early Christianity
The roots of the Easter story: Where did Christian beliefs about Jesus’ resurrection come from?
By Aaron Gale — March 28, 2024
(The Conversation) — Ideas about resurrection had been developing for centuries before Jesus’ life, but his followers took them in new directions.
This Christian text you’ve never heard of, The Shepherd of Hermas, barely mentions Jesus − but it was a favorite of early Christians far and wide
By Chance Bonar — October 9, 2023
(The Conversation) — The ‘Shepherd of Hermas’ has been accused of being pedantic, even boring. In the first few centuries of Christianity, though, it was a hit.
Christian attitudes surrounding abortion have a more nuanced history than current events suggest
By Luis Josué Salés — July 14, 2021
(The Conversation) — Abortion and contraception were quite common among premodern Christians, who also celebrated women’s celibacy as superior to marriage and childbearing.
Is magic immoral? It played a role in the development of early Christianity
By Shaily Shashikant Patel — April 14, 2021
(The Conversation) — Early Christians worked to distinguish the miracles of Jesus from the magic of local sorcerers.
What are the origins of Lent?
By Joanne M. Pierce — February 22, 2021
(The Conversation) — The word “Lent” has Germanic roots referring to springtime. But not much is known about its origins as the religious observance.
Palm Sunday: The most anti-Semitic time of the Christian calendar
By Jason Byassee — April 3, 2020
(RNS) — Christians can explain away Holy Week Gospel readings as internecine rivalry between Jewish sects. But we still have to answer for the shadow of anti-Semitism, which became a monster.
Bible scholar: Paul’s letter to the Romans is what we should read in the Trump era — backward
By Jana Riess — July 25, 2019
(RNS) — The evangelical New Testament scholar says we need to hear Paul tell us to treat one another as siblings and tolerate one another in our differences.
Restoration work completed on Jesus tomb site in Jerusalem
By Reuters — March 21, 2017
JERUSALEM (Reuters) A team of scientists and restorers has worked for the past nine months at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and focused on a small structure above the burial place.
Who was Mary Magdalene? New book explores the life of the saint
By Emily McFarlan Miller — July 21, 2016
(RNS) The biblical figure of Mary Magdalene has been 'interpreted and misinterpreted, just as Jesus has been interpreted and misinterpreted,' according to historian Michael Haag.
Bart Ehrman examines how memories of Jesus morphed and changed
By Kimberly Winston — March 28, 2016
(RNS) The New Testament scholar wonders what happened between the time Jesus died and the time the gospel writers wrote about him.
The ‘Splainer: Who was St. Patrick, and would he drink green beer?
By Kimberly Winston — March 17, 2016
(RNS) March 17 is St. Patrick's Day. But was there a real St. Patrick? Did he drive the snakes out of Ireland or use the shamrock to explain the Trinity? Why should this fifth-century priest be remembered at all? Let us 'Splain.
Candida Moss debunks the ‘myth’ of Christian persecution
By Lauren Markoe — May 14, 2013
(RNS) Growing up Catholic in England, Candida Moss felt secure in life, yet learned in church that Christians have been persecuted since the dawn of Christianity. As an adult and a theologian, she wants to set the record straight.
Page 1 of 1
