Category: History

One of the earliest Christian writings outside of the New Testament is the so-called ‘Letter (or Epistle) of Barnabas.’ Early Christian theologians such as Clement of Alexandria believed it to be written by the Barnabas who accompanied the Apostle Paul in New Testament times (Acts 9:26-27). What does this letter tell us about what the

This is the first of a number of short reflections on Gregory of Nyssa’s fifth (and final) sermon on the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:12-13). Gregory of Nyssa was a fourth-century Christian theologian and one

How do we know that/whether Jesus was born on 25th December? And are Christians really so dumb as to think he was born on that day? Grace Dalton considers. In a recent online debate over abortion, I was assailed with revelation that the 25th of December was originally Yule; and that “Easter” is from Oestre,

In Gregory of Nyssa’s fourth sermon on the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread,” we consider Gregory’s view on what was meant by ‘daily bread,’ and whether in adopting his view he was merely following the third-century theologian Origen, whom he much admired. Gregory of Nyssa was a fourth-century Christian theologian and

In the fourth of our reflections on Gregory of Nyssa’s third sermon on the Lord’s Prayer, we see that Gregory — in the late fourth century A.D. — had a most curious reading of Luke 11:2, “May your Holy Spirit come upon us and cleanse us.” What are we to make of this, and could

In his third sermon on the Lord’s Prayer, Gregory of Nyssa sets forth the quality of apatheia as the highest state for which Christians should strive in this life. In this the third of our reflections on his third sermon, we consider whether apatheia or ‘apathy’ really should be the goal of our faith. Gregory

In the second of our reflections on Gregory of Nyssa’s third sermon on the Lord’s Prayer, we ask, “As human beings, can we save ourselves?” Gregory of Nyssa was a fourth-century Christian theologian and one of the so-called ‘Three Cappadocians’ who made such a significant contribution to orthodox Trinitarian belief. You can find a brief

In the first of our reflections on Gregory of Nyssa’s third sermon on the Lord’s Prayer, we ask whether Gregory believed that all Christians truly have access to God. Gregory of Nyssa was a fourth-century Christian theologian and one of the so-called ‘Three Cappadocians’ who made such a significant contribution to orthodox Trinitarian belief. You

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

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