Sacraments, Part 2: Tertullian

In “The Eucharist, Part 9: Tertullian” (2024-04-06), we discussed how Tertullian was the first early church writer to refer—in the first decade of the third century—to baptism and thanksgiving as sacraments. He did so a century before anyone else did, so his writings constitute the most important evidence. Consider the new …

Sacraments, Part 1: Divisions

Over at Anabaptist Faith, commenter Seeker gives the standard objection: We’ve heard this before: But regarding the question “what is truth?” this objection is a non-sequitur. All that the varied disagreement of denominations proves is that people will always try to disagree with each other, for whatever reason. This has …

Do Witches Exist?

I’ve been writing a lot about mystical experiences recently. In particular, I’ve noted (here and here) that supernatural events have two possible sources: God or demons. It is simply not true that only God can grant the experiences that you have prayed for. Demons can, and do, grant miracles and endow powers. This …

The Eucharist, Redux #4

This is part of a series on Roman Catholicism and the eucharist. See this index. The 40-part series on the eucharist focused primarily on the liturgy itself. But there is some question as to whether or not the Eucharist involves leavened or unleavened bread. The Orthodox assert that it is …

The Eucharist, Redux #3

This is part of a series on Roman Catholicism and the eucharist. See this index. Over at dioseschucha, there is a good article on “The Law of God and the Law of Moses.” Its well worth a read regarding what portions of the Old Testament are still in force and …

The Eucharist, Redux #2

This is part of a series on Roman Catholicism and the eucharist. See this index. Throughout the 40-part series on the Eucharist, I often demonstrated, but did not define, what the early church meant by eucharist. In “Part 8: Interlude” I discussed the meaning in more detail. That provides a lot …

The Eucharist, Redux #1

This is part of a series on Roman Catholicism and the eucharist. See this index. Copy-and-Paste Apologetics A while back I did a 40-part series on the Eucharist entitled “What the Earliest Christians Wrote About the Eucharist.” It was based on a post made by Roman Catholic apologist Fish Eaters. …