The cessationist view expressed by John Chrysostom at the end of the fourth century — that the spiritual gifts were no longer evident, and that they were so obscure as to be foreign to contemporary Christianity — became the prevailing line within the church. Yet Paul's charismata had conveye...
The question is not, why are Christians *sad* but why do they view a child’s death as a bad thing, such a bad thing many will try to *avert* it. No averting in your vaccination example. Incidentally I am not confident this is the right blog to tempt the vaccers on! Your ...
Amish also take a literal Biblical view of church not as a physical building, but as the people that comprise it. Holding church service in a variety of changing venues emphasises the importance of the body of believers as the church and diminishes the importance of the structure itself. How ...
The caves became even more important in the 7th and 8th centuries, when Arabs persecuted Christians in the region. Cappadocian Christianity literally went underground, building elaborate subterranean churches with arches that mimicked aboveground architecture. These churches eventually grew into an entire ...
IMPORTANT NOTE: I am just an average guy who's a researcher and philosopher. I don't pretend to know the truth. I. DO. NOT. KNOW. what happens after death. No one does for certain. This is just my speculation and opinions. They very well may be wrong. Each person needs to go wi...
Many Christians secretly agonize over this question. But rarely do they admit or talk about it. Growing up, I was taught “eternal conscious torment” andthe smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever– the inevitable destiny for all people who did not believe as I did – from earlies...
First, for Jews the alternative models of the afterlife were total annihilation (this was the Sadducees’ view) and resurrection (the view of the Pharisees). When Paul says, “If there is no resurrection then the dead in Christ have perished,” he may be alluding to the Sad...
A prevalent view today is that all paths lead to God, that one religion is as good as another as long as you are sincere and a “good” person. If you are certain of this view, you may stop reading now. You have nothing left to learn, and your ascent to a positive afterlife is ...
Most Christians wouldn't infer vampirism from the story of the Last Supper. Christ offers the chalice containing wine to signify his blood to his disciples and directs them to drink it. But there is a parallel between the Eucharist and vampire legends: Both suggest that the consumption of blo...
WE DENY that the approval of homosexual immorality or transgenderism is a matter of moral indifference about which otherwise faithful Christians should agree to disagree.” The article does make it explicit that the signers view approving of homosexual behavior (and by extensions engaging in it) as...