Shepherd Leadership during Crisis
Cyprian ran from the crisis, but came back to remind the people that being a martyr wasn’t the only worthy Christian life. Serve the suffering here and now.
Baking Bread in Jesus’s Day
When women baked bread, they didn’t do it alone. It was done in community – sharing resources and growing closer together.
Seven Sleepers of Ephesus
A church legend about seven sleepers who sleep for generations and awake undecayed, unchanged – a revelation about bodily resurrection!
The Star of Bethlehem according to John Chrysostom
Even 1,500 years ago, John Chrysostom had a lot of questions about the star…
The Magi as Zoroastrians
If the Magi were Zoroastrian, how might their faith have influenced their understanding of what was happening?
Temple Tax: Context
The Temple tax was voluntary, an expression of faith and belonging – not part of a domination system.
Mary Magdalene is (Probably) Not Who You Think She Is
Mary Magdalene was not a fallen temptress. She witnessed the resurrection, was the apostle to the apostles, and likely continued in leadership in the early church.
The Impact of the Title “King of the Jews” on Herod the Great & Caesar Augustus
Only gentiles called Jesus “King of the Jews.” The Herods and the Caesars claimed many titles for themselves, but they perpetually felt their power threatened.
The War to End All Wars: World War I
They called it “the war to end all wars,” but even before it ended, a British politician remarked: “This war, like the next war, is a war to end [all] war.”
History & Transmission of the Lord’s Prayer
Catholics took their Lord’s Prayer from one preferred by Henry the VIII in 1545; Protestants, perhaps, from Martin Bucer from 1539.