Long ages are a recent phenomenon to justify evolutionary philosophy. I used to believe the day-age and/or gap models were credible, until I realized they had a number of linguistic and logical problems, and that my view was not based on the Bible’s language or historical views, but simply to accommodate long age concepts. These models were constructed in the nineteenth century in an attempt to harmonize evolutionary dogma with the Biblical text. Long ages were touted as ‘proven’ by science, and therefore it seemed necessary to force the Bible’s language to conform to this supposed scientific fact even if this created linguistic, logical and historical inconsistencies.
See how this came about at Young and Old Earth Creation Beliefs and Origins.
Tags: bible, Christianity, church history, creation, day age theory, evolution, gap theory, old earth, young earth
The ante-Nicene Church was, from a political perspective, an illegal network that broke away from the tolerated Jewish religion. This underground status made Christian unity a true challenge. After the Edict of Milan in 313 AD when Christianity became legal, great strides were made towards liturgical and episcopal unity, but that unity developed and flourished from a foundation of unity which extends all the way back to the Jerusalem Church of Acts. I would like to examine three principles of unity in the early centuries of Christianity: government, liturgy, and doctrine.
Read more on Ante-Nicene Church Unity at Called to Communion.
Tags: church history, church unity
Tertullian’s Formula was never used for much of the 4th century Christological debates, surprisingly enough. It was, however, redefined by Damasus in the late 4th century to mesh with the Eastern viewpoint. Personally, I like Tertullian in the Greek.
Continue reading “Tertullian’s Formula in Greek”
Tags: church history, Doctrinal Development, Godhead, oneness, trinity
The best part of the 4th Century of Christianity was the intervening years between 325 and 381. Here, Roman almost slipped back into Paganism at the most and a pluralistic society as the least:
Continue reading “4th Century Christianity: Arian Councils and a Pagan Emperor”
Tags: arius, bishop of rome, church history, Doctrinal Development, paganism, rome
This was part of a presentation given on the development of the Doctrine of the Trinity earlier this year. I focuses on the history of it. Here is the portion of the First Ecumenical Council. Personally, St. Nicolas is still a hero of mine.
The 4th Century of Christianity is by far the most exiting. With the end of Roman persecutions, when the Empire, and thus the world, stopped turning on the Christians, they started to do it to themselves. First, of course, was the Council of Nicaea which was brought about by Arius’s disputation that Christ was a creature, begotten of God, higher in rank than all others, but in the end, a mere creature. The Emperor stepped in. At the First Ecumenical Council, a creed was produced which was ambivalent enough for both sides to agree to it (except Arius and two of his generals, one of which would later baptize Constantine on his death bed). While many assume that the intervening years between that council and the council of 381 were quiet, in the end, it simply wasn’t. It saw the great Athanasius accused of murder, exiled, and eventually restore back to his bishopric. It also saw the parting of ways begin which would eventually split Christendom into the East and West. (Even today, the West focuses on the unity of the Godhead while the East focuses on the triunity.)
Continue reading “4th Century Christianity: The Council of Nicaea”
Tags: arius, church history, Doctrinal Development, first ecumenical council, schism
Below is a small portion of views from among the Church Fathers concerning eschatology, the End Times.
Continue reading “Eschatological Views Among the Church Fathers”
Tags: church history, eschatology, premillennialism
Thanks to Fr. Stephen for this tip, which has helped to provide fodder for a few other posts this week. Blame him if you don’t like them.
Nathan Busenitz has posted on the growing trend among some in the Emergent Church to ‘get back to the roots of Christianity.’ I have to wonder if they would feel the same way if they read either Justin or Pliny the Younger’s account of the early Christian worship service:
Continue reading “How Emergent Was the Ancient Church?”
Tags: church history, church service, emergent church, grace to you, Pliny the Younger, worship
Click to Order
I have been waiting for the Mosaic to arrive in hand ever since the news first broke from Tyndale. The months of waiting are over, and I am not disappointed.
- Hardcover: 1340 pages
- Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers (September 14, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1414322038
- ISBN-13: 978-1414322032
Technical bits:
The Bible comes in 2 bindings, one hardcover and one softcover with a leather like feel. Some time back, when quality reproductions of the Geneva (mid-16th English bible) was being made, they offered it in a similar binding. It was meant to give a historic feel to it, and that feel is felt with the leather-life cover of the Mosaic. The bible is thick (almost two inches), but fits nicely in the hand of a preacher of a lay person – ministers, indeed, all. While the hardback is designed according to the name this edition, the soft cover is dark brown with a Celtic cross on the spin. The added feature of the for the hardback is the Apostle’s Creed on the back cover. Either edition is nice one to have.
Continue reading “NLT Mosaic Review”
Tags: Bosco Peters, Christianity, church history, john calvin, mosaic, nlt 24, nlt mosaic, reformers, tyndale house publishers, voices, Yusufu Turaki, zwingli
Last week we covered this subject from the stand point of the Reformers – so, I thought that I might do a series on the Church Fathers.
Now this is blessed by the high priest for the remission of sins, and the first preparation for baptism. For he calls thus upon the unbegotten God, the Father of Christ, the King of all sensible and intelligible natures, that He would sanctify the oil in the name of the Lord Jesus, and impart to it spiritual grace and efficacious strength, the remission of sins, and the first preparation for the confession of baptism, that so the candidate for baptism, when he is anointed may be freed from all ungodliness, and may become worthy of initiation, according to the command of the Only-begotten (Apostolic Constitutions, XLII)
Tags: apostolic constitutions, baptismal regeneration, church history, faith, religion
