Church Fathers

The Rise of the Early Church Assessment There are three mysteries in this world that remained unsolved. One, what happened in the rise of the early church, two what came first the chicken or the egg, and, three where did the peanut butter and jelly sandwich come from. But no need to worry, for two of these mysteries will be solved. If the chicken and the egg battle is ever resolved, it will be well known. As for the other two, they will be answered soon. There was once a very lonely sandwich named

performances in antiquity were typically dedicated to a pagan god or goddess, and the plays often ran as part of larger public religious festivals. Scenes portraying blatant immorality were commonplace. All this proved rather troubling to the early church. Christian leaders, such as Tertullian, spoke out in opposition to the idea of believers going to the theater: Why is it right to look on what it is disgraceful to do? How is it that the things which defile a man in going out of his mouth, are not

The triptych Melencolia I (1514), St. Jerome in his Study (1514) and Knight, Death and the Devil (1513) by Albrecht Dürer are allegoric copperplate engravings, known as the old master prints, which embody the three spheres of human activity: the “intellectual”, “theological” and “active”1. Whereas the latter focused on the strengths of humanity through the figure of the ‘knight’, who perseveres despite the threat ‘death’ and immorality pose to the mind, the former highlighted man’s hamartia in this

A friend once challenged me by asking me to think about what the purpose of biblical and theological study should be. He claimed that the purpose with which we approach study will impact the outcome of the education. My purposes and hopes of theological education consist of four elements. The first hope I have for theological education is to grow in my own knowledge of and relationship with God. In studying the biblical text and the various theological interpretations of the text that have been developed

Merriam-Webster defines the word gematria as, “a cryptograph in the form of a word whose letters have the numerical values of a word taken as a hidden meaning” and as “the cabalistic method of explaining the Hebrew Scriptures by means of the cryptographic significance of the words”. Simply put – gematria is one technique used for understanding sacred texts. This technique was derived from Greek influences and created by the practitioners of Jewish mysticism. As an essential piece to the Kabbalistic

          Saint Augustine and Classical Education      In Saint Augustine’s deeply personal work, Confessions, he shares the story of his life up to his eventual conversion to the Christian faith. His odyssey through life is, at times, one of bitter inner conflict between his intellect and faith. Augustine’s classical education had a profound affect on the way he viewed the world, and eventually had a major affect on the

Pagans are addressed directly once again and summoned to join the banquet of Christ who calls them back to light. The language of “renewal” is noteworthy here, especially because it presupposes the building up and restoration of what is already there. Pagans maintain a sense of dignity and are not equated with the demonic. The image of an invitation to a banquet where food of salvation and a cup of immortality is offered is also different from the images of remedying diseased patients through “cautery

Some of the most famous people of the ancient world were philosophers. These certain individuals became more well-known than many war heroes and kings because of the ways in which they thought about, and perceived the world. Historians along with other people became fascinated with their ideas. This resulted in their ideas becoming the foundation for the ways in the world thinks today. Some of these people include Plato, and Augustine of Hippo. These men thought about the ways of the world unlike

The Doctrine of Christian Universalism Archie J. Spencer, Th.D THS 540: Introduction to Christian Theology Shahrzad Jamali ACTS Seminaries Fall 2017 Universalism is perhaps “the greatest unspoken premise of modern thought within the Christian church.” N.T wright The salvation of humankind has been always presented in 3 possible positions: 1) none will be saved, 2) some will be saved, or 3) all will be saved. The traditional Christian teaching has been always focused on the second position and

is apparent when he describes their mother’s character. By using lofty diction such as “extremely virtuous,” “exceptionally pure,” and “spotless,” it is obvious St. Gregory holds his mother in high esteem, even though she was not a handmaid for the church like Macrina (77). Moreover, if these are the words he chooses when describing his mother, we can see why his word choice is also lofty for Macrina, who held the respected position of Superior later in her life. Nonetheless, due to Macrina’s mother