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apostolic fathers

Ismail al Faruqi : ​“Orig­i­nal Sin” in the Apos­tolic Fathers

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Ear­ly Chris­t­ian per­spec­tives on sin, as exam­ined in this arti­cle, con­trast with Pauline and Augus­tin­ian views. The Apos­tolic Fathers believed sin was acquired through per­son­al choic­es rather than being an inher­ent con­di­tion. They empha­sized human rea­son and moral effort to over­come sin, dif­fer­ing sig­nif­i­cant­ly from the idea of inher­ent sin­ful­ness and help­less­ness. This analy­sis high­lights the ear­ly Chris­t­ian focus on eth­i­cal human­ism and ratio­nal­ism in address­ing sin.

Nikitari, Cyprus: Asinou Church frescoes

Com­pet­ing Doc­trines and Beliefs : Ear­ly Chris­tian­i­ty and Its State of Flux

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Chris­tian­i­ty in its ear­ly cen­turies was marked by a remark­able diver­si­ty of beliefs and prac­tices. Com­pet­ing sects, such as the Mar­cionites and Gnos­tics, pre­sent­ed var­i­ous the­o­log­i­cal per­spec­tives. This arti­cle explores the the­o­log­i­cal diver­si­ty and the con­test­ed nature of ear­ly Chris­t­ian beliefs, ques­tion­ing which ver­sion, if any, can be con­sid­ered the true Christianity.

The Influence of the Pauline Epistles Upon The Gospels of The New Testament 27

The Influ­ence of the Pauline Epis­tles Upon The Gospels of The New Testament

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Chris­tians believe that Paul of Tar­sus is the ​‘Apos­tle’ of Jesus(P), whom he met in a vision on his jour­ney to Dam­as­cus. Paul is also claimed to be the author of the Epis­tles to the Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthi­ans, Gala­tians, Eph­esians, Philip­pi­ans, Colos­sians, 1 and 2 Thes­sa­lo­ni­ans, 1 and 2 Tim­o­thy, Titus, Phile­mon and Hebrews. It is there­fore strange that this self-con­fessed ​‘Apos­tle’ of Jesus Christ fails to pay more atten­tion to the words of Jesus (P) him­self in his epis­tles. To what extent has the Pauline let­ters shaped the selec­tion of the gospels of the New Tes­ta­ment as canon today ? This arti­cle will exam­ine the evi­dence and present its con­clu­sions on the mat­ter, insha’allah.