Questions tagged [christianity]
Christianity is one of the monotheistic Abrahamic religions along with Islam and Judaism. Christianity is the largest religion of the world, and the predominant religion in those countries considered part of the "Western" world. Adherents of Christianity are known as Christians.
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Is this story of John Wesley, a horse, and a bridge true?
I recently heard a story about John Wesley giving way to a stubborn man while on a narrow bridge: in short, Wesley was riding his horse on a bridge, while a man who was known to be a critic of Wesley ...
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Did Philo ever mention crucifixion as a punishment in any of his writings? If he didn't, was there ever a reason he didn't?
Philo was a prominent Roman writer and philosopher during the first century AD, it seems that in one of his books 'Against Flaccus' Philo mentions the multiple persecutions and punishments Jews of ...
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What do the inscriptions in Pomposa abbey say?
I've recently visited Pomposa Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in northern Italy near Ferrara, and while visiting I've stumbled upon these inscriptions below a fresco depicting an Hydra.
I have ...
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Were there Roman "weekly executions" in Judea?
I'm down in the moderate unpleasantness that is the US state of Florida. Not having anything better to do, I pop down to the local amateur library and pick something out.
Most of it consisted of ...
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Did the Romans ever get the idea to pardon Jesus or expunge the conviction when they adopted it as the state religion in 380, Edict of Thessalonica?
Given the premise of Jesus as being an innocent man being wrongfully convicted, wouldn't the very legally minded Romans or other jurists have the idea that the government should delete the conviction ...
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Was reincarnation part of the early Christian church?
I am interested in learning more about whether reincarnation was a part of early Christian church dogma, and how that belief may have evolved or survived as the church splintered into multiple sects. ...
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Did the Romans reuse crosses for crucifixion punishment or it was one time use (1st century Jerusalem) ? I need verified sources on this
I am trying to check if the story of Saint Helena mother of Constantine 1 finding the true cross logically follows or not.
The most common story goes ( Wikipedia:Church of the Holy Sepulchre)
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What did the equitable of the citizens exactly dislike about Ananus, in Josephus' reference to James?
Josephus' reference to James the brother of Jesus
And now Caesar, upon hearing the death of Festus, sent Albinus into
Judea, as procurator. But the king deprived Joseph of the high
priesthood, and ...
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What is the historical origin of the story of the Temptation of Christ? [closed]
In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, there is a story in which Jesus meets the Christian Devil (Satan), and Satan tempts Jesus to give up his mission through promises of power.
I want more ...
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How did the East Slavic pagans perceive the process of Christianization of Rus'? [closed]
I read that the Christianization of Rus' was of great civilizational, political and cultural significance for the Eastern Slavs.
One of the notable aspects of this theme is the view, supported by some ...
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Was Frederick Douglass right that in his day 'religious slaveholders are the worst'? If so why would this be?
I am quoting from the autobiography of Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), who as many readers will probably know escaped from slavery in Maryland in 1838, settled in Massachusetts and became an anti-...
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How old is the practice of wearing your "Sunday Best" to church?
I was wondering how old the idea of wearing your "Sunday Best" (nicest clothes) to church. It only became common to have different sets of clothes in the last few centuries. And even then ...
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Who are the Cathari in the Canons of the council of Nicaea?
In Canon 8 of the Council of Nicaea – held in 325 – it states that
As for the so-called cathari, if they return to the catholic and apostolic church, the great and holy council decrees that any of ...
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Why can't the gospel of Mark be as late as 110 CE?
The gospel of Mark is conventionally dated to somewhere very close to the Roman-Jewish War (Telford, 1999, p. 12ff). There are clear references to the 70 CE destruction of the Second Temple in Mark 11:...
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Was any belief about the nature of the soul before birth widespread enough to influence common people's lives?
Medieval (European Christian 5-15th century) theologians used to argue between a few ideas about the origin of the soul (creationism, traducianism & pre-existence). However, was any belief about ...
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Did mother Teresa ask to allow to Christianise Arunachal Pradesh to receive Bharat Ratna?
Mother Teresa is a popular person, generally known for her humanitarian work. But from my childhood, I repeatedly used to hear that she promoted and converted many Indians to Christianity either ...
