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And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own … Continue reading Wooden Speck-tackling

Last week we spoke about confession and absolution through the lens of Jesus’ teachings on divorce and remarriage; we spoke on the necessity of confessing that we are sinners, that we the mercy of God freely, for Christ’s sake, not for any reason in ourselves. And this week we find ourselves right back to that … Continue reading The Rich Young Legalist

WIVES – submit to your husbands as to the Lord… This is (just going to guess), probably the least requested Scripture text for weddings in modern western society. A lot of people don’t like this text. A lot of people hate this text. A lot of people don’t believe in this text, or accept this … Continue reading Is Christ in an Egalitarian Marriage With the Church? (No)

The diversion in trajectories between the Greek speaking Eastern Christians and the Latin speaking Western Christians begins first and foremost with a difference in language. While early on all Christians by and large spoke Greek, which was the lingua franca of the day, the west began to speak Latin. As this happened, gradually, the Latin … Continue reading The Eternal Schism: A Linguistic Chasm

The doctrine of Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus (EENS), or, that there is no salvation outside of the church, is one that comes primarily from St. Cyprian of Carthage, in Letter LXXII, wherein he wrote to to Jubaianus regarding the Baptism of the heretics that; “there is no salvation out of the Church1.” The context of … Continue reading Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus in Context and Beyond

St. Athanasius work On the Incarnation provides to us a theological proclamation of the effective work of Christ in life, death, and resurrection for the salvation of the world. Here we see concepts such as the incarnation act as atonement, recapitulation, divination, and the universally salvific will of God. Here perhaps the most important of … Continue reading Athanasius On The Incarnation

The Didache, which is perhaps the oldest of the church’s extra-biblical documents, is one that gives us a deep insight in the beliefs and practice of the early church. Whether they are actually written by the Apostles themselves or merely by early Christians living a the same time or shortly after the apostles, they give … Continue reading The Didache

The hermeneutical difference between Alexandria and Antioch has long been discussed in the lecture halls of Christendom. Alexandria, as is known, was famous for the allegorical school of interpretation. This method itself was known to both Jews and Greeks in antiquity as well as in their own contemporary context, which we see mentioned both favorably … Continue reading Alexandria, Antioch, & Hermeneutical Tribalism

The theology that Irenaeus’ presents to us in On the Apostolic Preaching is one that is solidly biblical, thoroughly Christocentric, and poetically colored. In this work, Iranaues delivers to us the truth of Christ’s life death and resurrection resulting the complete salvation of the Christian. This he roots in the objective work done by Christ … Continue reading Irenaeus & Theological Excitement

The Liturgical tradition of the early church, while developing well into the Post-Nicene era of church history has roots that predate Pentecost itself. Before the uniquely Christian sacraments of Baptism, confession, confirmation, holy unction, and the Eucharist were instituted by the Lord Christ and passed down by the Apostles, the types and prefigurements of these … Continue reading Ante-Nicene Liturgics