Questions tagged [history]
For questions related to history generally. Use the [church-history] tag for the history of the post-NT church.
3
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1answer
36 views
What were the godparent requirements back in the 1960s?
My mother was baptised in the Catholic Church in the 1960s.
I received information that her godfather (her uncle on her father's side) might not have been Catholic but rather Anglican. Could an ...
7
votes
1answer
90 views
What was the 16th century Catholic doctrine on Greek gods?
I've long assumed the Catholics have always denied the existence of pagan gods, hence allowed them to be represented in art as a fiction reminiscent of a heroic and remote past. However, the strong ...
0
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0answers
55 views
Are there any Eastern-Orthodox theologians who question the historicity of, for example, Moses and Joshua?
Some of the early church fathers seem to condone allegorical interpretations of certain part of scripture (for example Gregory of Nyssa concerning God's killing of the firstborn in Egypt). Are there ...
-1
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4answers
117 views
Did Jesus write a Bible commentary?
It seems that Jesus is what the New Testament tends to consist of; him and his teachings.
Did he ever ‘teach’ about the Bible, the first testament, in any capacity?
0
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1answer
86 views
How to find out more about the the 12 disciples?
How can I find out more about the 12 disciples and their lives and families than is mentioned in the Scriptures?
What did they give up and who they left behind, in order to follow Christ.
2
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2answers
180 views
What's the first ancient document composed by a non-Christian denying the resurrection?
What is the first ancient document composed by a non-Christian denying the resurrection of Jesus that we have access to?
I am specifically looking for a document actually penned by a non-Christian, ...
1
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0answers
66 views
Ties between the Jesuits and the Byzantine?
I am reading into Society of Jesus, seeking to uncover its parallels and differences with Orthodox Christianity. It is attested the Jesuit order was formed in France on August 15th 1534, by Ignatius ...
-1
votes
1answer
247 views
Why is Christianity fixated on ancient Israeli culture? Is such a 'spacetime-lock' evidence of falsehood?
When I studied Mohammed's religion, I thought the insistence and enforcement of 7th century Arabian culture (e.g. diet, clothing, marriage, law) on the entire planet unreasonable, and evidence it was ...
3
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0answers
55 views
Which prophecies does Justin Martyr claim predict Jesus' Advent? Please identify them
In his First Apology Justin Martyr writes:
We find it also predicted that certain persons should be sent by Him into every nation to publish these things, and that rather among the Gentiles [than ...
0
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2answers
190 views
Does the Minimal Facts Argument have the potential to the biggest Christian revelation over the last thousand years? [closed]
I recently came across the "Minimal Facts Argument" by Dr Gary Habermas. In short, the argument is that there are a half dozen reliable historical facts (even for those who'd judge the NT as ...
0
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0answers
149 views
What were the results of the 1981 exhumation of St. Anthony of Padua?
The Wikipedia article for Saint Anthony of Padua says the following:
On 1 January 1981, Pope Saint John Paul II authorized a scientific team to study the saint's remains and the tomb was opened on ...
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3answers
1k views
2
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2answers
1k views
How did Pope Urban II justify the first Crusade?
According to the ten commandments, you shall not kill anyone. How did Pope Urban II justify from a theological standpoint the First Crusade? Since it was successful, Pope Urban II must have had to ...
-3
votes
1answer
137 views
Was Judas based on the story of Buddha and Devadatta? [closed]
To oversimplify greatly, Devadatta was a cousin of the Buddha when he was teaching his core disciples. Devadatta and the Buddha had many disagreements on things such as Asceticism. This cause and ...
8
votes
2answers
425 views
When did the term “New Testament” first come into usage?
While reading William Bridge's, "The Wounded Conscience Cured," (1642) I came across Bridge's usage of the term "New Testament" :
"And in the New Testament, Romans 13.1..."
-William Bridge, "...
1
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2answers
291 views
How were missionaries able to convert native populations? [closed]
What made it possible for Christian missionnaires to convert natives of America, Africa and Asia to another religion despite the fact that they already had beliefs and gods ?
8
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2answers
610 views
Origin of the (mis)translation “Ten Commandments”
The Old Testament speaks of the עשרת הדברים in Deuteronomy 4:13, a phrase which is translated almost without exception to be the "Ten Commandments" (see here). However, the word הדברים is never else ...
