The Lord’s Supper. Part Three: The Early Church, 4th-5th Century

I previously wrote on the summary of Christian views on the Lord’s Supper dating from the 1st to the 3rd century. I couched this from the outset with the choice offered by the Anglican prelate James Ussher to consider whether the fathers not only taught that bread becomes Christ to us or that we might …

Particular Judgement, the Early Church and the Harrowing of Hell

I recently sat in on a discussion about the afterlife wherein everyone present had a chance to reflect on their own views. I gave a potted answer of my own position there but what follows is an attempt to hash out my own position on this topic in more detail given its something that on …

Christianity and Relics. Part Five: Conclusion

In this series, I’ve tried to map out the development of the veneration of relics and more broadly the cult of the saints. I covered four areas of interest: The early practice of burial in the church for martyrsThe significance of martyrdom and martyrs to the churchBeliefs pertaining to martyrs and the influence of Greco-Roman …

Christianity and Relics. Part Four: The Public Cult

Introduction In my previous entries I outlined the initial early church practice to bury its dead in a mode similar to the culture around it. In my second I looked at the growing prestige of the martyr, in life and death, in the church who came to be seen as a type of individual set …

Prayer and Grace as an in-app purchase in the 21st century

I recently read about an article about an App in India which commissions Hindu prayers for payment. It opens… How can i get a divine intervention for my career? That’s the question Ravi Ganne, a young investment banker in Bangalore, typed into Google seven years ago. His search results led him to the website of …

Images in the Church. Part One: On the making of images

What follows is an attempt to chart the waters on what I feel is a healthy attitude to imagery in the Church. Different traditions have varying positions on the use of images, they also have different ideas on what they think others believe on this too. Any cursory glance online on this topic will highlight …

On Baptism and it’s timing. Part Four: Conclusion

Introduction Having looked at Baptism I am left with a number of impressions. On the one hand we hear everyone who is saved is baptised. On the other hand not everyone who is baptised is saved. What is more is that baptism takes a panoply of forms. It can be in the ark of Noah, …

On Baptism and it’s timing. Part Three: Witness of History

Introduction In the last entry, I covered for opening half millennium of the church regarding its position on the timing of the baptism. My conclusion, having looked at various sources, was that conversion, following catechism, was the normative time for baptism. The ritual and process for both developed considerably over the opening centuries but this …

On Baptism and it’s timing. Part Two: Witness of the Early Church

In the first part of this endeavour, I took a brief top-level view at the passages that had been raised by others, from scripture, during my discussions and reading on the topic on the timing of baptism. What I hope to subsequently address in this next, albeit not final part of my exploration is the …

Pirates and Emperors

Remove justice, then, what are kingdoms but great robberies? For what are robberies themselves, but little kingdoms? ... Indeed, that was an apt and true reply which was given to Alexander the Great by a pirate who had been seized. For when that king had asked the man what he meant by keeping hostile possession …