St. Justin was one of the earliest Christian apologists, and his Apology of the second century helps trace the laying of the Christian dogmatic foundation. The faith, as expressed by Justin, contains several of the elements that established the Christian religion as a religion founded by God Himself -- and as Justin composed his Apology as a defense of Christianity against paganism, it takes pains to explain exactly what Christians were expected to believe. Justin is mentioned by Tertullian as being both a philosopher and a Church martyr who, along with a handful of other early Christian martyrs, was slain in Rome for defending the Faith. That Faith was largely recorded in Justin's First Apology, one of the earliest records of Church teaching on the subject of the Eucharist. Justin's writings survive today because they like so many others were preserved and collected along by the early faithful and the monks who dedicated their lives to removing themselves from the world and holding onto a vision of Christian doctrine. Needless to say, Justin's writings were much commented upon by the early Christian fathers because the first Christian books were constantly being spread throughout the Christian communities. Part of the reason these early Christian books were so well preserved, however, is that there was a long tradition in the Greco-Roman-Judeo world of preserving important texts. Rome was a hybrid of Jewish, Greek and Roman learning. Under Roman rule, after all, Greek and Jew had been assimilated (to a degree) into the Roman culture -- which, under Constantine, became officially Christian. Thus, the Fathers of the Church had Greek, Hebrew, and Roman traditions to draw upon for intellectual grounding. These traditions taught them to gather and collect in an institutional way (ala monastic institution) the first Christian books (Woods, 2008, p. 36). Then there were the councils, at which the early Church fathers and bishops like Augustine gathered to proclaim those writings which were essential to the maintenance...
Definite affirmations concerning the Person of Christ were made in, for example, the Nicene Creed -- which some 1200 years later would be reaffirmed at the Council of Trent (at a time when the medieval world was beginning to experience the rending of its garments -- the rise of Protestantism and the end of Christendom). In other words, the early Church was so well organized and defensive, that the preservation of the Faith and those books which proclaimed it, taught it, clarified it, and spread it were given top priority by those members of the Church who were inflamed by a spirit of preservation.
Christian Biotechnology: Not a Contradiction in Terms Presented with the idea of "Bioethics" most people in the scientific community today immediately get the impression of repressive, Luddite forces wishing to stifle research and advancement in the name of morality and God. Unfortunately, this stereotype too often holds true. If one looks over the many independent sites on the Internet regarding bioethics, reads popular magazines and publications, or browses library shelves for
First Confession by Latin American writer Montserrat Fontes The idea of the Christian confessional and its ultimate inability to give spiritual or societal healing in the presence of perpetual societal injustice and class inequities gives rise to the major themes of the novel First Confession by the Latin American author Montserrat Fontes. In the novel, two children, the privileged cousins Andrea Durcal and Victor Durcal, are about to make their
In fact, the non-Christ centered religiosity of the Middle Ages helped contribute to the division between the Catholic Church and Protestant churches. "This religiosity was expressed in the cult of the saints, particularly in images and sacred objects, and in the veneration of the eucharist" (James, Protestant, p.26). These practices actually led to the feeling among some Christians of that time period that they had somehow been fooled or
Christian Counseling According to McMinn Counseling others through difficult time, challenging personal crises or the simple complexities of everyday life requires patience, compassion and selflessness. These are also all features of a good Christian life devoted to fellowship and the scriptures. These are the ideas at the crux of Mark McMinn's 1996 text Psychology, Theology and Spirituality in Christian Counseling. At its most basic, the text is an outline of the
Christian Counseling Theories Christian authors present the very unique set of principles and strategies aiming at helping empower individuals going through counseling. Examining Christian literature and theory illustrates clear assumptions that different authors share, yet also pulled out some clear differences as well. For example, Backus and Chapain (2000) present fluidity, while Adams (1986) suggests Scripture. Still, these authors do all show that the word of God is a crucial element
It brings important information concerning how one can leave their trouble behind and embrace prayer instead of illusion. Most religious books are presently considered to be boring because of the fact that they basically present the same information over and over again, without trying to capture their readers by providing them with essential knowledge relating to how they can live a spiritual happy life. Nouwen wanted this book to be something
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