Category: history

  • Saints of the Day 2025-01-10

    Gregory of Nyssa In the year 372, Gregory of Nyssa was consecrated by Saint Basil the Great as bishop of the city of Nyssa in Cappadocia. Saint Gregory was an ardent advocate for Orthodoxy, and he fought against the Arian heresy with his brother Saint Basil. Gregory was persecuted by the Arians, by whom he…

  • Saints of the Day 2025-01-09

    Polyeuctus the Martyr of Melitene in Armenia Saint Polyeuktos went to the city square, and tore up the edict of Decius which required everyone to worship the idols. A few moments later, he met a procession carrying twelve idols through the streets of the city. Dashing the idols to the ground, he trampled them underfoot.…

  • The Biblical Case for the Dec. 25th Birth of Christ

    Page here

  • The Cappadocian Fathers

    From Grok. The Cappadocian Fathers—St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nazianzus (also known as Gregory the Theologian), and St. Gregory of Nyssa—made profound contributions to the Eastern Orthodox Church, particularly in the realms of theology, liturgy, and monasticism. Here’s a summary of their major contributions: Theological Contributions: Liturgical and Ecclesiological Contributions: Philosophical and Ethical…

  • Saints for Today – 2024-12-12

    Spyridon the Wonderworker of Trymithous Orthodox Christianity Then and Now Holy New Martyr Peter the Aleut Orthodox Christianity Then and Now John (or Joachim), Bishop of Zichni Orthodox Christianity Then and Now

  • Saints of the Day 2024-12-11

    Daniel the Stylite of Constantinople Luke the New Stylite of Chalcedon Martyrs Acepsius and Aeithalas Holy Martyrs Miracus and Barsabas Leontios the Righteous of Monemvasia The Glorious King Nikephoros Phokas

  • Pedigree of the Patriarchs of Antioch

    Antioch is where the disciples of Christ were first called Christians. Acts 11:26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. There is an…

  • Hidden History of Early Christian Art

     

  • Thoughts on Authorship of the Pauline Corpus

    Modern scholarship sees some of the letters of Paul as being genuinely written by Paul and others as written later by others. There is strong consensus in modern New Testament scholarship on a core group of authentic Pauline epistles whose authorship is rarely contested: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon.…

  • Nazarite Vows

    Josephus briefly recounts an episode where, in the 12th year of the reign of Nero, during the outbreak of the First Jewish-Roman War, Bernice (the sister of King Agrippa II) had put herself under a Nazirite vow and had come to Jerusalem thirty days before she was to offer her sacrifices, Wikipedia Did Mary take…

  • Church Fathers 2024-11-25

    Catherine the Great Martyr of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria, also spelled Katherine[a] (Greek: Αίκατερίνη) is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a princess and a noted scholar who became a Christian…

  • Church Fathers 2024-11-24

    Our Holy Father Clement, Pope of Rome (AD 96) Our father among the saints Clement of Rome (also called Clemens Romanus to distinguish him from Clement of Alexandria) was the third in succession after the Apostle Peter as bishop of Rome. Clement is known mainly for the letter he wrote to the Corinthians in about…

  • Gospel Reading 2024-11-24

    LUKE 18:18-27 At that time, a ruler came to Jesus and asked him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do…

  • The Seven Great Ecumenical Councils

    It’s really the beauty of the Seven Ecumenical Councils. They took the Fathers and the Scriptures and reached the conclusions we have today in the Church. The Trinity, the Deity of Christ, the selection of the canon, rejection of iconoclasts, and many others. It was all based on the pattern from the first council in…

  • Epistle Reading 2024-11-22

    ST. PAUL’S LETTER TO PHILEMON 1:1-25 PAUL, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker, and Apphia our sister and Archippos our fellow soldier, and the church in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God…

  • Web Resources on the Church Fathers and the Bible

    Helpful Study Resources This list should grow with time but here’s a start with the tools I’m using presently. Saints of the Day – Detailed accounts of the lives of the Saints of the Day CatenaBible – Click on a verse and see commentary from the Church Fathers on the verse BlueLetterBible – Useful for looking…

  • Orthodox Apologetics Calvinism V. Arminianism

     

  • The Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians – Early Church Structure

    In Ignatius Chapter 8: He that is within the altar is pure, but he that is without is not pure; that is, he who does anything apart from the bishop, and presbytery, and deacons, such a man is not pure in his conscience.  The Letters of Ignatius are very early. Hisg seven epistles preserved under…

  • Orthodoxy on Calvin and Calvinism

    The Orthodox Church produced the following document: The Confession of Patriarch Dositheos of Jerusalem (1672).  This Confession of Faith has been ratified by all of the autocephalous Churches (Jerusalem, Russia, and Georgia in 1672; Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and the Bulgarians under the EP at the Council of Constantinople in 1723. St. Justin Popovich and St.…

  • The Perspicuity of Scripture

    One of the more curious novelties of the Protestants is the notion of the “The Perspicuity of Scripture”.  One definition of this idea is found here: The doctrine of the clarity of Scripture (often called the “perspicuity of Scripture”) teaches that “the meanings of the text can be clear to the ordinary reader, that God uses…

  • Saint Peter on Saint Paul – Scripture and Tradition

     Saint Peter wrote about the writings of Saint Paul. 2 Peter 3:15-16 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are…

  • Inscription of Abercius

    The inscription of Abercius is the Greek epitaph of Abercius who was probably Bishop of Hieropolis in Phrygia. It is an important example of early Christian epigraphy. The Inscription The citizen of a chosen city, this [monument] I made [while] living, that there I might have in time a resting-place of my body, [I] being…

  • Megiddo Mosaic Circa 230 AD

    From “Earliest inscription declaring ‘Jesus is God’ discovered in Israel“. The 581-square-foot mosaic features the ancient Greek writing: “The god-loving Akeptous has offered the table to God Jesus Christ as a memorial.” Also found in the same mosaic: References The Ancient Church at Megiddo: The Discovery and an Assessment of its Significance The Megiddo Mosaic

  • Sola Scriptura is Contrary to Scripture Itself

    Defining Sola Scriptura Sola scriptura (Latin for ‘by scripture alone’) is a theological doctrine held by most Protestant Christian denominations, in particular the Lutheran and Reformed traditions, that posits the Bible as the sole infallible source of authority for Christian faith and practice. The Orthodox churches consider Sola scriptura to be contrary to the phronema (Greek…