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What was at the start of Early Roman codices?
What was on an early Roman codex before the actual text of the author? For example, we have the title, author, copyright notifications and other publication information. In contrast what would you ...
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How did Hitler view Fr. Denis Fahey, Fr. Leonard Feeney, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis?
Fr. Denis Fahey, Fr. Leonard Feeney, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were pretty famous names in the Christian West in the 1930s and 1940s. Is there any information concerning Hitler having views on any ...
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What languages could David Livingstone speak?
What languages could David Livingstone speak? I am certain that he spoke English and Setswana, but presumably neither of these would have been any use for the last seven years of his life. I have ...
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How was the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible produced?
I have recently been reading about verses in the New Testament that have been claimed by Jewish Scholars (ex. Rabbi Tovia Singer) to be corruptions of the real Hebrew old testament. In most cases, ...
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What was the reason Jesus allowed Christians to eat pork? [closed]
Pork prohibitions date back to ancient Mesopotamia where for some cults consumption of pork was banned.
Many people speculate if the bans against pork was to protect against trichinosis, which turns ...
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What were the neoplatonists' attitude towards Christianity (or religion in general)?
In the movie "Agora" an ultimatum is given to Hypatia, either she adopts Christianity or the prefect would not be able to protect her anymore. Hypatia chooses the latter and is subsequently ...
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Where are the relics of Anthony the Great?
Anthony the Great, or Anthony of Egypt, is a Christian Saint who lived in the 4th century AD. The Wikipedia page states about its relics:
Anthony had been secretly buried on the mountain-top where he ...
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Anyone have an e-text of the Doctrina Jacobi in Greek?
I have been trying to find an e-text of the Doctrina Jacobi in its original language. Does anyone have the Doctrina Jacobi (The teaching of Jacob) ( text form) in the original Greek.
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Did the Byzantine Empire persecute Christian sects?
In popular culture, Hollywood movies, etc. the Roman-Catholic Church is often portrayed as having persecuted Christians that did not agreed with official Church dogma.
Think of the Inquisition, ...
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Were lay people ever forbidden to read the Bible in the Christian world?
I'm interested in all the historical accounts, if any, where the Bible was forbidden/censured to be read, by order of secular powers in the Christian world, i.e. mainly Roman Empire or the Byzantine ...
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Who does Irenaeus call "a certain person among the ancients"?
In his Against Heresies (c. 180 AD), Ireneaus of Lyon writes
[God] pronounced no curse against Adam personally, but against the
ground, in reference to his works, as a certain person among the
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Could someone who had joined a monastery decide to leave?
Could a nun or monk that had been admitted to a monastery "quit" and (more or less) return to the life they lived before joining?
I am mostly interested in Europe and Christianity ...
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How widespread was the observance of the Jewish Sabbath among Christians during Early Christianity (A.D. 30–324)?
Question
How widespread was the observance of the Jewish Sabbath among Christians during Early Christianity (A.D. 30–324)?
Further Details
As a reminder, the Jewish Sabbath is defined as:
[...] the ...
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Why does the amount of days in an year on average of the Gregorian calendar only have 4 decimal places (365.2425)?
Alfonsine tables available at the time of the Gregorian reform provided enough information (however inaccurate) for the calendar to have been designed such that it expressed more precision regarding ...
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Did Argentine President Juan Peron grant free access to the radio, the press and two soccer stadiums to a preacher called Tommy Hicks in 1954?
The title is a summary of claims I've read from several informal sources. For example, this site claims:
It was in this environment that Tommy Hicks was welcomed into the presidential office. After ...
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Was there a religious revival in Uganda in the late 1980s and 1990s with pervasive impacts on society and the presidency?
I recently asked a related question on Skeptics.SE, but I haven't received answers (probably because history is not an area of expertise over there). But here I'm interested in the broader context: is ...
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What are the origins and history of shaking, trembling, jerking, contorting, collapsing, fainting and similar manifestations in Christianity?
I'm interested in learning about the origins and evolution throughout Church history of manifestations such as shaking, trembling, jerking, contorting, collapsing or fainting attributed to the Holy ...
