Questions tagged [history]
For questions related to history generally. Use the [church-history] tag for the history of the post-NT church.
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Why is intellectual work not considered servile work?
Why is intellectual work not considered servile work prohibited by the 3rd Commandment on Sundays and feast days? Doesn't the soul need rest just as much as the body those days?
St. Thomas, defending ...
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Herod Antipas' Motivation in Offering Half his Kingdom to Salome (Mark 6:21-23)?
Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his courtiers, his
military officers, and the leading men of Galilee. Herodias’s own
daughter (named Salome in Josephus) came in and performed a dance that ...
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Courage in Christians just about to be crucified
I saw on a YouTube channel a reference to a certain man that interviewed early Christians just about to be crucified. He said he saw only courage in them. Does anyone have a reference to this or know ...
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Bishop Heahmund's denomination?
What was the denomination of Bishop Heahmund from? If he is a Catholic bishop how did priestly celibacy work in that era? (The Vikings TV series shows him with multiple relationships)
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Looking for sources of Mediaeval church architecture that shows and\or explains hard to find architectural church additions?
Looking for sources of Mediaeval church architecture that shows and\or explains hard to find architectural church additions?
I can recall visiting some old Medieval churches while in France and one ...
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Are there any estimates as to how many people witnessed the crucifixion of 'Christ'?
As the title says, I'm looking for a rough estimate as to how many people were present in person to directly witness the crucifixion. Book, websites, academic references, or really any source which ...
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When, how, and in what form was Catherine of Siena's "Dialog" originally published?
I'm not sure about the book's title also. Here is a link to where you can get a PDF (it's public domain), where it's referred to as "Dialog of Catherine of Siena", but I've seen several ...
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Is there an English or German translation of "La Bible de Jérusalem : Edition revue et augmentée"?
An academic Theologian recommended to me the Jerusalem Bible as the one with the greatest amount of scholarly references. I purchased the "Reader's Edition" with the Dali illustrations (...
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Was there a transformation in the artistic depiction of the Crucifixion after the 12th century?
I am reading Ivan Illich's 1987 essay "Hospitality and Pain" (freely available to consult here) which concerns the Western conception of pain and the body.
Illich claims, on page 13, that, ...
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Do references to the book of Jasher in the Bible prove that the book of Joshua was written after the death of Saul?
The book of Joshua references the book of Jasher (Joshua 10:13), as does 2 Samuel 1:18. However, the quote from the book of Jasher in 2 Samuel 1:23 references both Saul and Jonathan, both of whom ...
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How did the disciples' view of the messiah evolve?
Numerous miracles and theophanies in the New Testament make clear the Christ was perceived to be divine. A range of epithets were used across the books, such as "Son of the Living God" ...
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How would I write Jesus in in ancient Aramaic?
I would like to know how to print out Jesus is God in Aramaic specifically the Aramaic Christ spoke.
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What is the significance of the eagle which Herod had put up over the door of the temple?
In War 1.650ff, Josephus describes a confrontation between the Herod and the people over a statue of an eagle that he had put up over the entrance to the temple.
What was the significance of this ...
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What are reasons (scientific or otherwise) to reject a literal and historical take on Noah's Flood (Genesis 6:9-9:17)?
Some Christians (e.g., Young-Earth Creationists) believe in a literal interpretation of the Genesis account. In particular, they believe in the historical occurrence of a massive worldwide flood that ...
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How historically accurate are the first 3 books of the Maccabees?
The Books of the Maccabees recount the history of the Maccabees which include historical-theological narratives of the Maccabean Revolt. The major events and characters within the revolt itself have ...
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Arius' death was it miraculous or was he poisoned?
Arius' death was it miraculous or was he poisoned?
Arius died in 336, at Constantinople of some gory intestinal disorder. Some believe that his death corresponded to the prayers of the Patriarch of ...
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History of creatio ex nihilo
I have recently read that many pagan religions have their creation myth being creation by bringing order to primordial chaos. The accounts, if you squint, are not that different from what we have in ...
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Do the various branches of Christianity all claim to be representing the true content of the original foundation and original founder?
Someone I know made the following claim to me:
"The various branches of Christianity all claim to be representing the true content of the original foundation and original founder."
(As ...
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Who is the last prophet in Catholicism?
Who is the last person regarded as a true prophet in Catholicism? What was his time frame when he was declared prophet by the Catholic church?
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The matter of Pope Benedictus XVI and Nazism?
I am here trying to find sources about Pope Benedictus XVI and his history with Nazism. I don't really have a question, but I thought this would be a great place to find resources on this subject from ...
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When is the phrase "Word of God" first used to refer to the Scriptures?
The phrase "Word of God" or "Word of the Lord" and variants are commonly used (at least among evangelicals) to refer to the Bible - i.e. the written words of the prophets and ...
user52135
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How did the western Church arrive at such a state of corruption by the sixteenth century?
I want to know what went wrong in the Church for it to end up corrupt by the 16th century.
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Did Charles Dickens play any role in renewing the spirit of Christmas in modern times?
I just finished watching the movie: The man who invented Christmas. This got me asking the question: Did Charles Dickens played any real role in renewing (reviving) the spirit of Christmas (in the ...
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Why are there astrological signs in some churches and abbeys?
There are Christian churches and abbeys including very old ones in Hungary where we can find frescos about astrological signs. These frescos are relative new, probably a few hundred years old. As far ...
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What did pastors in the 1800s in the United States teach their congregations about interacting with Native Americans?
Background
During the 1800s, Americans expanded farther west into the territory of Native Americans, which led to many interactions between settlers and Native Americans. From my limited but ...
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Is there any historical evidence that Paul's letters may have been tampered with?
First question here, but thankfully I'm relatively familiar with Stack Exchange so hopefully this question should be a good fit for the site.
