In this study we will see that many early believers were just as eager as Christians today to claim belief in Jesus while continuing to make idols out of their wealth, food, appearance, sexual relationships, and patriotism. Their stories allow us to get to know real people who lived and tried to ...

Meet the first cultural Christians: Ananias and Sapphira. Are we focused on gaining honor and public recognition for our benevolent acts rather than genuinely desiring to serve those who need our generosity and compassion?

Difficult questions remain for churches to answer when it comes to issues of food and sin. Just as in the earliest Christian communities, Christians today are finding ways to be countercultural in their use of food to minister to others and build relationships both within the church and outside o...

Christianity challenged this use and abuse of human bodies as displays of
personal power by requiring all believers to have holy bodies and holy minds. This meant, in particular, erasing the double standard that the Roman world
had toward men’s and women’s sexuality.

This session focuses on the nature and impact of cultural sin in producing
apostasy in the early churches. The allure of culture sometimes proved more enticing than the countercultural community of the gospel, and some chose to leave Christianity as a result.

Many of the challenges that women in the church had to confront in the third century CE have proven surprisingly persistent and attest to the challenge
of resisting the gendered aspect of cultural Christianity.

The impulse of the Christians in Cyprian's third century church in a time of crisis was to focus inward, but his work as a pastor centered on helping his flock see the beauty of ministering to one another and not fearing either the loss of property that might occur if they give generously or the ...

As we consider histories of Christian violence against other Christians, tragically common in so many shapes and in so many periods, we would do well to remember that the solution demands repentance as a starting point.

In this session we consider the most egregious manifestation of the cultural
sin of Christian nationalism in the Roman Empire—the reaction of Christians
in the Roman Empire to the sack of Rome.

The story of the saints and ascetics who populated the Late Antique desert landscapes brings out current and surprising brands of cultural Christianity. The virtual desert that is social media has only amplified the farcical nature of the pillar saints of our days.