Faith and the Resurrection

Theophilus of Antioch (b.115 – d.181)

do-have-faithBut you do not believe that the dead are raised. When the resurrection shall take place, then you will believe, whether you will or not; and your faith shall be reckoned for unbelief, unless you believe now. And why do you not believe? Do you not know that faith is the leading principle in all matters?For what husbandman can reap, unless he first trust his seed to the earth? Or … Read the rest

Scripture the Criteria of Truth

Clement of Alexandria (c.150 – c. 215) was a Teacher at the Catechetical School of Alexandria

I find Clement helpful in showing how the scriptures already in his day were used, misused, and abused – but are still to be the Criteria of all clementofalex_thumbTruth. We can still learn from history

Scripture the Criterion by Which Truth and Heresy are Distinguished :The Stromata (Book VII: Chapter 16)

“But those who are ready to toil in the most excellent pursuits, Read the rest

The Primacy of Scripture

scripture-733483IRENAEUS OF LYONS (130-202)

We have known the method of our salvation by no other means than those by whom the gospel came to us; which gospel they truly preached; but afterward, by the will of God, they delivered to us in the Scriptures, to be for the future the foundation and pillar of our faith. (Adv. H. 3:1)

Read more diligently that gospel which is given to us by the apostles; and read more diligently the prophets, and Read the rest

On Faith and Works

Clement-Of-RomeClement of Rome (d. 101 AD) was one of the first, if not the first, Bishop of Rome after the apostles, and certainly a leading member of that church towards the end of the 1st cent. He may have directly worked with the Apostle Paul, and he wrote his own Epistle to the Corinthians (a.k.a. I Clement), which was once regarded almost as highly as Paul’s letter. He gives a proper and balanced view of the relationship between Faith and … Read the rest

Who are the Saints?

TONY-ALLEN CUCOLO

super_saintsMany times, because of the influence of some older churches, I think many people have misconceptions regarding who or what is a “saint.” Many think that a church has to go through a complicated list of preconditions before a person can be considered a saint, whereas others may think that you have to wait until a person is dead and be sure they died a faithful and honorable believer before you call them a saint. The mindset … Read the rest

On Useless and Godless Opinions

Theophilus of Antioch (b.115 – d.181)

Dumb-For it was fit that they who wrote should themselves have been eye-witnesses of those things concerning which they made assertions, or should accurately have ascertained them from those who had seen them; for they who write of things unascertained beat the air. For what did it profit Homer to have composed the Trojan war, and to have deceived many; or Hesiod, the register of the theogony of those whom he … Read the rest