This is part 16 of the Early Church History class. Jerome and Augustine are two of the most influential Latin Christians of the first millennium of Christianity. This episode will introduce you to their lives, personalities, and some of their most important ideas. You’ll see how significantly asceticism affected their lifestyles as well as how Read more about 498 Early Church History 16: Jerome and Augustine[…]
This is part 8 of the Early Church History class. Origen of Alexandria is the man behind the curtain. Although few Christians today would recognize his name, most denominations are still on a trajectory he initiated eighteen hundred years ago. His influences in theology, christology, eschatology, apologetics, textual criticism, asceticism, hermeneutics, and Christian philosophy are Read more about 488 Early Church History 8: Origen of Alexandria[…]
Last time we saw that some influential Christians rejected the biblical teaching on the kingdom because the idea of living on earth forever seemed crude to them. This time, we look at how the ancients thought about bodies and bodily pleasures. As it turns out, from (at least) Plato onward, many philosophers tended to embrace Read more about 103 The Kingdom Is Too Hedonic (Kingdom of God 12)[…]
Now that you’ve seen the historical defenders of the kingdom faith, it’s time to turn our attention to those who fought against it. Over the next three lectures you’ll learn the main reasons why Christianity rejected the kingdom message of the bible and replaced it with going to heaven or hell at death. First up, Read more about 102 The Kingdom Is Too Crude (Kingdom of God 11)[…]
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[…]