Christian History Magazine

Christian History Magazine Christian History magazine - Learn from the past, engage the present, and meet the future in faith. w Subscription is on a donation basis.

Christian History magazine is a full color production, with articles by notable scholars enhanced with engaging images and layout. Dr. Jennifer Woodruff Tait is the Managing Editor, with Dr. Chris Armstrong serving as the Senior Editor.

Think about how you would tell the story of your own life to someone else—and the story of your life with Christ. Are th...
10/23/2025

Think about how you would tell the story of your own life to someone else—and the story of your life with Christ. Are there events you particularly remember? Are there times of happiness and times of sorrow? What has been the rhythm of your days?

One of the distinctive aspects of the Christian faith is that it is a story rooted in time—centered around the true story of a Savior who lived at a moment in history that we can pinpoint. Because of this, Christians began very early to celebrate the life, death, and Resurrection of their Savior by marking time. Weekly at first, and then yearly, joyful commemorations and penitential periods developed; over the first few centuries of the church they achieved a rhythm, year in and year out, intended to help believers grow in faith and become closer to their Lord.

In Fasts and Feasts: A historical guide to the church calendar, you will find an introduction to this rhythm—to inform you about its history and, perhaps, give you ideas to make it part of your own discipleship or that of your church.

https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine

Do you enjoy Christian History Institute? Do you subscribe to the magazine? Or read the articles online? Now, for the fi...
10/22/2025

Do you enjoy Christian History Institute? Do you subscribe to the magazine? Or read the articles online?
Now, for the first time ever, you can continue exploring the history of the church on
Follow along using the link below:
https://substack.com/

So, did John survive the boiling oil? Did it even happen? The Golden Legend (c. 1260) by Jacobus de Voragine is a large ...
10/13/2025

So, did John survive the boiling oil? Did it even happen?

The Golden Legend (c. 1260) by Jacobus de Voragine is a large collection of hagiographies (saint stories) popular in the late Middle Ages. The excerpt below expands on legends about John, some of which date back to Tertullian, who wrote:

“How happy is [Rome’s] church, on which apostles poured forth all their doctrine along with their blood! . . . Where the apostle John was first plunged, unhurt, into boiling oil, and from there sent to his island exile!”

Christian History Magazine seeks to bring the history of the church to the people of the church. And now for the first t...
10/09/2025

Christian History Magazine seeks to bring the history of the church to the people of the church. And now for the first time ever, you can dive deeper into the stories we tell with a curated library of podcasts from CHI!

Use the link below to listen and be inspired!
OR, CHI Podcasts can be found using the Podcast app. Search for our channel: "Christian History Institute" and follow along! 📻

https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/podcasts

Sean McDowell is professor of apologetics at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, and the author of “The Fate of...
10/05/2025

Sean McDowell is professor of apologetics at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, and the author of “The Fate of the Apostles”, part of which was adapted for Issue #156.

Read about Peter’s fate in the eyes of church tradition versus current scholarship in the article linked below!

https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/ch156-peters-fate

The apocryphal Acts of Peter and Paul dates back to the fifth century. Its author is anonymous, although some versions c...
09/30/2025

The apocryphal Acts of Peter and Paul dates back to the fifth century. Its author is anonymous, although some versions claim a “Marcellus” as the writer.
The narrative linked below perpetuates the legend of Peter’s martyrdom and shares an account of the conflict with the sorcerer Simon Magus who is written of in Acts 8.

https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/ch156-legends-of-peter

When people talk about the lives of the apostles beyond what is recorded in Scripture, they often refer to a vague entit...
09/24/2025

When people talk about the lives of the apostles beyond what is recorded in Scripture, they often refer to a vague entity called “tradition.” A pastor might declare in a sermon, “Christian tradition says Peter was crucified upside down” or “According to an early tradition, Thomas evangelized India.” Paul went to Spain, Mary lived in Ephesus, Bartholomew was skinned alive—all according to ancient church tradition.
But what exactly does this word mean? And whatever it means, can it be trusted as a reliable historical source?
Extrabiblical accounts of the apostles’ lives include the fantastic as well as grains of truth. Sort through these stories with Bryan Litfin in his article “Historical wheat or heretical chaff?”, linked below.

https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/ch156-historical-or-heretical

This 20th-c. painting by German artist Gebhard Fugel depicts Peter preaching to the crowd as John Baptizes a new convert...
09/14/2025

This 20th-c. painting by German artist Gebhard Fugel depicts Peter preaching to the crowd as John Baptizes a new convert. Their boldness and knowledge astonished Jerusalem's religious leaders.

Recounted in Acts 3-4, Pentecost empowered Peter to heal a crippled beggar, preach the gospel and stand up to the Sadducces— a Jewish religious and political group who denied the resurrection of the dead.

Read the full story in your Bible at home, or use this link to read our online version of Issue #156: What happened to the Apostles?

https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/ch156-apostles-acts-excerpt

The disciples often failed to grasp Jesus’s true identity and purpose during his ministry. This painting by Henry Ossawa...
09/07/2025

The disciples often failed to grasp Jesus’s true identity and purpose during his ministry. This painting by Henry Ossawa Tanner depicts Peter and John at the tomb, full of wonder at finding it empty.

“From deserters to defenders” by Craig S. Keener describes the power of Pentecost in the disciples' lives and how their experience of Jesus’s ministry, death, Resurrection and Ascension propelled them into ministry— ministry that labored and gave birth to the church we now are members of.

Read more below!

https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/ch156-deserters-to-defenders

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