The apocalyptic Revelation of John is filled with strange and vivid imagery depicting beasts, birth and battles. When considering the Christian perspective of the Roman empire during the time this book was written, it is interesting to note how the dualistic images seem to paint a picture of the ancient Roman-Christian experience, at least in… Continue reading →
The origin of Pliny’s letter is based on the ethics behind Trajan’s community. Pliny felt that those that represented the Christian population were being hypocritical and not living the message associated with the mission. Pliny took it upon himself to be critical of the happenings and ultimately ended in a trial in which the verdict… Continue reading →
What this author is trying to convey is who are the false prophets/teachers and gives them a warning about the coming Judgement Day. It is mainly people who are in denial of Judgement Day and question whether or not it will come. According to the book of 2 Peter, many of the false prophets are… Continue reading →
1. The video From Jesus to Christ [Part II, Chapter 8] notes that at the beginning of the second century, the Roman government had begun to think of Christians as a group distinct from Judaism. Moving out from under the Jewish umbrella posed problems for Christians, for it was no longer obvious that they should… Continue reading →
In Pliny’s letter to the Emperor Trajan he outlines a series of wrong doings by people in his community. These people are on trial because they were denounced as Christians. Pliny’s general impression of Christians was not good. He felt that they were liars or imitators who weren’t actually Christian. He interrogated and tortured those… Continue reading →
Pliny’s letter is very interesting. He claims that he does not know why the Christians are on trial or how to exactly handle the trials of the Christians. I can assume that the Christians were viewed as a threat to the Empire and were therefore put on trial. Pliny then asks the Christians whether they… Continue reading →
2 Peter contains encouragement to Christians to not follow random, false teachings. The prophecy of scriptures comes from God himself, not from any human’s imagination. The “ignorant” twist and destruct the scriptures themselves. The “teachers” may be apostles and prophets because their sources are God. These “teachers” promise liberty and will only lead people into… Continue reading →
The Pastorals considered that Gnosticism was a false teaching because they were establishing a true Christianity. Because Gnosticism proclaimed knowledge, promoted myths and genealogies and taught a realized eschatology it was an opponent to the true Christianity that the Pastorals were working on. They thought that Gnosticism engaged in “profane chatter”, and the genealogies promoted… Continue reading →
Pastorals wants to promote a type of Christianity that was aligned with the patriarchal values of the Roman world. These values were 1) men were superior to women 2) men were active in public spaces 3) women should always be under the guardianship of a male figure. Males take a leadership role over the church… Continue reading →
