Can Christians Do Violence?

In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7), Jesus introduced a surprising teaching, one that is so unlike our natural human impulses that Christians have mostly ceased to follow it. Though Jesus taught against violence, and though the pre-Constantinian church continued to teach Jesus’ command, few Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, or Protestants consider Jesus’ command …

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Did Saints Like John Chrysostom Venerate Icons? How Did It Arise?

This article is the fifth (and last) in a series in which I evaluate the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox practice of iconodulia—veneration of images. In previous articles, I looked at the evidence predating 313, when Constantine began to favor Christianity. This article will discuss the evidence that comes after. Here are the posts in …

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Icons | The Orthodox Church Has Changed the Apostolic Faith

The Roman Catholic Church claims to be the one and only apostolic church, and so does the Eastern Orthodox Church. In this series of articles, I’ll show that neither church’s claim can be true. One way of addressing their claims is to focus on their reasons why they believe they have apostolic authority, which I’ve …

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When Should We Disagree With the Early Church?

When we try to discover the historic faith through early sources, we look for areas of consensus among early Christians. Typically, those beliefs are the ones we should also share. Not, of course, because the pre-Nicene church was infallible, but because we want to live the original Christian faith, and they can help us understand …

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