A #CradleCatholic. A #LapsedCatholic, I did all the stuff - Baptism, Fist Communion, Confirmation. At around 4 years old, the church kicked out my mom & by extension, my family. I explored other practices & faiths, & I wanted to not convert to a religion or practice I had not been born to or wasn't otherwise ancestrally connected. Long story short, decades later, a pandemic, & a few ends of the world here I am. I am listening. Let's see where all this leads. #EarlyChurch #ChurchHistory #Theosis

Let's talk about the guy who "saved orthodoxy" in the fourth century: Athanasius.

Very little is known about his early life, but he spoke Coptic and was ridiculed by his enemies as "the black dwarf." It's safe to say that Athanasius was Coptic or at least from the lower classes in Egypt.

He was elected bishop of Alexandria when ~30 years old. Arian heresy was on the rise with the Emperor's support. It was a pivotal moment ... 1/n

#churchhistory #history #histodon

One of the most fascinating insights into the early church is a correspondence between Pliny the Younger, governor of a province called Bithynia (modern Turkey) from 111-113 AD and the Emperor Trajan.

Pliny tells Trajan about an effort to "out" Christians, with anonymous documents listing out names. Pliny disliked this whisper campaign and was inclined to be lenient to the Christians. All they needed to do was to sacrifice to the gods and they could go free. 1/n

#churchhistory #martyrdom

Difficult man to research, today. He was in Amsterdam for a few years, two children were baptized there. Then he is gone, back to England. He was declared bankrupt, probably.

Perhaps one of the daughters later married a dissenting minister in Coventry.
All questions, hardly any answers... the joy of #genealogy!

#ERCAmsterdam #59men #familyhistory #churchhistory

If my idea for the final project in the #Strathclyde postgraduate diploma program is accepted, I need to do #genealogy research on 59 men, who were officer in the English Reformed Church in #Amsterdam between 1700 and 1764. I am looking forward to it! Actually, I cannot wait to start... perhaps I can do some preparations during summer break?

#ERCAmsterdam #prosopography #history #churchhistory #thesis

Reading Alice Clare Carter’s book from 1964 about the history of the English Reformed Church in Amsterdam. Making notes for my “final project” to obtain the #Strathclyde postgraduate diploma in genealogical studies.
A tropical day in the Netherlands. Hence, sitting outside in the shade.
@genealogy #genealogy #familyhistory #ercamsterdam #churchhistory

Anyone know Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History well? I remember reading a part where he describes a local council after a big persecution, how everyone was amazed to see one another. I can't find it ... am I remembering wrong, or is it from another author? #churchhistory

St Edith Stein tells us that Muslim persecution led to the migration of the Carmelites from Palestine to Europe. Today we recall the martyrdom of the last Carmelite hermits on Mount Carmel in 1291. Check out our blog to learn more!
https://carmelitequotes.blog

#Martyrs #ChurchHistory

openaccess
A Björklund: "Kapellväktare : ett medeltida kvinnoyrke." (Eng sum: Chapel guardian – a medieval female profession.)
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:raa:diva-6677
These women guarded valuable items in the chapels and helped catch thieves.
#Medieval #ChurchHistory #WomensHistory

Great Protector, You Are Blessed Forever
Great protector of Abraham's descendants, you are blessed forever.

Starting from the truth which our forefather knew when he changed his way, you guided him by a vision, and you taught him about this world. What you taught him went before his faith, his faith grew from what you taught him, and the covenant grew out of his faith.

For you said: "I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted: (Genesis 13:16 NIV).

You gave him Isaac, and you were called his God, saying, "I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham" (Genesis 26:3).

When our father Jacob was sent into Mesopotamia, you said to him, ''I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you" (Genesis 48:4).

And so you spoke also to Moses, your faithful and holy servant, at the vision of the bush, when you said, "I AM WHO I AM. This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation" (Exodus 3:14-15).

Great protector of Abraham's descendants, you are blessed forever, amen.
-Apostolic Constitutions
(Copy Taken from "Fount of Heaven: Prayers of the Early Church" by Robert Elmer)
#churchhistory #prayer #Christian

To the LORD, The True Life
"I pray to you, O Lord, the highest truth. You are the one through whom is true all that is true.
I pray to you, O Lord, the true life. You are the one through whom all things live that do live.
You are the highest blessing, and through you are blessed all that are blessed.
You are the highest good and beauty, and the light through which we can know and understand.
I pray to you, Lord who has the whole world in your hands, although we cannot see, smell, hear, taste, or touch you. But we take all the good laws and virtues that we have from your realm. From your realm we have examples for all the good we can do.
Everyone who flees from you falls, everyone who turns to you rises, and everyone who abides in you stands. No wise person forsakes you, only the wise seek you, and no one completely finds you except the pure in heart.
Those who forsake you perish. Those who love you, seek you. And those who follow you, have you.
The truths you gave us awaken us from the sleep of our sins, and the love you have given us binds us to you. Our hope lifts us to you. Through you we overcome our enemies, both spiritual and in this world.
You who forgive, draw near and have mercy on me, because you have given us a great gift: We will never perish and come to nothing.
Amen."
-- Augustine of Hippo
(Copy Taken from "Fount of Heaven: Prayers of the Early Church" by Robert Elmer)
#churchhistory #prayer #Christian

