15
votes
Did the Early Church believe that Jesus was crucified on a cross or on a stake?
[1] What Jehovah’s Witnesses believe regarding the cross and what they call a torture stake:
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the Christian cross is a pagan symbol. In their Kingdom Interlinear ...
- 33.9k
14
votes
Accepted
Was universalism the majority belief of the early church?
Background
Obviously, this topic suffers from dogmatists on both sides. Universalists are desperate to overstate their case, and traditionalists are desperate to prove the early church didn't have ...
- 1,249
12
votes
Accepted
Did any early Church Fathers record the event of the ceasing of spiritual gifts?
As bradimus has indicated, this is a tricky issue, because projecting the modern debate of cessationism vs. continuationism onto church fathers is anachronistic. That said, some figures in the early ...
- 42.6k
12
votes
Bible with commentaries of the Church Fathers
The Catena Bible is freely available both at the linked website and as an app for Android and iOS, and provides related patristic commentaries for each verse.
- 221
11
votes
Accepted
Was there a "cessation of church fathers" in Catholicism?
There isn't really a bright line distinction, but John of Damascus (died ~750) is often cited as the last one. For example, Catholic.com:
the death of St. John Damascene [cir. A.D. 750] is generally ...
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10
votes
Which church father first taught the perpetual virginity of Mary?
As with many doctrines in the first few hundred years of the church, they tended not to be explicitly defined until heretics arose forcing the church to define doctrine.
This is why history is ...
- 1,269
10
votes
Is there any extra-biblical evidence of tongues from the first, or even second, century?
Ronald A. N. Kydd in his book Charismatic Gifts in the Early Church mentions several second-century quotes that he argues refer to glossolalia, what we call speaking in tongues. His work clearly ...
- 42.6k
10
votes
Accepted
Has the term "born again" always been synonymous with baptism with the Christians of the Early Church?
Some Clarification
You question specifically asks if there were any in the Early Church (~2nd to 4th century) who separated "born again" with baptism. Meanwhile, the site you quote claims that this ...
- 1,249
10
votes
Accepted
What is the source of this quote from St. Augustine?
The problem with references to church fathers is that they get paraphrased from time to time. Sometimes you will just have to look in Augustine for similar terminology and see if you can find the ...
10
votes
Accepted
Bible with commentaries of the Church Fathers
The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture is the leading commentary series collecting the church fathers. At 29 volumes would be a big investment to buy, but most theological colleges/seminaries ...
- 20.8k
10
votes
Did the Early Church believe that Jesus was crucified on a cross or on a stake?
Further to the last point in an answer here, there is more information that can be used to show how the early Christian Church viewed the implement of Christ's death.
Although not written in the era ...
- 37.2k
9
votes
Accepted
What did the fathers of the early church think of Tertullian?
Like today, those in the early church had differing opinions regarding Tertullian. Some were largely critical, some largely complimentary, and some more balanced.
The first writings we have ...
- 42.6k
8
votes
Accepted
What do Protestants think about canon laws given by the Church Fathers?
In general, Protestants don't think about the early church canon laws much at all! Protestants endorse the ecumenical creeds, and they accept the councils' judgements of heretics, but that's about the ...
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8
votes
St. Augustine and woman sexuality?
This quote is often attributed to one of the early church fathers, usually to Bernard of Clairvaux or Saint Augustine, although the earliest reference in print was in 1896. There is no historical ...
- 1,417
8
votes
Accepted
What was the dominant theory of atonement shown in the Apostolic Fathers's writings?
I think the clearest statement to explicitly deal with atonement would be this one from the Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians:
Through charity did the Lord join us unto himself; whilst, for the ...
8
votes
Did the idea of humans being hard-wired for God exist in late antique Christianity?
Paul clearly expresses, Romans 1:18-26, the concept of humanity, by origin and by birth, having an innate instinct that God is and that there is but one God.
For the wrath of God is revealed from ...
- 26.9k
7
votes
Accepted
Where can I find a complete set of Ante-Nicene Writings?
It's not free, and it's not complete, but The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation is the closest thing to a complete set of the writings of the church fathers that I've seen in English. It ...
- 42.6k
7
votes
Accepted
Who was Theophylact?
Theophylact was an Eastern Orthodox archbishop of Ohrid. He is considered a saint. He lived from about 1055-1107.
He was involved in two of the causal primary disputes after the Great Schism of ...
- 15.1k
7
votes
Accepted
Was there a non-Augustinian response to universalism in the early Church?
Two church fathers who (a) reject Origen's universal salvation and (b) are not influenced by Augustine are Basil (d. 379) and Chrysostom (d. 407). Their theological systems, however, are not nearly ...
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7
votes
Accepted
How did the early church fathers refute Adoptionism?
Adoptionism had been declared a heresy by the Synod of Antioch in A.D. 268, which meant that neither Lucian, Arius, nor Eusebius could openly embrace it. After that Synod, anyone who dared claim that ...
- 37.2k
7
votes
Did the early church believe that St. Peter was the first pope?
It appears that the official use of the title of Pope (as given to Bishops of Rome) and confined to the successors of Peter, did not come into effect till the reign of Pope Gregory VII (1073-85).
The ...
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7
votes
Did Philo influence the contents of the New Testament?
The following information about Philo of Alexandria has saved me a lot of spade-work. These quotes show the comparative significance of this man with regard to early Christian doctrines.
"Jewish ...
- 37.2k
6
votes
Accepted
What is the source of the quote attributed to Origen, that "the soul has neither beginning nor end"?
I believe the second part of this quote is original to Hatch, Edwin, and A M. Fairbairn. The Influence of Greek Ideas and Usages Upon the Christian Church. London: Williams and Norgate, 1891, as ...
- 638
6
votes
Do any Church Fathers directly connect "speaking in tongues" with anything other than existing human languages?
Francis Gumerlock provides a survey of the views of church fathers in "Tongues in the Church Fathers." He concludes that "the early church had no such concept of the gift of tongues as unintelligible ...
6
votes
Accepted
In Romans 16:7, are Andronicus and Junia apostles? AND... is Junia a woman? How did the Church Fathers interpret this?
I'll deal with Junia's gender first. Although the Greek manuscripts are ambiguous as to her gender, Wikipedia says "the consensus among some modern New Testament scholars is that Junia was a woman" ...
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6
votes
Why were Pseudo-Dionysius's works accepted as authentic for so long?
I think that a distinction needs to be drawn between authentic in the sense that the works were historically authentic (i.e. indeed written by the Dionysius of Acts) and authentic in the sense that ...
- 5,688
6
votes
Did any church fathers after Chrysostom believe that Mary committed sin?
Besides Chrysostom and Cyril, not taking into account those who lived earlier than them, we could point to:
1) Theodoret of Cyrus (393 – 458) defending the two natures of Christ, gives an example of ...
6
votes
Accepted
Why did so many early church fathers say that sex was a consequence of the Fall?
I think the quotes given answer your own question as to why the fathers taught what they did. They seem to explain themselves rather clearly and their exegesis is pretty straightforward. The curse in ...
- 1,212
6
votes
Accepted
Identify this story about the end times from the Desert Fathers
The story appears in the alphabetical collection of The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, translated by Benedicta Ward. It relates to a saying of the 3rd century Egyptian monk (and martyr), Ischyrion.
...
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