Explore the resurrection of Jesus, the hope of life beyond death, and the questions early Christians asked about our future. These readings bring historical evidence into conversation with faith, grief, and hope.
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When the Savior Entered Hades
When Jesus died, his followers knew where his body had been placed. Joseph of Arimathea had laid it in a tomb. But what had happened to Jesus himself? And what did his coming mean for…
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Always Something Better Ahead
What should Christians expect when they die? We often answer that question by moving immediately to heaven, resurrection, or final judgment. Each belongs to the Christian hope, but moving too quickly can cause us to…
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Where Are the Dead?: The Ancient Church on the Intermediate State
When someone we love dies, the question of life after death stops being theoretical. Where are they now? Are they asleep? Are they conscious? Are they already in heaven? Are they in Hades? Have they…
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Christ Went First: What the Resurrection Reveals About Our Future
Human beings have always wondered what happens when we die. Some have imagined that the dead continue as shadows. Some have believed that the soul leaves the body and enters another world. Some have described…
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Did Their Minds Create the Risen Jesus?
Read Paul’s seven undisputed letters slowly, and the first Christian generation loses its stained-glass stillness. It becomes noisy. Teachers arrive after Paul and challenge his work. Peter withdraws from a table shared with Gentiles, and…
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Not Just The Soul: What The First Christians Believed About The Resurrection Of The Body
Few doctrines show the distinctiveness of early Christianity more clearly than the resurrection of the body. Many people in the ancient world could imagine the soul surviving death in some sense. Early Christians insisted on…
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The Apocalypse of Peter: A Window into Early Christian Judgment and the Formation of Scripture
The Apocalypse of Peter is one of the most revealing documents from the second century of Christianity. It is not part of the New Testament, yet for a time it stood very close to being…
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Hades in the Ancient World and Early Christianity: What Happens When We Die?
When early Christians spoke about Hades, they were not introducing a new concept into the world. They were using a word that their audience already knew well. The Greeks had spoken about Hades for centuries,…
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Not Ours to Take: Why the Early Christians Rejected Suicide While Longing for Heaven
The early Christians spoke about heaven with remarkable clarity and intensity. They believed it was real, near, and better than anything in this present life. They wrote of resurrection, rest, reunion, light, and the presence…
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Marcus Aurelius and the Martyrs: Stoic Resignation vs. Christian Resurrection
When Antoninus Pius died in AD 161, the throne passed to his adopted son Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. For the first eight years he ruled jointly with Lucius Verus; after Verus’ death in 169, Marcus reigned…
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