Early Church

Friends, it’s not incidental to God that he is a kind and loving Father. That’s not a role he’s stepped into or an act that he tries to pull off while inwardly just being transcendent and disinterested in you.When you pray the Lord’s Prayer and call him “Our Father” or “Abba, Father,” you’re not asking him to pretend for a moment he’s less like God and more like Jesus than he actually is. You’re putting your finger on the very essence of God.

Daniel Hames introduces the early Church Father, Cyril of Alexandria. Cyril’s legacy endures as one of the most influential figures in the development of the doctrine of Christ, shaping the theological landscape of Christianity for centuries to come.

It is necessary not only to pray, but also to pray “as we ought” and to pray for what we ought. Our attempt to understand what we should pray for is deficient unless we also bring to our quest the “as we ought.” Likewise, what use to us is the “as we ought” if we do not know for what we should pray?

Andrew Wilson explains the history of the canon of scripture and why we can be confident in the Bible we have today. 

Gregory of Nyssa shows how the doctrine of the Trinity does not mean that Christians worship three gods. 

'Mathetes' ('a disciple') wrote this letter to Diognetus, probably in the C2nd, to defend Christianity and outline the gospel. 

Virgil's fourth Eclogue was C. S. Lewis' favourite Christmas Day reading. He saw the poem as a pagan anticipation of the birth of Christ. Decide for yourself!  

Dan Hames writes about the theological, historical, and biblical reasons he has changed his mind about the death of Jesus. 

Athanasius' brilliant yet accessible work on the incarnation of Jesus. Not recommended for reading on screen! 

Melito of Sardis writes on the death of Jesus in the form of a Passover haggadah (retelling).