Early Christianity

The Acts of the Apostles is a companion literary work to Luke’s Gospel. In the Gospel, the focus is on the journey towards Jerusalem (Johnson 194). In Acts, Luke’s focus on the journey from Jerusalem (Johnson 194). As Christianity spreads from Jerusalem outward, Peter remains the central figure of authority. In the story of Ananias, lying to Peter is lying to God. The deaths of Ananias and Sapphira are extremely harsh, but the point is made and the people who witnessed have…

celibacy or bachelor- hood were Elijah, Joshua and Gideon, along with the Jewish Essenes. While there were other outside groups (such as; Hinduism, Buddhism and numerous monks in organizations, etc.), and individuals that practiced celibacy; still, Christianity noticeably elevates the sacred practice to a higher level. There are countless Christian stories relating to this; such as, one that is rather unknown concerns one of Jesus closest disciple, the Apostle Peter. Biblical scholars have no…

Tradition is woven into the very fabric of humanity. Every family, nation and society has traditions that are passed down from generation to generation. Even within the church, there are traditions that have been passed down through the centuries. However, the big question becomes: What role does tradition play within theology? The Catholic Church has equated tradition’s authority with Scripture; and great thinkers like John Meyendorff and Don Thorsen affirm tradition, yet lessen its authority…

Luke (Richard Pervo, 13-14), this source is a compilation of Paul’s letters and the later image Luke wanted to portray of Paul. Luke shapes Paul’s letters to be about Paul’s journey from being a denigrator of jesus’s actions and followers to christianity to being the foremost leader of the christians during an integral…

The book of Acts has always been a favourite to read. It gives a detailed picture of the origin of the early church, the spread of the gospel into the world which in turn was the beginning of the Christian faith. The authorship of the book of Acts has always been debated and tested, but it is generally agreed that the author of Acts is the same person who wrote the third gospel. It is commonly known that Acts is a sequel to the third gospel, referred to as the ‘first book’. The author is…

For example, why do we believe in the trinity the way that we do. The early Christian leaders formed most of our traditions and beliefs. Also, how can we defend our belief if we do not understand the history of our faith? For example, a non-believer may ask why did the early Christian forced and killed those who would not convert. If we do not know the history, then we would not be able to answer the question. Also, we…

INTRODUCTION The Gospel of Acts is a gospel book which follows-up with the narrative Luke commenced. In other words, the gospel of Acts is the next story of which the book of Luke and the early church after Jesus’s martyrdom left off. As one reads the book of Acts, one can determine the dynamic era in Christian history among the fundamental beliefs of the earliest Christians and the phase where Christian thinking and beliefs were constructing. Existing chapters of Acts emphasizes Jerusalem’s…

The Foundation of the Canon Almost 1,982 years ago Joshua (whose name means Yahweh is salvation ) was crucified. Since that time a substantial amount of writings both, canonical and non-canonical were written about Him and His teachings. I learned in the past that there are certain qualifications that have to be passed in order for a writing to be considered canon and placed in the New Testament of the bible, however when looking back through history I see something quite different has…

The Patristic Era was a time of great growth in the early Christian movement. Experiencing period waves of persecution, the early Christians were not deterred from spreading the good news of the gospel message. Patristic theologians such as Origen of Alexandria would leave a lasting impact on the church as it continued to develop theological dogmas and methods of the interpretation of Scripture. The method of Scriptural interpretation introduced by Origen addressed the questions and heresies of…

Introduction Acts is a continuation of the Gospel of Luke. Both books are addressed to the same person Theophilus, whose name means “beloved by God”. Also Acts picks up right where Luke 24 ends, with the ascension. When Jesus ascended it marked the completion of his ministry on earth. Verse 1 Acts 1 and Luke 24 have much overlap between them. “Without the book of Acts the story of Jesus would be incomplete. Afterall, he didn’t come merely to save individuals to get them to heaven, but to…