Nice essay on the early Christian doctrine of the resurrection at Slate.com (HT: Jon Moersch).
Ancient Church
The Family of Jesus on the Kingdom of God
From Eusebius’ Historia Ecclesiae 3.19-20: But when this same Domitian had commanded that the descendants of David should be slain, an ancient tradition says that some of the heretics brought accusation against the descendants of Jude (said to have been a brother . . . Continue reading →
Happy Birthday St Augustine
Today is St Augustine’s birthday (354 AD). In that connection I should mention the upcoming publication of Simonetta Carr’s biography of Augustine for children. Few figures in Western history are as important as Augustine. He is one of the early church fathers . . . Continue reading →
Irenaeus On Apostolic Succession
I’m reviewing Charles E. Hill, From the Lost Teaching of Polycarp: Identifying Irenaeus’ Apostolic Presbyter and the Author of Ad Diognetum. vol. 186, Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006). 207 pages (incl. index) for the Confessional Presbyterian. He writes, In . . . Continue reading →
Light Summer Reading
I’m part way through Lane and Oreskes on the genius of American constitutionalism. It’s a breezy spin through the history of the constitutional crisis. The first part of their thesis is attractive to Augustinians. They argue that the founders realized that their . . . Continue reading →
Sola Fide in 1 Clement
I’m not a big fan of 1 Clement (I prefer the Ep to Diognetus) but Shane is right, this is an excellent passage.
Nunc Super Tunc
The title is Latin for “Now is superior to then.”1 It’s a shorthand way of getting at an attitude that is widespread among American Christians that whatever we think and do now is necessarily superior to anything that was thought and done . . . Continue reading →
Surprise! Emergent Leader Embraces Pelagius
Tony Jones rejects Augustine, the North African church of the 4th century, the French Church of the 6th century, the entire medieval church, the Protestant Churches, and the Council of Trent (HT: Kevin DeYoung). Here’s one on which the confessional Protestants and . . . Continue reading →
Arius and Prov 8
Todd has an excellent introduction.
Hippolytus is Still Hip (or at least Orthodox)
Thanks to Brannan at Creed or Chaos for this bit of Chalcedonian truth.
If You're Reading the Fathers…
As I am (for CH601 Ancient Church, this fall) then I heartily recommend Michael Holmes’ (third) edition of The Apostolic Fathers. We don’t have it in the bookstore yet (it only occurred to me today to ask them—I’ll let you know when . . . Continue reading →
The Differences Between Canonical and Non-Canonical Writings
The way some write about some of the extra-canonical or post-canonical or deutero-canonical writings one would expect the differences between the canonical and non-canonical texts to be negligible. That’s not what I find.
Federalism, Imputation, and Forensic Justification c. 115-50 AD
In the Ep. to Diognetus, ch. 9 (thanks to TC for the text): But when our unrighteousness was fulfilled, and it had been made perfectly clear that is wages–punishment and death–were to be expected, then the season arrived during which God had . . . Continue reading →
"Two Kingdoms" circa 115-50?
A notable early Christian apologist didn’t get the transformationalist memo. Ep. to Diognetus (5.1-11): For Christians are not distinguished from the rest of humanity by country, language, or custom. 2 For nowhere do they live in cities of their own, nor do . . . Continue reading →
The Epistle of "Mathetes" to Diognetus
For several weeks earlier this Spring the adult catechism class was studying some of the early post-apostolic fathers. One of the documents we studied was the Epistle of “Mathetes” (the disciple) to a certain Diognetus. It’s an excellent example of the erudition, . . . Continue reading →