Tag: #history

Comparison of the books of the Old Testament in various Christian traditions

[Comparison table] [Why the difference?] What are the differences between the Old Testament used by Protestants, Roman Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Slavonic Bible used by the Russian Orthodox Church? All of these Christian traditions use an identical New Testament consisting of the 27 books listed by Athanasius in his Easter Letter of

Christmas in July

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,

Is ‘our daily bread’ daily? (Reflections on Gregory of Nyssa #8)

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

Apathy as a Christian virtue (Reflections on Gregory of Nyssa #6)

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

Can we save ourselves? (Reflections on Gregory of Nyssa #5)

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

Do all Christians have access to God? (Reflections on Gregory of Nyssa #4)

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