There are multiple passages in the letters of Paul that ...
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Why would the priests bribe guards to lie when given clear evidence that Jesus was immortal? (Mt. 28:11-12) [closed]
Logic speaks to me that, no matter HOW much I hated someone, if given clear testimony from the best of the Roman guard that the guy fulfilled his own prediction and was raised from the dead by ...
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Is there any extra-biblical evidence that shows the apostles were martyred?
Church tradition tells us that most of the 12 apostles were martyred, with the apostle John being the only one considered to die an old death.
Is there any extra-biblical evidence that shows the ...
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What is the role of faith presuppositions related to whether the Gospel of Mark was embellished after the close of the apostolic era?
Over at the History Exchange site there is an interesting discussion on the topic of "Why can't the gospel of Mark be as late as 110 CE."
A related question has been asked on this site in ...
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Are there video recordings of humans said to be possessed by demons?
Are there video recordings of humans said to be possessed by demons? Has a claimed demon possession ever been recorded on camera? I'm open to answers from any Christian groups/denominations.
Related ...
user50422
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Do we know anything about the source material for the Old Testament?
The historical books especially fit so cleanly together that it would seem like possibly a whole bunch of historical records, traditions, and books were collected and form the source material. ...
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Has an angel or a demon ever been recorded on camera?
Simple question: has an angel or a demon ever been recorded on camera? I'm open to answers from any Christian groups/denominations.
Related questions:
Has a healing miracle ever been recorded on ...
user50422
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History of the formation of the Biblical canon. Searching for accessible bibliographical references
I am interested in finding bibliographical references narrating the formation of the Biblical canon in the first 5 centuries of the Christian era that are:
Academic books or articles written by ...
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Extra-biblical evidence of "Joshua's long day" and "Hezekiah’s sign"?
Joshua 10:12–14 describes that
the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down the space of one day.
Victor Warkulwiz, Universe without Space and Time, ch. 2 claims
Joshua’s ...
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According to Protestant NT scholars/historians did Gamaliel get the chronology & history wrong in Acts 5?
I was listening on (audio) to Wayne Grudem’s systematic theology and in the chapter on biblical inerrancy.. he mentioned some people dispute Gamaliel's historical accuracy on certain uprisings, and ...
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Did the early church believe in self defence?
Does any of the early church fathers teach that we as Christians are allowed to defend ourselves if our life is in severe danger and if so what church fathers taught this?
user51922
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When (and by whom) did the term 'substitionary atonement' become widely used?
I was very surprised when I entered the words 'substitutionary atonement' into the Google Ngram Viewer and produced the graph below.
The graph shows usage in literature from 1600 to 2019.
This reports ...
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How many hand written Vulgate manuscripts were accessible?
To understand the history of the Christian church, the accessibility of Vulgate manuscripts during the middle ages is of interest. What is known? Is there a date from which we may assume that all, or ...
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Did the Jews in Our Lord’s time or earlier believe in a form of purgatory?
Purgatory is most often dismissed as being nothing more than a Roman Catholic belief, but does Judaism have a form of purgatory? (ie a place where our remaining sins are purged) or to quote from the ...
user51922
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Was there a time before the East-West schism where heretics outnumbered Catholics?
I am curious whether there was any one heresy that commanded a large enough following that the orthodox Catholics were outnumbered?
The scope of this question is worldwide
The point of view is the ...
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The priest/preacher's prayer before the sermon/homily -- what is it and why do the ECLA (and others) do it?
Tried to put the gist of this in the subject.
Often in my tradition (ELCA), the preacher will say a quick prayer before preaching; often it's the "May the words of my mouth.." prayer, or ...
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Did the early church believe that St. Peter was the first pope?
Roman Catholics believe that St. Peter was the first Pope, had primacy over the church and was given a pastoral role by the Lord Jesus Christ himself, we know the scripture argument for the papacy, ...
user51922
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Did the early church believe in the Papacy? [duplicate]
Roman Catholics believe that St. Peter was the first Pope, had primacy over the church and was given a pastoral role by the Lord Jesus Christ himself, we know the scripture argument for the papacy, ...
user62651
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Has anyone ever published a list comparing the amount of historically verified events from the Bible vs. the Book of Mormon?
Thus far, answers to this question, indicate that traditional Christian faith would suffer greatly if people, locations, and events recorded in the Bible could not be historically verified while ...
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How important is the historical verification of Biblical events to traditional Christian faith?
Two answers to a question regarding the Book of Mormon contain the following:
Without the Book of Mormon, nothing at all remains. If the Book of
Mormon is true, Joseph is a prophet and everything ...
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What is a brief history of the term "reformed" as in Reformed churches and Reformed theology?
Why do theologies and churches based on the teaching of Calvin consistently self-identify using the term "Reformed" even down to the 21st century, such as the 2019 Reformed Systematic ...
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How long had John the Baptist been preaching before Jesus started his public ministry?
I am wondering how long John the Baptist had been preaching before Jesus started his public ministry.
Had John been preaching for a few weeks, a few months, or for a few years before Jesus came to see ...
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How do believers in post-mortal consciousness respond to objections by the Jewish Encyclopedia article on the immortality of the soul?
I'm specifically referring to this article: https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8092-immortality-of-the-soul
--
Some quotes
IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL (late Hebrew, "hasharat ha-nefesh"...
user50422
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Is it odd that there is only one sentence about the death of David?
I read in 2nd Samuel from the time that David was anointed with oil to the beginning of Judges to Davids death and burial. Davids life is described in much detail, great detail. Both good and bad are ...
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Non-Christian scholars who believe in the attributed authorship of the Gospels
Modern scholarship tends to reject the attributed authorship of the gospels. But are there non-Christian scholars who believe in the attributed authorship?
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