New answers tagged church-history
0
The Catholic Church teaches that Mary's immaculate conception was made possible by Christ's sacrifice --- just like any graces that we get. Specifically, the decree "Ineffabilis Deus", in which Pope Pius IX defined the dogma of the immaculate conception, states the dogma as follows: "The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her ...
-1
I came across this documentary called, "The Secret Family of Jesus", by a British Academic Theologian named Dr. Robert Beckford. Among the topics discussed was Christ's divinity in the eyes of those close to him (his siblings). Though not stated explicitly or openly, the Documentary argues that because due to certain vernacular and language not ...
1
What are biblical arguments for congregationalist church polity?
Within ecclesiastical polity, the congregational churches means that the local congregation rules itself, elects its own leaders, both clergy and laity, ordains its own clergy, and is a "self-governed voluntary institution".
Congregational churches dispense with titled positions such ...
1
Having grown up within the Plymouth Brethren tradition, I was taught that a local church should be led by a plurality of elders and served by a plurality of deacons. While the definitions, uses and even connotations of the terms elder, overseer, bishop, and under-shepherd have changed significantly in the years following the Apostolic Age, local churches in ...
0
I can only share my understanding of the 'total fulfillment' option in your question.
A 'week' was referring to the Sabbatical cycles of seven years and 'middle of the week' was understood by the early Christian Church to be when Christ’s sacrifice took place 3½ years into the final week, resulting in the abolition of the old method of atonement. So, Jesus' ...
3
To answer, we have to understand "apostolic succession"; what it meant very early on and what it subsequently came to mean.
Definition
The early form of apostolic succession was the biblical idea that faithful men would teach the same to other faithful men.
Paul taught Timothy and Titus (among others directly and via the written word) and ...
21
Protestant reformers were at pains to argue that all they sought to do was restore the church to purity which had become corrupted in medieval times. They wanted to ensure that their teachings were not just in line with Scripture but with many of the church fathers e.g. Augustine. You will find that the writings of the reformers are full of quotes to many ...
4
The following are quotes from Bishops and apologists of the early church and a few were first or second generation disciples of the Apostles themselves. As such it is very easy to deduce that, not only did they have a large audience and impact, but they represent the teachings of the church at that time and of the Apostles themselves regarding the Deity of ...
3
Outside of the New Testament canon itself, one of the earliest pieces of extra-Biblical evidence is the Alexamenos graffito.
This shows a young man worshipping a donkey-headed figure on a cross. This likely comes from around 200AD.
It seems most likely to me that worshipping of Jesus as God must have been widespread among Christians for there to be graffiti ...
2
Earliest NT epistles (written circa A.D. 50-60) teaches Jesus is "not a man" (Gal 1:1, 1:11-12), but has "preexistence in the form of God and equality with God" (Phil 2:6) before/prior to "being born in the likeness of humans" (Phil 2:7) by being "born of a woman" (Gal 4:4). This incarnatoion is necessary because ...
1
That the council had to legislate on the matter shows that some Christians were, indeed, resting on the sabbath.
Socrates Scholasticus, writing in the 5th century, states that churches in many places honored the sabbath with religious assemblies:
For although almost all churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries on the sabbath of every ...
0
First, a minor point:
the titles of the most ancient surviving manuscripts were added later on
It's not that the ancient manuscripts were untitled and centuries later someone added a title; rather, the presumption is that the ancient manuscripts we have—consistently bearing ancient titles of the form "Gospel according to X",1 sometimes with ...
Top 50 recent answers are included
