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Didn’t early Christians tamper with the text of scripture?

Didn’t early Christians tamper with the text of scripture?

Nov 20, 2012

“I've heard that the New Testament books were altered by the early Christians to teach things Jesus and his disciples never said...”

The oldest hymn to the Theotokos?

The oldest hymn to the Theotokos?

Aug 7, 2012

So far, the earliest known prayer to the Virgin Mary is known as “Beneath thy compassion” (Greek: Ὑπὸ τὴν σὴν εὐσπλαγχνίαν). The earliest text of this hymn was found in a Christmas liturgy of the third century. It is written in Greek and dates to approximately 250 A.D. In 1917, the John Rylands Library in Manchester acquired a large...

Deacons and bishops at the end of the first century

Deacons and bishops at  the end of the first century

Dec 21, 2011

St Paul wrote his New Testament advice to elders and overseers. By the end of the first century, St John's disciple Ignatius wrote about how these orders of clergy interacted in his experience...

How to recognize Christians

How to recognize Christians

Oct 18, 2011

Christians cannot be distinguished from the rest of the human race by country or language or customs. They do not live in cities of their own; they do not use a peculiar form of speech; they do not follow an eccentric manner of life...

Defending Constantine

Defending Constantine

Dec 15, 2010

Peter Leithart’s latest book is a stunning work of scholarship on a closely related collection of issues that are among the most important in Christianity: the life of Constantine, the meaning of Constantinianism, and the radical transformation of the world that took place while he was Emperor.

An early creed

An early creed

Jan 13, 2010

The Church, though dispersed through our the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith...

A Baptist asks a good question

A Baptist asks a good question

Sep 21, 2009

What are the actual historical evidences, before Zwingli, for the Baptist view of the Lord’s Supper? Long story short: No answer. If there are evidences, then someone needs to write a book, asap. It’s long overdue.

Augustine’s Origin of Species

Augustine’s Origin of Species

Jun 12, 2009

North African bishop Augustine of Hippo (354–430) had no skin in the game concerning the current origins controversies. He interpreted Scripture a thousand years before the Scientific Revolution, and 1,500 before Darwin's Origin of Species. Augustine didn't "accommodate" or "compromise" his biblical interpretation to fit new scientific theories. The important thing was to let Scripture speak for itself.

The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles

The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles

Sep 11, 2008

The Didachē is a short catechism, probably written in Syria during the second half of the 1st century. The Didachē is concerned with practical discipline and does not deliberately teach doctrine, but from the writer's assumptions we learn a great deal about the development of the early Church in his generation.

Development of Christian Liturgy

Development of Christian Liturgy

Aug 27, 2008

When the Lord Jesus Christ, having gathered his disciples round him to supper on the night before he suffered death, solemnly broke bread before them and blessed a cup of wine and gave them to his disciples, he enjoined them to continue this thenceforward as a continual memorial of his death and passion undergone for the redemption of the world. This command was obeyed from the time that the Holy Spirit descended upon the Church shortly after our Lord's ascension into heaven. We are told, of those who were converted by the preaching of St. Peter on the day of Pentecost, that 'they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers'.