Author Archives: History of the Christian Church

Chapter 102: The Treatment of the Dead

From the dim corridors of pagan ritual to the radiant hope of Christian resurrection, the care of the dead unveils not only human reverence for the departed but a theology of eternal life that transfigures death itself. In the early church, burial was not a grim necessity but a sacred act—an expression of love, hope, and profound eschatological conviction. The treatment of the body became a liturgy of faith, where… Read more
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Chapter 101: Prayer and Fasting

Prayer, the soul’s breath, and fasting, the soul’s hunger for God—these two disciplines formed the very heartbeat of early Christian devotion. Across the theological spectrum—from the mystic Alexandrians to the pragmatic North Africans—prayer and fasting were seen not as optional acts of piety but as indispensable means of communing with the divine and conforming to the image of Christ. Prayer as the Christian’s Daily Offering Among the early Christians, there… Read more
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Chapter 100: Brotherly Love, and Love for Enemies

In an age dominated by ambition, egotism, and the thirst for renown, Christianity introduced a revolutionary ethic: love—unfeigned, self-sacrificial, and divine. This love did not merely bind believers in holy fellowship; it reached across barriers of race, class, and enmity to embrace even those who reviled and persecuted. What the ancient world admired as heroic magnanimity, the Church lived as a daily vocation rooted in the love of God. The… Read more
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Chapter 99: The Christian Family

Out of the wreckage of pagan domestic life—corrupted by political utilitarianism, degraded womanhood, and sexual excess—Christianity raised a sanctuary of moral order, dignity, and love. By exalting the sanctity of marriage, promoting chastity, and honoring the equality and spiritual nobility of women, the gospel transformed the household into a temple of virtue and affection. Though this transformation was gradual and incomplete, it laid the cornerstone of Christian civilization and the… Read more
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Chapter 98: The Heathen Family

In the ancient world, the family was subordinated to the supremacy of the state, and woman was denied dignity in both philosophy and law. The grandeur of Greece and the might of Rome concealed a deep moral infirmity—an erosion of domestic virtue, a collapse of conjugal fidelity, and the institutional degradation of womanhood and childhood. Into this decaying order, Christianity breathed new life: honoring marriage, cherishing motherhood, exalting chastity, and… Read more
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Chapter 97: The Church and Slavery

Amid a world hardened by conquest and castes, Christianity planted the quiet seed of a moral revolution. Without insurrection or civil tumult, the gospel introduced into the ancient world the radical idea of human equality before God—a spiritual brotherhood that would, in time, erode the very foundations of slavery. It was not through legislation or revolt, but through the dignity of the soul, the freedom of the spirit, and the… Read more
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Chapter 96: Secular Callings and Civil Duties

Christianity, in its early expression, did not call its adherents to flee from the world, but to sanctify it—to remain in their earthly callings with a new spirit. Infused with divine purpose, the mundane became holy; and in every sphere of human endeavor, from the plow to the palace, the gospel quietly transformed society from within. Though Christians were often maligned as indifferent to public affairs, theirs was a deeper… Read more
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Chapter 95: The Church and Public Amusements

The ancient Church stood like an immovable pillar of righteousness amid the tidal wave of debauchery and violence that characterized the public amusements of pagan Rome. While the empire reveled in bloodshed, sensuality, and spectacle, the Christian faith summoned humanity to repentance, purity, and holy joy. In a world enthralled by cruelty masked as entertainment, Christianity offered not escape but elevation—joy rooted in reconciliation with God, delight in virtue, and… Read more
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Chapter 94: Christian Morality

In the twilight of ancient civilization, when the glory of Rome was waning and the moral framework of paganism lay in ruins, Christianity arose—not as a mere philosophy or ethical code, but as a divine power for inner renewal and social transformation. Where heathenism had exhausted its moral resources and degenerated into spiritual impotence, the gospel of Jesus Christ poured forth a living fountain of holiness, love, and peace—a regenerative… Read more
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Chapter 93: Plutarch

Graceful in thought and generous in spirit, Plutarch stands as the noblest moralist of antiquity—a seeker of virtue, a lover of the divine, and an unconscious forerunner of Christian ethics. Neither prophet nor apostle, he wrote not with divine revelation, but with luminous insight into the dignity and frailty of the soul. In a pagan world weary of superstition and cynicism, Plutarch shone as a philosopher of hope, humility, and… Read more
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