Storied. On Faith and Failure

When Gregory of Nazianzus set up shop in Byzantium, he was in for a world of trouble. But he found that hiring a gang of Egyptian bouncers kept him safe so that he could preach the Nicene Faith.

Origen of Alexandria is often looked at with suspicion today, but his story is one of faithfulness despite extreme persecution.

Athanasius was accused of murdering Arsenius and cutting off his arm to practice magic. Well, it turns out that Athanasius did not murder Arsenius (or cut off his hand for that matter!), and he dramatically proves his innocence in court. Here's the story.

When the apostles died, the church needed to figure who would take over in place of the apostles. Would it be the prophets or the bishops? Both groups lived side-by-side for while. But that relationship soon soured. And bishops alone would come to lead the church. The story of Hermas, a prophet in Rome during the first century and second century, illustrates this transition.

Sometimes it's hard to imagine biblical figures living lives outside of what we read in the Bible. What was Peter's home life like? Did he ever get sick? Well, we do have some stories that tell us a bit about the early Christians. Polycarp, for example, tells an interesting story about John the Apostle and someone named Cerinthus. And Polycarp himself had a similar encounter with Marcion, one of the arch-heretics of Christian church. Here is the story.