Category: History

[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

[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 second part see here. Gregory of Nyssa was a fourth-century Christian theologian and one of the so-called ‘Three Cappadocians’ who made

In the second in a series of reflections on the sermons of Gregory of Nyssa, a fourth century theologian and one of the so-called ‘Three Cappadocians,’ we consider whether — in Gregory’s view and that of others in the fourth century — the sexual union of husband and wife is part of God’s intention for

In the first of a series of reflections on the sermons of Gregory of Nyssa, a fourth century theologian and one of the so-called ‘Three Cappadocians,’ we consider whether being “too busy to pray” is a purely modern phenomenon. Gregory of Nyssa Gregory (c. 335 — c. 394 A.D.), bishop of Nyssa in Cappadocia, was

All four of the Gospels in the New Testament are anonymous, but Christian tradition has always associated them with the names of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. But where does that tradition come from? In this post we evaluate three of the earliest witnesses to the tradition that the Gospels were written by Matthew, Mark,

Christians believe that when Christ reappears, he will bring with him a glorious future for those who have trusted in him. What that future will look like, we only dimly comprehend in this life. But a passage from the early Christian bishop Papias of Hierapolis may give us a glimpse into what that glorious future

The two New Testament accounts of the death of Judas Iscariot are well known. One (Matthew’s) says that he went and hanged himself; the other (Luke’s) says that having purchased a field with the ‘blood money’ he got for betraying Jesus, he fell headlong and his bowels gushed out. There is, however, another curious early

One of the earliest Christian writings to survive outside of the New Testament itself is the Letter of Clement of Rome to the church at Corinth (often known as 1 Clement). It may have been written around 97 A.D., that is, seventy years after the ascension of Christ into heaven and within two or three

This week’s portentous events in Iceland — the Parliamentary bill which, if passed, would ban male circumcision and lead to up to six years’ imprisonment for those carrying it out — could not help but remind me of one of the darker periods in the history of Israel, when a Seleucid king, in his hatred

Since 1945 Western Europe has been a haven of religious freedom and tolerance. But the steady erosion of that religious freedom which has been taking place in recent years took a step further today with the bill put before the Icelandic Parliament proposing a ban on male circumcision. The bill, if passed, would attach a