What did Qaudratus of Athens teach?

He is the first Christian apologist and is counted as one of the 70 Apostles in the Eastern Orthodox churches and was a friend of the Apostles according to Eusebius of Caesarea.  He would have known John and by style of writing he was directly influenced by John and Paul's writings. He wrote an apology (argument for) letter to Roman Emporer Hadrian when he came and visited Qaudratus' city.  Eusebius had an copy of his letter and stated he was very orthodox with the other Apostles.  Eusebius then quotes him:

Why The Bible Is Divine: Christology

The bible is not just a historical record of Israeli culture but also records of a supernatural element that illuminates hearts and minds to a greater plan for all history; where the center point of human history is not a civilization or culture, but a person.  A person that ancient history looked forward to and the same person the modern world looks back at.  This person is identified as Jesus.  In this article we will look at Jesus of the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament.

Maximal Opportunities to Desire God

This is an extremely deep issue that takes a lot of careful thought.  When correctly understood in light of scripture we can see how Maximal Opportunities bridges the understanding gap in a lot of areas in the Christian faith.  This relates to Molinism or the middle knowledge of God.  It explains how God does the all work in salvation, how people come to desire God, how he is all knowing, how and why a loving God allows evil, how and why God does not show favoritism, and how he is not responsible for sin.

Why God is not the Islamic 'Allah'

The Arabic name for God is 'Allah' which literally means 'the God'.   Although in name alone, this may be true.  The major distinction comes from who Allah is understood to be by his attributes and Characteristics.  In this article we will look at the fundamental differences in how God Justifies and saves mankind.

10 Big Churchy Words

The following 10 big 'churchy' words are a big deal.  They describe very key and essential understandings of the over all work and process of God in the world. They are not in order alphabetically but ordered by the process of which they take place. These words are either stated in scripture or describe an idea that is stated in scripture and are not later invented doctrines.  They help in deeper understandings of what God has done and is doing in the world around us.  below are brief outline and definitions of the words:

The Glorious and Blessed Hope

Is biblical 'hope' just wishful thinking or is it something more?  Can we wishfully think of eternal life or can we hope in assured expectation of attaining eternal life?  The bible offers a type of Hope that the world, a part from Christ, can only wish for.  What is this Hope that only the Christian faith offers?

The Satisfaction of Christ Jesus

All humanity longs for something.  It needs and desires something more than itself.  It invents and subscribes to things that attempt to satisfy that need and desire.  Religions, cultural norms and laws, hobbies and possessions, careers and status.  All these things CAN attempt to satisfy the human longing for contentment and peace.  Even some "christians" are not satisfied with just their religion, they need greater health, more wealth, and happiness too.  But the absolute power of being in Christ is the absolute contentment and peace that only comes from him.

The New You Forever

From our physical birth to our physical death there is nothing on the outside besides a change of habits, thinking processes, and locations that make us spiritually alive.  We enter the world as sinners estranged from God.  We are born spiritually dead (Eph 2:1-3, Col 2:13).  We live a life of habits, environmentally and socially learned behaviors and ways of thinking.  One of the greatest results of coming to faith in Jesus Christ is being made spiritually alive and 'born again'.  But what does that mean? What happens?

What Did Clement of Rome Teach

Earliest Church leader and teacher outside of The Bible.

Appointed by Peter to lead the Christian community in Rome according to Tertullian.  He is mentioned by Paul in Philippians 4:3.  He knew the Apostles personally and would have access to a lot of eye witness testimony of Jesus and original writings himself.  A every early 2nd century extra-biblical writing called The Shepard of Hermas also mentions him.  In his letter, Clement names Fortunatus, as one of the people who carry his letter to Corinth.  He is named by Paul in 1 Corinthians 16:17 as well.

The only reliably known writing from him is known as 1st Clement to Corinth. A 2nd letter has his name attached but is clear it was not by him.

He was martyred around 98-100 AD.

What makes his writing and teaching so important?

By Christ's Work Alone

On what date did you make yourself come from spiritual death to life?  How did you give birth to your own spirit?  What steps and procedure did you do and work hard at to save yourself from death?  If you say anything besides "none" or "zip" or "nada"; you have mild case of thinking that you are god.  Because only God can bring people to spiritually life from spiritual death; we are not God.  That's right, God himself declares that we are spiritually dead from birth.  We are D.O.A. (Dead On Arrival).  So how do we become alive and  right before God?

God's Glory Alone

God is the almighty sovereign and eternal God and creator of all things.  He is perfect is his goodness and righteousness, justice and mercy.  Man, is not.  Man corrupts what it touches and is not good without God. 

So who deserves the glory for what is good in the world?

Christian Sinners or Christian Hypocrites

Christians are sinners and the world is quick to view them as hypocrites.  Some Christians even embrace the idea of being a hypocrite but the real question is; are Christians hypocrites?  More importantly when people put their faith in Jesus Christ as lord and savior, does God see them as hypocrites?  Lets first look at Jesus' attitude toward those who followed him and those who claimed to love God but did not follow him.

The Amazing Grace of God

Gracious; the greatest characteristic of God.  Without his Grace, we would be nothing.

What is Grace?

Simply put, unmerited favor.  It is God showing kindness and being benevolent to anything undeserving of his kindness and benevolence.  It can not be stressed enough that it is undeserved.  We do not deserve or earn his favor.  We do not deserve blessings; they are given without merit.

Why "Good Friday" is so Good

The Friday before Resurrection Sunday (Easter), Christians remember the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the cross.  It is not explicitly said in scripture to remember this day annually as "Good Friday" but instead Christians are explicitly commanded to remember through The Lords Supper (1 Cor 11:24-26).  Either way the timing of the celebration and remembrance of the event is free to the individual believer (Romans 14:5). 

What Are is Good Friday Celebrating?

Sinlessness and its Dilemmas

• "Go and sin no more" John 8:3-11
• "stop sinning or something worse may happen to you" John 5:1-15
• "be holy as I am holy" 1 Peter 1:16
• "if you love me; keep my commandments" John 14:15
• "until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become perfect" Eph 4:13

Just from these verses we can jump to the conclusion that we can stop sinning, keep God's commands, and be holy with the assumption in this life.  On the surface, this is true.  God does expect us to become holy and sinless and keep his commands in this life.  Coming from the creator and holy God, that is a legit explanation.

But when we look at ALL scripture, we come to some road blocks with the assumption of sinlessness in this life.

Statement of Faith: Salvation

           Salvation is a gift of God’s grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross (Ephesians 2:8-9). Christ’s death fully accomplished justification through faith and redemption from sin. Christ died in our place (Romans 5:8-9) and bore our sins in His own body (1 Peter 2:24).

           The Principle 'Grace Alone' emphasizes grace as the reason for our salvation. In other words, salvation comes from what God has done rather than what we do (Ephesians 2:8-9).  Salvation is received by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Good works and obedience are results of salvation, not requirements for salvation.

Statement of Faith: Humanity

           Humanity came into existence by direct creation of God and that humanity is uniquely made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27). God created the universe and all that is in it by his creative effort.  God brought the universe into existence by the exertion of his will.   Adam and Eve were real people, created by God just as Genesis says.   We believe that all humanity, because of Adam's fall, has inherited a sinful nature, that all human beings choose to sin (Romans 3:23), and sin is eternally offensive to God (Romans 6:23). Humanity is utterly unable to remedy this fallen state (Ephesians 2:1-5,12).  Man is fallen, corrupt, and wicked.