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What was the ratio of people who were atheist prior to the French revolution or who adopted atheism as a result of the Cult of Reason?
I'm interested in the way the French people reacted to the religious policies during the French revolution, i. e. dechristianization and establishment of the Cult of Reason. Are there any estimates ...
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Percentage of Christians (Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians) in Asia Minor/Anatolia in the early 19th century
I'm wondering about the percentage of Christians in Asia Minor/Anatolia in the early 19th century. There were significant Muslim immigration and Christian emigration later.
Immigration: 19th century ...
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Do these depictions of hunt in medieval Catholic churches have the same symbolic meaning? If not, what is it?
I have come across 3 depictions of a hunt in Catholic churches.
The first two are tiles that were on the floors of an English abbey and a church not far from Reims, France; I could not find any ...
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How was Christmas celebrated in early Byzantium?
I haven't been able to find any information regarding Christmas in Eastern Rome from before the tenth century. Literally any information regarding the celebration of Christmas in the fifth and sixth ...
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How was Christian intermarriage with the Muslim Turks viewed by the Byzantines?
While learning about the Battle of Manzikert (1071) I was surprised to hear that the emperor Romanos IV agreed in the aftermath to a political marriage by giving his daughter to be married to Sultan ...
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Are there thirteenth century sources linking the Fifth Crusade to the Book Of Daniel?
Are there any thirteenth century sources (Christian, Islamic, or Jewish) linking (the timing of) the fifth crusade to a possibly self-fulfilling prophecy1 from (the eighth chapter2 of) the Book of ...
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Why is Jesus' crucifixion dated to AD 30–33? [closed]
I've read pretty much everywhere that the consensus is that Jesus died between AD 30–33, but I can't seem to find where this conclusion comes from.
Are there some historical sources or pieces of ...
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What happened to the cross on the dome of Hagia Sophia?
There are some images that show the cross on the dome of Hagia Sophia.
For example;
Miniature 38 from the Constantine Manasses Chronicle, 14th century: Construction of Hagia Sophia during the reign ...
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Is it true that Christian English monks adopted Norse hairstyles before the start of the Viking age?
I remember a documentary suggesting that Vikings traded a lot with English monks, before the Viking Age started, and that the monks ended up adopting their hairstyles. They mentioned a senior monk or ...
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How/when did the halo shift from being a solid disk behind the head to being a floating ring above the head?
In almost all older religious paintings that I've seen, holy figures with halos have gold/glowing disks behind their heads, like this:
or sometimes more pronounced, but still clearly behind the head:
...
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Where was the Barberini psalter created?
Would you know where the Barberini psalter was created?
I have checked the on-line sources and cannot find the answer (maybe I have overlooked it?)
It was created in the 11th century. The obvious ...
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Was it illegal to blaspheme God in Antioch in 360.-410.?
We know that the Roman Empire became a Christian state. Was it illegal to blaspheme God in Antioch in 360.-410.? What punishment was prescribed (if it was illegal)? If it was punishable, who could ...
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Why didn’t Christianity spread southwards from Ethiopia in the Middle Ages?
Christianity, having begun in 1st Century Roman Palestine, in the next few centuries spread rapidly across the Roman Empire and beyond, including beyond the southern boundary of Roman Egypt, via the ...
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To what extent was Christianity responsible for the dark ages of Western Europe?
Some sources assert that Christianity caused the dark ages of Western Europe.
But actually, to what extent Christianity was actually responsible for the dark ages of Western Europe?
I know this can ...
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Was there religious content on the post-war BBC World Service?
At the beginning of Oranges are not the only fruit, Jeanette talks about listening to the radio with her mother as a child.
Sunday was the Lord's Day, the most vigorous day of the whole week; we ...
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What does it mean to "take the Cross"
I am reading Simon Schama's A History of Britain Volume I, which often makes reference to this form of punishment. For example, on p144:
"The assassin's made for Yorkshire, where they lived ...
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Did the Roman Empire have penal colonies?
I've been searching for an answer for a question on Christianity Stack Exchange about the fate of St. John the Apostle. Tradition says he found himself exiled to a Roman penal colony on Patmos. ...
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