This is part 17 of the Early Church History class. Throughout the first five hundred years of Christian history, a significant shift occurred in what we believed about our ultimate destiny. The New Testament and the early church fathers repeatedly expressed belief in God’s kingdom coming to earth. Over time, however, this idea gave way Read more about 499 Early Church History 17: The Kingdom of God in Early Christianity[…]
This is part 11 of the Early Church History class. Have you heard of the Roman emperor Constantine? He had a massive impact on Christianity. Not only did he end the brutal persecutions of his predecessors, but he also used the Roman government to actively support the Church. However, his involvement also resulted in significant Read more about 493 Early Church History 11: The Constantinian Shift[…]
This is part 12 of the One God Over All class. If the entire bible clearly and repeatedly teaches that there is one supreme God who is over all and that Jesus is his subordinate son, then surely we should find evidence of this idea in the historical writings of Christians after the New Testament Read more about 422 One God 12: Early Church History[…]
Is war ever justified? If so, can Christians participate in killing? In this episode we delve into a sensitive and controversial subject to figure out what the bible has to teach us about how we should treat our enemies. Our aim here is not be provocative, but faithful to what our lord taught us. Here Read more about Off Script 38: Killing in War: A Christian View of Violence[…]
Who has believed in the kingdom over the history of Christianity? In this lecture, you’ll find out who defended the kingdom belief in the first four centuries, before it faded out of the mainstream and got replaced with going to heaven instead. In order to put you in contact with the primary sources, we read Read more about 101 Historical Kingdom Advocates (Kingdom of God 10)[…]
Here’s the original paper in pdf form. I presented this talk at the 18th Theological Conference held near Atlanta, GA. In it I present a case for the radical practice of loving our enemies. Whether you believe Christians can and should use violence to defend themselves or others or if you think more along the Read more about Podcast 15: A Theology of Nonviolence (Sean Finnegan)[…]
by Sean Finnegan Why do so nearly all Christians today believe that the people of God will spend eternity living in heaven with God? Although the bible clearly and in many places teaches just the opposite, one is hard-pressed to find any Christians who believe that God intends to fix the planet rather than evacuate Read more about Rejecting the Kingdom 3: Too Jewish[…]
by Sean Finnegan According to the Hebrew prophets, one day the God of heaven will set up a kingdom on this world, restoring it back to its original glory. Instead of shucking off the body like a husk so the soul can ascend, the biblical teaching about humanity’s destiny is rather fleshy. God designed humans Read more about Rejecting the Kingdom 2: Too Hedonistic[…]
Presented at the 2013 Theological Conference Sponsored by Restoration Fellowship by Sean Finnegan From the earliest days of Jesus’ Jewish apocalypticism to Augustine’s authoritative City of God, early Christians have held a variety of views about the final home of God’s people. Already in middle of the second century, Justin Martyr reports Christians held opposing Read more about Rejecting the Kingdom 1: Too Crude[…]