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

[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

The BBC this week ran a number of stories about Jim Dowson, founder of Britain First and a central figure in a group known as Knights Templar International, and whom it described as possibly “Britain’s ‘most influential’ far-right activist.” It described Knights Templar International (KTI) as “a Christian militant group based in the UK.” But

In this post I consider the question: “Was there a surge of hostility towards traditional Christianity in the wake of last year’s General Election?” This was a thought that occurred to me whilst working on my previous etimasthe post, when I suddenly noticed a particular clustering of dates of media articles etimasthe has addressed: June

[Shorter version] [Longer version] The Independent Online recently re-posted on Facebook a story from 21 June 2017 whose headline read, “Historians are questioning if Jesus ever existed at all.” But is there any substance to this story? The Independent Online’s article opens by admitting that the existence of Jesus has seldom been questioned:— Whatever you

[Shorter version] [Longer version] The Independent Online recently re-posted on Facebook a story from 21 June 2017 whose headline read, “Historians are questioning if Jesus ever existed at all.” But is there any substance to this story? The Independent Online’s article opens by admitting that the existence of Jesus has seldom been questioned:— Whatever you

Guest post by AnOldHope, an evangelical believer and blogger living in Sussex.   A recent article in the Guardian Online looks into the commonly held belief that Jesus is a myth.  According to this, 40% of the adult population of England believe he never existed as a historical figure- so what evidence is or isn’t