8
votes
1answer
98 views
Why were Catholic fasting obligations steadily relaxed?
It seems that since the Middle Ages, the fasts prescribed by the Catholic Church were gradually but steadily reduced. Much can be read about the history of these relaxations, but little is said about ...
4
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0answers
146 views
How many people were killed by Protestant Inquisition style tribunals? Asking for references
It's relatively easy to find estimates for the number of people killed during the Catholic Inquisition; one just needs to check the Wikipedia page, to see several estimates of the number of people ...
2
votes
1answer
104 views
What was the literal meaning of the term 'stone rejected by builders'? [closed]
Matthew 21:42 (NASB) says:
Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone
which the builders rejected, This became the chief corner stone; This
came about from the Lord, ...
4
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0answers
44 views
What was the socioeconomic makeup of early Christian Gnostic sects?
There is ample evidence that early Christianity was socioeconomically very inclusive, being made up of the poor, the wealthy, men, women, the educated, uneducated, etc.
For example, Pliny the ...
3
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0answers
64 views
What's the Greek manuscripts of John with the oldest discovery date?
I'm trying to figure out what are the oldest complete manuscripts of the Gospel of John in Greek.
New Testament (Wikipedia)
For example, papyrus 66
They say 66 is the oldest and nearly complete; ...
7
votes
3answers
748 views
Why did early Christians believe in the Real Presence?
I'd imagine that if Christ directly taught the doctrine of the Real Presence, then one of the Gospels would have recorded it. So given that fact that it isn't directly taught, let us assume for the ...
3
votes
2answers
325 views
Why did Paul VI strip József Mindszenty of his archbishopric?
József Mindszenty was appointed Primate of Hungary and Archbishop of Esztergom in 1945. There existed a mutual animosity between him and the Hungarian government, which culminated in his imprisonment ...
3
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3answers
3k views
Why is the word “dragon” in the Bible?
I'm not asking about what is the dragon, it's the devil okay, but my question is why is it called "dragon", why dragons exists in the Bible, when they are nothing more than mythical creatures.
...
13
votes
3answers
791 views
How did Christians cultivate their knowledge of the Bible before mass-printing of the Bible?
The Bible is by far the most sold book ever. As this site says:
Bible Society’s attempt to calculate the number printed between 1816 and 1975 produced the figure of 2,458,000,000 – almost 2 and a ...
4
votes
1answer
203 views
Is Any New Testament Book Undisputed In Its Authorship?
It seems as though every time I turn around, I find that "the majority of scholars" doubt this person wrote this gospel or letter. It seems as though no book of the NT is immune to this doubting and ...
0
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1answer
179 views
How did attitues to the deutero-canonical books in the Western Churches change during the second millenium? [closed]
What was the pre-Reformation understanding and how did that change during and after the Reformation Era for Protestants and for Catholics? What is the current position?
2
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0answers
41 views
Annals of John Hyrcanus
1 Maccabees 16:23-24
The rest of John's acts, the battles he fought and the exploits he
performed, the city walls he built, and all his other achievements,
from the day he succeeded his father ...
2
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0answers
45 views
Tombs of Mattathias and Sons
From 1 Maccabees 13:25–30:
Simon sent and recovered the bones of his brother Jonathan, and
buried him in Modein, the town of his ancestors.
All Israel kept solemn mourning for him and long ...
6
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0answers
154 views
The right to read a Catholic church's sacramental register
In the era of handwritten parish registers, when a diocesan or missionary priest performed a sacramental rite, he wrote it up in a semi-structured form in a record book. Sometimes that priest was the ...
4
votes
2answers
506 views
Why did Nehemiah need to tell us that the Queen was sitting beside the King?
What is the significance of knowing that the queen was sitting next to the king during this conversation in Nehemiah? Was there some historical or cultural significance to the queen being present that ...
4
votes
0answers
160 views
How has Roman Catholic Confession changed throughout the centuries?
Currently, the common practice of confession in the U.S. is...
A person completes an examination of conscious, tells the priest how long it has been since their last confession, then they make their ...
