Video courtesy of Rose Publishing By the end of the fifth century, the western half of the Roman Empire was crumbling into a conglomeration of barbarian kingdoms. The city of Rome remained central for churches in communion with the Roman church, but Rome wasn’t nearly so central for the new barbarian rulers rising in the […]
[Read More...]
Church History: What Did the Real St. Patrick Do?
Video courtesy of Rose Publishing The real St. Patrick wasn’t Irish, he never sent a snake to England, and no one has ever even officially declared him a saint. So why do people celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? Mostly because they like to party and to pinch people who forgot to wear green, I guess. But […]
[Read More...]Church History: Who Was Augustine and Why Does He Matter?
As a young man in North Africa, Augustine traded the Christian faith of his mother Monica for the pursuit of personal pleasure and prestige. Despite her son’s descent into deeper rejection of God, Monica never stopped praying for him. And the more Augustine chased after the things he thought would make him happy, the more God […]
[Read More...]
Church History: How Did Church Councils Clarify What Christians Believed About Jesus?
Video courtesy of Christianity.com It’s one thing to live as a Christian in a world where your faith is persecuted and oppressed. Life may be hard but the boundaries between belief and unbelief are fairly clear. It’s quite another to remain faithful when the name “Christian” is not persecuted but praised and even endowed with […]
[Read More...]
Church History: What Was the Real St. Nicholas Known For?
Today, St. Nicholas is mostly known as a paunchy old geezer who spends one night each year breaking into people’s houses and stealing cookies before escaping to an Arctic hideaway where enslaved elves do his work for him. Kind of creepy when you think about it. The good news is that none of this was […]
[Read More...]Church History: How Did Christians Decide Which Books Belonged in the New Testament?
Video courtesy of Christianity.com To learn more about how Christians determined which texts were true and authoritative, read these articles: Who Decided Which Books Belong in My Bible? and Why No Baptized Lions or Talking Crosses Made It Into Your Bible. 30 Days through Church History: Day 8
[Read More...]Church History: Who Were the Gnostics and What About Their Gospels?
Video courtesy of Christianity.com To learn even more about the Gnostics and other challenges to second-century Christians, read these four brief articles from Ligonier Ministries: * Montanism * Gnosticism * Marcion’s Challenge * Irenaeus of Lyons 30 Days through Church History: Day 7
[Read More...]
Church History: What Happened after the Apostles Died?
By the end of the first century, Roman persecutions were dogging God’s people from the outside, and false teachings from people who claimed to be Christians were hounding the church from within. The Ebionites said that Jesus was a human Messiah but not the divine Lord. Most Gnostics, on the other hand, depicted Jesus as […]
[Read More...]
Church History: Do the Dead Sea Scrolls Have Anything to Do with Jesus and the Early Church?
Near the northwest corner of the Dead Sea, there is a long-deserted settlement known as Qumran. Here, it appears that a discontented Jewish sect maintained a thriving religious community in the second century B.C. and again in the first century A.D. At one point, this community’s library contained more than a thousand sacred scrolls. Some […]
[Read More...]
Church History: What Happened to the Jewish Temple?
When Jesus walked along the dusty roads of Judea and Galilee, the Jewish people had a temple in Jerusalem. But today, there isn’t one. So what happened to this temple? First, a bit of background: The temple in the time of Jesus was the second Jewish temple. The Babylonians had burned the first temple in […]
[Read More...]
Church History: Did Nero Really Fiddle While Rome Burned?
You’ve at least heard the saying. Maybe you’ve even said it yourself at some point when someone was fooling around in the face of an impending crisis. “Nero fiddled while Rome burned.” But did he? No, not even a chance. In the first place, fiddles as we know them weren’t even invented until the Renaissance, […]
[Read More...]Church History: Do Any Ancient Historians Mention Jesus?
Video courtesy of Christianity.com To dig deeper into ancient historians’ references to Jesus, take a look at this chapter from Gary Habermas. 30 Days through Church History: Day 2
[Read More...]
Church History: A Thirty-Day Whirlwind Tour through the History of Christianity!
Have you ever wanted to gain an overview of church history, so that you can understand where all the divisions and denominations came from? But it’s not like you have hours each day that are free to fill with reading! If that’s the case, here’s an idea: check in here every day for thirty days. […]
[Read More...]Free Resource Friday: Take a Thirty-Day Tour of Church History and Win a DVD Series
The winner of the Family Ministry Library from the last Free Resource Friday was Mike Leake, for a pingback from MikeLeake.net on the blog post entitled Why Choosing Your Favorite Team Should Be Nothing Like Choosing a Church. This month’s free resource Friday winner will be chosen on November 15, and the prize will […]
[Read More...]Apologetics: How The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife May Have Been Forged
Earlier this week, I mentioned that the news of the fragment known as Gospel of Jesus’s Wife will end “quite possibly with the revelation that the fragment was a forgery in the first place.” My rationale for this suspicion was and is insufficient to advance any sort of argument. I am no expert in Coptic […]
[Read More...]
Apologetics: Why the Singleness of Jesus Makes the Best Sense of the Evidence
“It is an embarrassing insight into human nature that the more fantastic the scenario, the more sensational is the promotion it receives and the more intense the faddish interest it attracts,” biblical scholar Raymond Brown wrote nearly two decades ago. “People who would never bother reading a responsible analysis of the traditions about how Jesus […]
[Read More...]
Today on WGRC in Pennsylvania
Today, at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time, I’ll be talking with Larry Weidman on the program “Matter At Hand” on WGRC near South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Larry and I will be discussing why it’s essential for every Christian to know the history of the Christian faith. Please pray for me, that the gospel will be multiplied and […]
[Read More...]
Family Ministry: Living in the Right Story
Accused by a member of Parliament of always repeating “the same old story,” British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once retorted, “Of course, it’s the same old story! Truth usually is the same old story.” Whatever one may think of Margaret Thatcher’s politics, her words carry with them a reminder that can transform the lives of […]
[Read More...]Free Resource Friday! Christian History Made Easy DVD Complete Kit
You can win a free Christian History Made Easy DVD Complete Kit, a $129.00 retail value! Simply leave a thoughtful and helpful comment anywhere on my blog before September 21, 2012. (Be certain to list an email address that you check frequently!) The more comments you make, the more likely you will be to win. […]
[Read More...]Today on WCTS in Minneapolis
Today, at 10:45 a.m. Eastern time, I’ll be talking with Steve Davis on the program “Christianity in a Changing Culture” on WCTS in the Twin Cities. Steve and I will be discussing why it’s essential for every Christian to know the history of the Christian faith. Please pray for me, that the gospel will be […]
[Read More...]