Church Historians Attempt Normalizing Strange Seer Stone In Hat Translation Method

https://wasmormon.org/more-cell-phone-seer-stone-talk-from-church-history-department/

#josephsmith #mormon #lds #seerstone #bookofmormon #prophet #exmormon #exmo #faith #church #churchhistory

Church Historians Attempt Normalizing Strange Seer Stone In Hat Translation Method

https://wasmormon.org/more-cell-phone-seer-stone-talk-from-church-history-department/

#josephsmith #mormon #lds #seerstone #bookofmormon #prophet #exmormon #exmo #faith #church #churchhistory

We Pray to Stir Up Devotion
"Lord, since eternity is yours, do you not know of what I speak to you? Or do you see in time, what passes in time? Why then do I so often speak to you in time?
Truly I do not pray so you will learn from me, but to stir up my devotion toward you. We pray so that we all may say, "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised."
I have said it already, and will say it again: I do this for the love of your love.
For we pray also, and yet Truth (that is, Jesus himself) has said, "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him" (Matthew 6:8).
So it is our affections that we lay open to you, confessing our own miseries, and your mercies on us.
Through prayer, you may free us wholly. Through prayer, we may cease to be miserable in ourselves, and blessed in you.
Through prayer, we see how you have called us to become poor in spirit, and meek, and mourners, hungering and thirsting after righteousness.
Through prayer, we learn to become merciful, and pure in heart, and peacemakers.
See, I have told you many things, as I could and as I would, because you first wanted me to confess unto you, my Lord God. For you are good, and your mercy endures forever, amen."
-Augustine of Hippo
(Copy taken from Fount of Heaven: Prayers of the Early Church by Robert Elmer)
#churchhistory #prayer #Christian

What lesson then, my brethren, did our Lord Jesus Christ wish to impress on His Church, when it pleased Him to have one castaway among the twelve, but this: that we should bear with the wicked, and refrain from dividing the body of Christ?

-Saint Augustine

#Christianity #Theology #Ecclesiology #ChurchHistory #Protestant #Reformed

"Help us to set our hope on your name, Lord. You are the origin and source of all creation. You open the eyes of our hearts so we can know you.

You alone abide highest in the lofty place. You are holy in the holy. You lay low the insolence of the proud, set the lowly on high, and bring down the lofty. You make right and poor, give life and death. You alone are the benefactor of the spirits and the God of all flesh.

You look into the deepest places and see all our works. You help and relieve those who are in peril, and you are the savior of those in despair. You are the creator and overseer of every spirit.

You multiply the nations and have chosen out all who love you through Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, through whom you taught us, honored us, and set us apart.

Amen."

-Clement of Rome
(This prayer is widely regarded as the earliest recorded Christian prayer outside of the Scriptures)
#churchhistory #prayer #Christian

Other First Visions, Which are Not of This Fold

https://wasmormon.org/other-first-visions-which-are-not-of-this-fold/

"First Vision" of Norris Stearns, 1815 is very similar to Joseph Smith's alleged "First Vision" of 1820, which was not recorded until 1830 and not heard about by anyone until 1838... Plagiarism much?

#josephsmith #norrisstearns #firstvision #mormon #lds #churchhistory #exmormon #exmo #shelf #shelfbreaker #wasmormon #postmormon #plagiarism #prophet #theophany #deconstruction #faithcrisis

Development of Mormon Tithing – From Meager Origins to Ensign Peak Billions

https://wasmormon.org/development-of-mormon-tithing-from-meager-origins-to-ensign-peak-billions/

#exmo #exmormon #church #mormon #tithing #billionaires #sec #LorenzoSnow #JosephFSmith #RogerClarke #ensignpeak #churchhistory #churchofjesuschristoflatterdaysaints

Books I Have Read: Constructing Mission History
Mission history shouldn't all be about missions. This book provides a nuanced and thoughtful approach to the way in which the church has grown through history.
https://www.kouya.net/?p=14059
#Observations #2023Reading #Churchhistory #colonialism #mission #missionaries #Politics #Reviews

Books I Have Read: Constructing Mission History
Mission history shouldn't all be about missions. This book provides a nuanced and thoughtful approach to the way in which the church has grown through history.
https://www.kouya.net/?p=14059
#Observations #2023Reading #Churchhistory #colonialism #mission #missionaries #Politics #Reviews