0
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0answers
52 views
The Resurrection: early Jewish writings on it? [duplicate]
I'm currently studying the Resurrection, which I believe 100%. What ancient Jewish texts close to the first century speak about the Resurrection, or about the empty tomb that Christians claimed Christ ...
5
votes
1answer
2k views
What was the name of the Pharaoh during the time of Moses?
In the Bible it never mentions Pharaoh's name but every other king/queen is mentioned by name. Did I miss it? What's his name?
1
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2answers
310 views
Was Paul's Relationship with Jewish Leadership Close Enough to Act as Their Agent?
After reading this question on judaism.SE I wanted to pose a version of it here. (You know, it's facinating to see how Judaism views us....)
Paul's letter to the Hebrews could be described (and ...
1
vote
1answer
116 views
Are there documented reports about Jews around the time of Jesus? And what did they say about the first christians?
Are there any reliable documented reports of Jewish individuals, leaders or groups, around the time of Jesus?
Who were they?
And what did they say about Jesus and/or the first Christians?
11
votes
2answers
349 views
What prompted the change in Christian attitude towards usury?
Lending with interest between Jews is a sin in the Old Testament, which should have gone away for non-Jewish Christians
According to Wikipedia, it was only proscribed by Christianity later; at ...
3
votes
2answers
642 views
Why is St Martin “in-the-Fields”?
I was reading about the Anglican church St Martin-in-the-Fields and was curious about the in-the-Fields part of the name. It is named after Martin of Tours who was a saint in France during the 4th ...
4
votes
1answer
293 views
What are the duties of a Pope? Can a pope be “good” or “bad” in this perspective?
Is there something like "bad" or "good" popes"?
What is the meaning when a pope is qualified "good" or "bad", with the historical perspective. For instance, some popes have bad reputation in the ...
2
votes
1answer
280 views
Is every single minute of the year a mass being celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church? If so, since when?
Update: as stated by brasshat's answer below, the Good Friday mass is not celebrated in the Roman Catholic world. Naturally, this makes the answer to my question apparently trivial. It is not totally ...
0
votes
1answer
75 views
Biblical era gesture signifying peace between two parties? [closed]
I am working on a painting set in the Biblical era which shows a military group confronting another group.
I am trying to find a gesture which the leader of one army would make to indicate that they ...
6
votes
2answers
2k views
Acts 11:26 regarding the word Christian?
Referring to Acts 11:26: Did the people (unbelievers) of Antioch call the "Believers" Christian, or did the Believers start calling themselves Christian first in Antioch?
Here is what I mean: Acts 11:...
3
votes
1answer
96 views
What oil was used at the time of James?
James 5:14-17 discusses healing through the anointing of oil. Surely these days we have plenty of different types of oils but what oil was used at the time of this scripture being written?
1
vote
2answers
550 views
When will be the end of the Catholic Church on earth by definition?
Matthew 16:18
And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my
church,* and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against
it.
Is there any teaching of the ...
9
votes
1answer
193 views
What liturgical languages were used in the worldwide church/broad christiandom around 500 AD?
I understand that the western church used Latin, the eastern church used Greek, and the far eastern church was using Syriac.
Was it only those three languages? Or were other languages in use as well ...
4
votes
1answer
269 views
Does the Russian Orthodox Church venerate the saints of the Orthodox Church in America?
After the Russian Revolution, the Orthodox Church in America became nominally independent of the mother church. The OCA has since canonized saints who lived in Russian America such as German and Petr (...
5
votes
1answer
95 views
Was any of Flavius Josephus' work relevant to the Council of Nicea?
I noticed that Eusebius transcribes the entirety of Josephus' Testimonium Flavianum in 324 AD, and that the First Council of Nicea occurs in 325 AD. Does any of Josephus' work feature throughout the ...
6
votes
1answer
97 views
Did St. Thomas Aquinas write anything about historiography?
I was curious as to whether or not St. Thomas Aquinas every formally laid out any principles to be adhered to when writing/studying/interpreting history or ever elucidated a theory of the "nature" of ...
0
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0answers
188 views
Where was Joseph when Mary visited Jesus on the cross? [duplicate]
Not much was mentioned about Jesus's foster-father. Mary visited Jesus, but where was Joseph at when Jesus was being crucified?
