about in the previous article, Thales, Anaximander , Leucippus, and Democritus, are all called pre-Socratic philosophers. Just the fact that there is a designation “Pre- Socratic” emphasizes the importance at which Socrates’ ideas are placed. Up until Socrates Philosophy focused on the cosmos; the world and everything around it. Socrates shifted the
Historians place the beginning of philosophy about the sixth century B.C. About this time a series of men, Thales, Democritus, Anaxagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and so forth, began challenging the teachings of the pagan religions on the origins of life and the best ways to live it.[1] They saw flaws in the mystical explanations of
The Origins of Philosophy, the Love of Wisdom Read More »
One of the things that set Jesus apart from the beginning of his Ministry was the authority with which he taught: They were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as having authority, and not as the scribes. (Mar 1:22 WEB) This verse sets up a simple comparison between the teaching of Jesus and
Jesus Taught With The Right Kind Authority, The Kind That Delivered People Read More »
We are really being naïve if we think that, as citizens of the modern world, we can easily understand the world of Jesus, Peter, and Paul. As a young boy in the United States, I was taught to speak English, an evolved form of old Germanic languages, a language somewhat distant from the likes of
In the last couple of posts, we have been talking about Luke chapter 4. Jesus States His Mission and Jesus – “No prophet is acceptable in his own country” are valuable teachings that we have already seen in this chapter. But there is another teaching, this one by example, that is illustrated here. Look at
Jesus Quietly Passed Through Those Trying to Kill Him Read More »
In the previous post, Jesus States His Mission, we read in Luke chapter 4 where Jesus read from a scroll of Isaiah and declared that the words he read there were his mission, and that he was the fulfillment of that prophecy; “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me
Jesus – “No prophet is acceptable in his own country” Read More »
In Luke chapter four Jesus stands up to read in the synagogue and reads from the scroll of Isaiah: He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. He entered, as was his custom, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed
Jesus States His Mission Read More »
Continuing with the pattern that we saw in Clement’s epistle there are again no Scripture references to New Testament epistles in either the long or short versions of the epistles by Ignatius deemed to be genuine. In fact, there are no Scripture references at all in the short versions. In the long versions, as we
01.2.5 Ignatius Epistles Still only Call Old Testament Scripture Read More »
In the epistle of Ignatius to the Romans, chapter 11 is called “Chap. XI. — Avoid the Deadly Errors of the Docetae” But it is in chapter 7, Let Us Stand Aloof from Such Heretics, of The Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans that Ignatius is known for his harsh criticism of sects that did
01.2.4 Ignatius – the First Apologist of the Early Church Fathers Read More »
Perhaps one of the first teachings that Jesus gave was by example: And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led in the Spirit in the wilderness during forty days, being tempted of the devil. And he did eat nothing in those days: and when they were completed, he hungered.
How Jesus Responded To Temptation Read More »
The more you look at systematic theology the more complicated it gets. There are hermeneutics, Christologies, eschatologies, and numerous other studies in it that get very involved, to the point it becomes very difficult to weigh all the various nuances. In contrast to all those intricate topics, in Jesus, as seen in the gospels, we
The Study of Jesus’ Teaching Read More »
Dionysius, around 260 AD, wrote a tribute to the heroic nursing efforts of local Christians in the great epidemic of that time. Look at the contrast between Christians and others: most of our brother Christians showed unbounded love and loyalty, never sparing themselves and thinking only of one another. Heedless of danger, they took charge
Eusebius is recognized as the father of Christian Church history. Living from about 260 – 339A.D he was the first to undertake the task of recording the growth of Christianity from a small Jewish sect in Jerusalem to a preeminent religion in the then known world. As he is the only person whose writings have
03.0 Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History Read More »
The epistles of Ignatius, most probably written on his path to martyrdom, sound in a lot of ways like the epistles of Paul. He opens with loving greetings, he gives praise to the believers he writes to. He has a theme in his writings of calling for unity. And this call for unity is centered
Docetism comes from the Greek word “dokein” which means “seem”. Docetism was a doctrine first promoted by the Gnostics that Jesus Christ wasn’t a real man, he only “seemed” to be a real man. “Docetic Gnosticism held that Jesus was actually a kind of Phantom, and only had the appearance of flesh.”[1] Docetism is a
This site is adding a section in the table of contents on heresies. There are several definitions for the word heresy. The one that many are familiar with is that heresy is a belief that rejects the orthodox tenets of a religion. [1] That sounds simple enough, but it is actually more complicated than that.
Heresy, an Introduction Read More »
Martyrdom is not new when we come to Ignatius, but he brings an element heretofore unseen. First, there are numerous records of martyrs around the Bible. In Acts chapter 7 we see Stephen as the first Christian martyr. It is a glorious, inspiring record: Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the
01.2.3 Ignatius Promotes Choosing to be a Martyr as a Means of Attaining Christ Read More »
Ignatius, a.d. 30-107, is a man who sat at the feet of the apostles. There is a claim that Ignatius as a very small child was held by Jesus and that is why he is named Theophorus which means “carried by God”.[1] Ignatius played an instrumental role both as the Bishop of Antioch, and a
01.2.1 Ignatius as an Example of the Problems in Studying Early Church Writings Read More »
While theologians have struggled with the nuances of the meanings of individual words for millennia now, Christians have been worshiping God simply and praisefully all the while. When bishops were battling over adding the word “homoousios” (“of the same substance,” a nonbliblical greek word used to substantiate the deity of Christ at Nicea) believers were
Praise and Worship Are Simple Read More »
One of the claims of the critics of Christianity is that the religion is denigrating to women, especially in the aspect that some Christian churches do not recognize the capacity of women to lead. Moreover, women are assigned a completely subservient role in many churches and in marriage, making the religion sexist. In his book,
A Sociologist Talks about How the Appearance of Christianity Improved the Lives of Women Read More »
The issue of the role of women in the church is complicated and far-reaching. It is complicated because there are examples of women in powerful roles in the Bible while there are verses that appear to say that women shouldn’t even speak in public in church. To see how far-reaching this dispute is look at
The Role of Women in the Church Read More »