Included in the May 2013 issue of First Things is Ephraim Radner’s review of Candida Moss’s book, The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a Story of Martyrdom (HarperOne). I found Moss’s arguments against the historicity of early Christian martyrologies to be particularly familiar and interesting in the light of some recent discussion over at Jason [...]
For those of you who missed Jason Stewart’s appearance on The Journey Home this past Monday evening, here it is: More from Jason Stewart: An OPC Pastor Enters the Catholic Church See also: Taking a Stand on the Scriptures Against the Traditions of Men
Today we observe the Solemnity of the Chair of St. Peter, as the 22nd of February falls on Ash Wednesday this liturgical year. The Church has celebrated this occasion since at least the mid-4th century. Called to Communion has given it attention in the past, including Bryan Cross’s detailed survey of references from the early centuries [...]
Imagine this conversation ca. A.D. 49 – Malachi: “Have you heard news yet about the Council’s decision regarding Gentile circumcision?” Phineas: “I knew the apostles were meeting in Jerusalem last week to decide the question, but no, I haven’t heard anything. Everybody’s waiting to hear. Have you heard something?” Malachi: “Yes, I was there. I had [...]
Today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Last year, immediately preceding this Solemnity, Taylor posted “Mary Without Sin (Scripture and Tradition),” and on the Feast I posted “Mary’s Immaculate Conception, in which I included podcasts of Prof. Lawrence Feingold’s lecture and Q&A on this dogma. Those two posts provide evidence for the Catholic dogma, [...]
Today in the liturgical calendar we celebrate the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle. According to an ancient tradition, February 22 was the day Jesus changed Simon’s name to Peter, and gave to him the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matt. 16:19) The Catholic Encyclopedia article on the chair of St. [...]
In February of this year Ryan Glomsrud, the Executive Editor of Modern Reformation, invited me to participate in a roundtable discussion on the subject of sola scriptura, with Michael Horton, editor-in-chief of Modern Reformation, a co-host of the White Horse Inn, and the J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary [...]
Today is the memorial of St. Ignatius, the bishop of Antioch who was martyred in Rome in AD 107. What does St. Ignatius reveal to us about the Church? According to the early fourth century Church historian Eusebius, St. Ignatius was the second bishop of Antioch (from approximately AD 70 to 107) after Evodius, about [...]
Within the Reformed blogosphere there has lately been put forth some pretty bold claims regarding the structure of the church in the first century, particularly the structure of the Roman Church. Basically the argument is that in the first century the church did not have a monarchical bishop and was instead ruled by a group [...]
Dr. Kenneth Howell earned an M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary, an M.A. in Linguistics and Philosophy from the University of South Florida, a Ph.D. from Indiana University in Linguistics and the Philosophy of Science, and a second Ph.D. from Lancaster University (U.K.) in the History of Christianity and Science. He was a Presbyterian minister for [...]
