Posts

Thoughts on the Antidicomarianites

-
Thoughts on the Antidicomarianites J. Neil Daniels When Epiphanius of Salamis (AD 310–403) wrote about the Antidicomarianites in the fourth century, he considered them little more than troublemakers, a sect whose only defining feature was their rejection of Mary’s perpetual virginity. To him, they were a thorn in the side of the church’s growing devotion to the Mother of God, men and women unwilling to honor her in the way tradition was beginning to demand. And yet, in their own way, they raise questions that Christians still wrestle with: what role does Mary play in our faith, and how do we keep our view of her anchored in Scripture rather than speculation? The Antidicomarianites (like Tertullian, Helvidius, Jovinian, and Bonosus) were not denying Christ’s miraculous birth. They confessed that He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin. Their dispute was over what happened next, whether Mary went on to live a normal married life with Joseph and raise a family, or wheth...
3 comments
Read more

What Language(s) Did Jesus Speak?

-
Image
What Language(s) Did Jesus Speak? J. Neil Daniels Nota Bene: A "Deep Dive" audio overview is available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y6zNepPvcKgsPeWlpM0BB-6YAFXTfeca/view?usp=drivesdk Introduction  If you had wandered the streets of first-century Galilee, your ears would have caught a swirling medley of voices—fishermen haggling over the morning’s catch, children yelling across dusty alleys, traders calling prices in the marketplace, scribes disputing fine points of the Law in the shaded colonnades. Beneath the noise lay a weave of languages: Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek, with the occasional Latin phrase drifting from a soldier’s lips. This was no monolingual backwater. Jesus of Nazareth grew up in that tapestry, and His speech reflected it. He was not a man of just one tongue, but of several, living at the fault line of cultures. Aramaic: The Mother Tongue By the time of Jesus’ birth, Aramaic had been the dominant spoken language in Palestine for centuries. Its ro...
4 comments
Read more

Jesus as τέκτων: A Brief Reflection

-
Image
Jesus as τέκτων: A Brief Reflection J. Neil Daniels The New Testament’s brief references to Jesus as a τέκτων ( tektōn , traditionally rendered “capenter,” but more accurately “builder” or “craftsman”), in Mark 6:3 and Matthew 13:55, open a window into the hidden years of His life. Far from an incidental detail, the term situates Him firmly within the artisanal economy of Galilee, a context illuminated by lexical study, archaeological evidence, and cultural history. Whether fashioning wood or shaping stone, the young Jesus labored with skill and humility, embodying the biblical esteem for honest work. In the mystery of the Incarnation, the divine Son not only took on flesh but also took up tools. The hands that would later heal the sick and bear the nails of crucifixion were first calloused in the service of others. Such knowledge deepens our worship and invites us to see our own daily labors, however humble, as places where the glory of God can be displayed.
2 comments
Read more

Classifying the Cross: Justus Lipsius’s Forensic History of Crucifixion

-
Image
Classifying the Cross: Justus Lipsius’s Forensic History of Crucifixion J. Neil Daniels In 1593, the Flemish humanist Justus Lipsius (1547–1606) published a work unlike anything his contemporaries had seen. De Cruce, libri tres (“Three Books on the Cross”) was not a devotional meditation nor a theological treatise in the conventional sense. Rather, it was a meticulous, almost forensic investigation into crucifixion in the ancient world, an unflinching study of the mechanics, the variations, and the sheer brutality of Rome’s most infamous execution method. Classifying the Cross Lipsius began by untangling the terminology. The crux simplex was the simplest form—an upright stake, bare and unadorned. More complex was the crux compacta , composed of two beams joined in several possible configurations: the decussata (X-shaped, as in the cross of St. Andrew), the commissa (T-shaped), and the immissa (†-shaped). Drawing on both Roman authors and early Christian witnesses such as Irenae...
1 comment
Read more

Fr. John L. McKenzie on Prudence Trumping Scripture

-
Fr. John L. McKenzie on Prudence Trumping Scripture J. Neil Daniels John L. McKenzie, S.J. (1910–1991), former professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, wrote in 1969: "The Catholic Church does not pretend to adhere literally to the biblical text; [for example] celibacy is proposed and defended as justified by the historical experience of the living church. It is a law which the church made and which the church can unmake. The discussion can proceed only on whether it is prudent to retain the law, not on whether the law represents the New Testament." —John L. McKenzie, The Roman Catholic Church (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1969), 75. McKenzie’s statement is telling. By openly admitting that the Catholic Church “does not pretend to adhere literally to the biblical text,” he affirms a principle that places ecclesiastical tradition and pragmatic reasoning above the authority of God’s revealed Word. The example of clerical celibacy underscores this approa...
1 comment
Read more

Guardrails for Theology: Paul’s Prohibition Against Exceeding Scripture in 1 Corinthians 4:6

-
Image
Guardrails for Theology: Paul’s Prohibition Against Exceeding Scripture in 1 Corinthians 4:6 J. Neil Daniels When Paul tells the Corinthians “not to go beyond what is written” (1 Cor. 4:6), he is drawing a firm line for the boundaries of both theology and church authority. His words were not spoken in a vacuum. The Corinthian congregation had begun to elevate certain leaders above others, dividing into camps based on personal allegiance rather than their shared allegiance to Christ. In recalling “what is written,” Paul directs them back to the Hebrew Scriptures (what we now call the Old Testament) which, following the example of Christ and the apostles, the early church received as God’s authoritative Word. His concern is clear: every theological conclusion and every ecclesiastical practice must rest on the solid ground of Scripture, not on the shifting sands of human speculation or the allure of novel ideas that cannot be substantiated from the text. The Greek phrase τὸ μὴ ὑπὲρ ἃ γέγρ...
1 comment
Read more

The Value of a Home Theological Library

-
Image
The Value of a Home Theological Library J. Neil Daniels Introduction The pursuit of theological knowledge is not a mere academic exercise but a spiritual discipline that nourishes both the mind and the soul. A home theological library stands as a personal sanctuary where sacred Scripture and theological discourse intersect with devotion and contemplation. Like a cultivated garden, it is a space where seeds of understanding are planted and nurtured through disciplined reflection, producing enduring fruit in the life of the disciple. In an age where digital access to information is nearly limitless, the question naturally arises: is there still value in a physical theological library? I believe that the answer is a resounding yes. While digital tools offer convenience, the home theological library offers something more enduring: depth, continuity, and embodied engagement with the theological tradition. To appreciate its full worth, one must consider its historical precedent, spiritua...
2 comments
Read more