I found this article interesting, although I've never read his book.
To: TradicalRC
I think any figure for the number of Christians in the Roman Empire at the time of Constantine's conversion is simply an educated guess.
I wasn't aware that any translation of the Bible included Pliny's letter to Trajan about the Christians. It's in Latin and doesn't have the word "deaconess." The Greek word is diakonos which can be either masculine or feminine. Its basic meaning is one who serves--the corresponding verb is used of Peter's mother when she is cured of a fever and waits on Jesus and his disciples (Mark 1.31).
Pliny uses the word ministrae of the women he had interrogated under torture (10.96.8).
To: TradicalRC
I may be able to before it's over. I would welcome that.He seems close. Let's pray him into the kingdom!
3 posted on
02/28/2009 4:57:49 PM PST by
Hebrews 11:6
(Do you REALLY believe that (1) God is, and (2) God is good?)
To: TradicalRC
Very interesting article, thanks.
5 posted on
02/28/2009 5:28:56 PM PST by
Marie2
(Ora et labora)
To: Natufian
FYI, from an agnostic’s perspective.
6 posted on
02/28/2009 5:30:17 PM PST by
Marie2
(Ora et labora)
To: TradicalRC
7 posted on
02/28/2009 5:51:55 PM PST by
GOP Poet
To: TradicalRC
>That’s true, though I’ve never been an atheist. Atheism is an active faith; it says, “I believe there is no God.” But I don’t know what I believe. I was brought up a Lutheran in Jamestown, North Dakota. I have trouble with faith. I’m not proud of this. I don’t think it makes me an intellectual. I would believe if I could, and I may be able to before it’s over. I would welcome that.
Hmmm... he seems honest and humble enough to realize his own limitations. A good example.
8 posted on
02/28/2009 5:52:30 PM PST by
OneWingedShark
(Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
To: TradicalRC
10 posted on
02/28/2009 6:19:46 PM PST by
Thorin
("I won't be reconstructed, and I do not give a damn.")
To: TradicalRC
12 posted on
02/28/2009 7:30:23 PM PST by
Lorica
To: TradicalRC
13 posted on
02/28/2009 8:14:42 PM PST by
LiteKeeper
(Beware of socialism in America; the Islamization of Eurabia)
To: TradicalRC
The fact of the matter is, when I was a kid, there were rules about what you could and couldn't put in the mail or show in the movies. Some of the rules may have been a bit much, but where do you stop? Where do you put your limits? If you don't set them pretty tight, pretty soon they're blowing people's heads off . . . we are helping to build monsters. "So I killed somebody - that makes me a bad guy?"
Keith Phoenix, 28, confessed murderer.
14 posted on
03/01/2009 4:41:58 AM PST by
Oratam
To: TradicalRC
15 posted on
03/01/2009 4:59:14 AM PST by
GonzoII
("That they may be one...Father")
To: TradicalRC
A man with one foot in the Kingdom.
16 posted on
03/01/2009 5:13:20 AM PST by
sitetest
(If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
To: TradicalRC
“People value religion on the basis of cost, and they don’t value the cheapest ones the most. Religions that ask nothing get nothing.”
17 posted on
03/01/2009 1:40:25 PM PST by
TASMANIANRED
(TAZ:Untamed, Unpredictable, Uninhibited.)
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