I read the book The Church of the East in one day. (I had the abridged version.) This is a scholarly work on the history of Christianity in the East—the lands to the east of the Roman and Byzantine empires historically. This means places like Persia, Central Asia, India, the East Indies, and China. The […]
Category: Religious History
Canopic Jars – Interesting Historical Artifacts
Today my blog takes a break from book reviews and serious issues to introduce you to canopic jars. A canopic jar is one of the most interesting artifacts from Ancient Egypt. What did they do? The primary purpose of a canopic jar was to hold the embalmed organs of a deceased person undergoing mummification. Typically, […]
American Christianity & Providential Design, Part 2
In our last blog, we introduced the religious doctrine of providential design. Now, it is time to examine all the ways this religious viewpoint poisoned attitudes in American Christianity toward African Americans in the US for many years. We left off by stating that it absolved slaveholders from individual responsibility for the horrors of slavery. […]
Providential Design & American Christianity, Part 1
The doctrine of providential design arose in the United States after the Civil War and the end of slavery. It was, perhaps, the most perfect combination of racism and religion ever created in the United States. To understand the full importance of this pernicious doctrine, let us lay out what its beliefs were. How to […]
The Origins of Witchcraft and Valdés of Lyon
Part of the origins of witchcraft lie with the man we know as Valdés of Lyon. Valdés lived in France in the twelfth century and was an itinerant preacher who lived a life of holy simplicity. His name also has a connection to the origin of the term “witch” and so is part of the […]
Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Opens
On November 1 of 1512, one of the most sublime artistic creations in history, the ceiling paintings of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, opened for public viewing. The masterpiece appears on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (named for Pope Sixtus IV, who ordered the chapel built in 1479), which is part of the Vatican Palace in […]