Category: History/Church History
Christianity and Hellenism, Part 3 of 3: On Human Nature
One of the theological areas most likely to raise questions about the relationship between historical Christian teaching and Greek (especially Platonic) thought is that of human nature. Especially with regard to two related subjects: the relationship between body and soul,...
Christianity and Hellenism, Part 1 of 3
“What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” That was the question raised by Tertullian at the end of the second century. At the beginning of the twentieth, Adolf von Harnack tried to identify the pure kerygma buried beneath layers of...
The Doctrine of Heaven According to Tom and Jerry
From those arbiters of all that is good, true, and beautiful: Discuss.
The Sustainability of a Purely Evangelical Identity
Yesterday I got coffee with a friend and our conversation eventually turned to the topic of modern American evangelical identity. My friend voiced frustrations with the arbitrary nature of evangelicalism’s identity with church history. For the most part, evangelicals do...
Were the Church Fathers Pacficists?
If you ask noted pacifist John Howard Yoder, the answer is unequivocally “yes.” Writes Yoder: The answer of the pre-Constantinian church was negative; the Christian as an agent of God for reconciliation has other things to do than to be...
Fear and Greatness: Why American Citizens Should Worry That the Terror of Terrorism Has Such Little Effect on the Behaviors and Beliefs of Men
Every generation struggles towards a certain self-understanding as its members move from immaturity to adulthood and walk through the trials of growing, thinking, discovering, and confronting responsibility. This path of maturation cannot be trod by a substitute, nor can it...
Brief Reflections on Roman History
“Use dragons to keep wolves under control, and you eventually have to reward them. And then, they do what they want.” That’s the inherent danger of taking the route of the ‘lesser evil.’ We start with the presumption that it...