Dr Paul Allen

When Gregory became bishop of Neocaesarea in the region of Pontus (modern Turkey) in the year 239, there were only seventeen  Christians . When he died (which tradition says happened on this day, November 17, 270), there were only seventeen pagans. That transformation was owing largely to his faithful efforts. But before Gregory could lead people to Christ , he needed to know Him himself. Gregory was born into a prosperous pagan home and named Theodore (Gift of God). His parents expected him to become a lawyer. It was to fulfill that expectation that he and his brother planned to attend the famous law school at Beirut (in modern Lebanon). Their brother-in-law became an official in the government of Palestine, and before they headed off to law school, they escorted their sister to Caesarea so that she could rejoin her husband. At that time, the famous Origen, a Christian theologian and scholar taught in Caesarea. Out of curiosity, the boys went to hear him. Immediately they we...

Arius was arguably  the most notorious heretic of the early church . Though Arius’ heretical views were soundly condemned by the Council of Nicaea (in A.D. 325), the controversy he sparked raged for another fifty years throughout the Roman Empire . During those tumultuous decades, the defenders of Trinitarian orthodoxy often found themselves outnumbered and out of favor with the imperial court. Yet they refused to compromise. Among them, most famously, stood Athanasius of Alexandria —exiled on five different occasions for his unwavering commitment to the truth. He was joined by the Cappadocian Fathers : Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzas, and Gregory of Nyssa . But how did these early Christian leaders know that the doctrine they were defending was, in fact, a truth worth fighting for? How did they know that they were right and the Arians were wrong? Was it on the basis of oral tradition, a previous church council, or an edict from the bishop of Rome? No. T...