Month: May 2018

The Egypt Exploration Society recently published what is believed to be our earliest manuscript of the Gospel According to Mark, dated by handwriting analysis to 150—250 A.D. What does this newly published manuscript tell us about the New Testament text? The publication of the manuscript, designated P137, was reported in an informative article by Elijah

Grace Dalton considers the implications of the Guardian’s article of 21 May. Whilst I’ve seen “Guardian reading” used as a slur on several recent occasions lately, I’ve been appreciating much of its content — however, hints of its readiness to affirm the stereotype of Christians leaning right politically has been frustrating. It was exciting then

The purpose of etimasthe is to highlight the misrepresentation of Christianity in the UK media (as well as pointing out when it’s represented fairly!), and to educate people on the early history of Christianity. But what does ‘etimasthe’ mean? Short answer: “he was despised.” The word is taken from Isaiah chapter 53 verse 3 in

It was great to see a Christian sermon — and such a passionately delivered one — being watched by millions on Saturday, at the royal wedding of Harry and Meghan at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. But what was missing from it? You can watch the Most Reverend Michael Curry’s fourteen-minute sermon here and read

On 14 May the Christian aid agency Barnabas Fund reported, “We are pleased to see the mainstream media are covering the plight of the predominantly Christian Kachin, another persecuted ethnic minority in Myanmar. Let’s pray that the world wakes up to the increasing religious persecution in SE Asia.” Here at etimasthe we concur. Their statement

In a guest post, Christian blogger Grace Dalton considers whether April’s issue of GQ magazine was right to describe the Bible as a “Book You Don’t Have to Read.” From 21 Books You Don’t Have to Read by GQ (April): “The Holy Bible is rated very highly by all the people who supposedly live by

On 30th March the Independent Online printed an almost fair article on the recent rehabilitation of Mary Magdalene from her centuries-old reputation as a prostitute. According to the article, Mary Magdalene was not a prostitute but a devoted disciple who supported Jesus financially and spiritually, scholars say ‘Reanalysing that reputation that she had we can

Because we today generally come across the New Testament as a single book, it’s easy to forget its nature as a collection of twenty-seven extremely early documents of the Christian faith, each bearing witness to the earliest beliefs of Christianity. In this post we consider, from an historical point of view, what the Apostle Paul’s

Observer columnist Kenan Malik this week wrote a creditable article in the Guardian in which he acknowledged that the UK authorities are in some cases actively hounding Christianity out of the public space. The opinion piece here was published on Sunday and was commenting on the high-profile Ashers bakery case which has again been in

[Part 1] [Part 2] In a further reflection on Gregory of Nyssa’s second sermon on the Lord’s Prayer, we ask: “Did Gregory know the gospel?” This reflection is split into two parts. For the first part see here. Gregory of Nyssa was a fourth-century Christian theologian and one of the so-called ‘Three Cappadocians’ who made