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Biblically, an idol is anything to which we give the adoration and submission that are due to God alone. The ancient world worshiped personal idols, such as Zeus and Athena. Our contemporary world struggles with more spiritual idols, idols that are more discreet and seductive, such as pleasure, money, and power.Just as, in the early centuries after Christ, ancient peoples tried to retain their idolatry and impose it upon the gospel, leading to Christological heresies such as Docetism and Ariani …

Four times, the book of Revelation identifies its author as “John” (1:1, 4, 9; 22:8). This was an extremely popular name at the time. In fact,John was fifth most common among names for Jewish men in Palestine in this period.The fact that John does not further identify himself (e.g., as John Mark, John son of Zebedee, or John of Jerusalem) shows that he must have been well known to his audience. He only says that he is “your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdo …

The Role of Sacred Tradition in Early Christianity The first Christians didn’t learn their faith from the Bible because none of the books of the New Testament had been written yet. This is evident in Paul thanking the Corinthians for “maintain[ing] the traditions even as I have delivered them to you” (1 Cor. 11:2), and instructing his disciple Timothy,“what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2). Paul thanked the …

Stay in the Catholic Church? After I became a Christian I struggled with whether I should keep attending a Catholic Church. As I sat in church and watched incense rise up from the altar, I felt an urge to stay and be part of what felt like a sacred mystery.On the other hand, there were a lot of Catholic beliefs that I could not find in the Bible, which made me think they were just man-made  traditions. I eventually decided that it didn’t matter which church I joined so long as I only be …

The Question of "Where is that in the Bible?" “Where is that in the Bible?” This is the most common question I receive when I discuss the Catholic faith with Protestants. They ask me questions like: “Where is purgatory in the Bible? Or the Mass? Or the pope? Or the rosary?” These questions assume that Christians should only believe a doctrine if it is explicitly taught in Scripture—what is called sola scriptura (“by Scripture alone”). The 1647 Protestant Westminster Confession of Faith expr …