The blog was created with the purpose of bringing different early Christian topics to lay audience in a simple and easily readable way. I oppose the idea that historians should be close to the boundaries of their respected scholarly community. Rather, their duty should also be to work on the popularization of science. Out of that way of thinking, I decided to start with a blog that will contain short posts about different topics related to early Christian history.
The Catholic Church has largely determined the trajectory of the development of every important socio-cultural aspect of modern society: art, music, literature, social norms, morality, and even political philosophy. From the end of the 4th century when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Reformation until modern times, no institution had as much influence as the Catholic Church. Therefore, it is extremely important to understand the origin of Christianity and its development during the first 400 years.
In
the “History” section of the blog, you can find short articles about different
interesting topics of early Christian history that still raise a lot of
controversies and debates.
Did Jesus exist? How can we establish
his existence? What can we, as historians, can tell about his life and deeds?
If e existed, was he married to Mary Magdalene? What was their relationship?
What about dozens of so-called “lost Gospels” that never made into the canon of
the New Testament? How did the early Church pick and choose which books are to
be part of the Bible? What about the origin of the Christian belief in Heaven
and Hell? How to explain the triumph of Christianity in the Roman Empire that
had countless other religions? Why did people choose to join the Church? What
about the pagans and their beliefs?
My plan is to post two short articles per week – even though sometimes,
due to other obligations I have, that goal won’t be fulfilled. It is important to note that every article
is written from a historical perspective. In other words, my approach is not
theological. Unbelievers and believers alike can find the articles interesting
and useful for expanding their knowledge about the earliest decades and
centuries of a religion that is still the most dominant religion in the world. Approximately 2, 38 billion people practice some form of Christianity globally!
Besides the “History” section, the blog contains a “Myth vs. Facts”
section that deals with modern myths and popular misrepresentations about the
history of Christianity.
Did Galileo really
utter the words “Eppur si muove” at the end of his trial? How did the Roman
emperors signalize the death of the gladiator who lost the battle? Did people
in the Middle Ages truly believe that the Earth was flat?
Finally,
I hope you’ll enjoy the blog while learning new things about the history of
Christianity. You are more than welcome to comment and even disagree with me on
particular points. That is the reason why you have the comment section! I only
invite you to be open-minded and to
follow the truth wherever it leads you. As
Jesus famously said, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make
you free”.
