A Setting of Silver

• Apples of Gold

  Welcome to A Setting of Silver. This podcast exists to make historic Christian writings accessible to twenty-first century listeners. If this is your first time listening, welcome! If you have the time, you’ll find great wisdom and encouragement in your faith as you walk alongside followers of Jesus in the Early Church. In the words of Arthur Cleveland Coxe, the editor of the collection of Early Church writings used in this podcast,“If you are familiar with Scripture, you owe it largely to these primitive witnesses to its Canon and its spirit. By their testimony we detect what is spurious, and we identify what is real. Is it nothing to find that your Bible is their Bible, your faith their faith, your Savior their Savior, your God their God?”For those who have been following this podcast for some time, thank you. I’ve appreciated encouraging comments on YouTube, questions and discussion through direct communication, and through podcast statistics knowing that there are other people in the world who have taken the time to listen to these ancient Christians. However, as Solomon teaches, there is a time for everything - and today it is time to put this project on pause. This project began as an idea in October 2021, and over the next several years I’ve sprinted through the Early Church period from the Age of the Apostles through the Edict of Milan. Now, I want to take time to sit with their writings. God willing, over the next couple of years I will be able to write and reflect on the wisdom and work of God as revealed in the Early Church. After that, I pray that I will be able to continue this project into the next Age of the Church, running from the legalization of Christianity through the fall of Rome. In all this work, I’m indebted to people like Eusebius, Jerome, Arthur Cleveland Coxe, and the organizers of CCEL.org. Without the faithful work of Christian scholars none of us would know the stories, the struggles, or the Savior of the Early Church. While my own contribution is minor, I’m grateful to have been able to participate in some small way in making the words of so many faithful Christians accessible today. God worked in their lives and, while not as valuable as the Bible, we learn much from the faith and practice of the many Godly men and women presented in the episodes of this podcast.Finally, the words you will find here are wonderful, but the Bible itself is an Apple of Gold to which all of this is merely a Setting of Silver. If you are not a follower of Christ, if you are not living consistent with the historic Christian faith, if you are not a committed member of a local Church, or if you are not familiar with your entire Bible I encourage you to begin praying to God, reading the Bible, and finding a solid Church to join. If you need help finding one, the Nine Marks and Acts 29 websites are both great places to start.

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• Eusebius’ Church History Book Ten

  This episode contains book ten of Eusebius’ “Church History.” Eusebius was born around AD 260, likely in Caesarea in Palestine. While little is known about his personal life, the lack of a conversion story suggests that he was born into a Christian family. During his youth he worked under the Bishop of Caesarea, Pamphilus, who had studied in Alexandria and stewarded Origen’s expansive library. Pamphilus was arrested in 307 during Diocletian’s persecution and Eusebius had the opportunity to visit his mentor in jail where they wrote the “Apology of Origen.” While Pamphilus was martyred in 309, Eusebius escaped persecution and carried on the work of collecting and archiving various writings and documents from the Early Church. This culminated in Eusebius’ “Church History,” a collection of books written to document the history of the Church. Because of his personal experience with persecution and the wealth of writings left by Origen and Pamphilus, Eusebius was uniquely positioned to explain the significance of Constantne’s legalization of Christianity in 313 at the Edict of Milan.The impact of Eusebius’ work is substantial. It is largely thanks to his quotations that scholars have been able to positively identify many of the writings presented in previous episodes. He directly contributed to our confidence in the Canon of Scripture, as it is largely because of his witness that we know which letters and books were included in the Early Church’s Bible. There is little else to be added to this important work, other than to highlight the following from Eusebius’ own introduction.“But at the outset I must crave for my work the indulgence of the wise, for I confess that it is beyond my power to produce a perfect and complete history, and since I am the first to enter upon the subject, I am attempting to traverse as it were a lonely and untrodden path. I pray that I may have God as my guide and the power of the Lord as my aid, since I am unable to find even the bare footsteps of those who have traveled the way before me, except in brief fragments, in which some in one way, others in another, have transmitted to us particular accounts of the times in which they lived. From afar they raise their voices like torches, and they cry out, as from some lofty and conspicuous watch-tower, admonishing us where to walk and how to direct the course of our work steadily and safely.”Because of Eusebius, Jerome, and thousands of other scribes and scholars, the trail of Church history is no longer lonely. While seldom trodden in its entirety, for those who follow the path guideposts like this clearly mark the way.

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• Eusebius’ Church History Book Nine

  This episode contains book nine of Eusebius’ “Church History.” Eusebius was born around AD 260, likely in Caesarea in Palestine. While little is known about his personal life, the lack of a conversion story suggests that he was born into a Christian family. During his youth he worked under the Bishop of Caesarea, Pamphilus, who had studied in Alexandria and stewarded Origen’s expansive library. Pamphilus was arrested in 307 during Diocletian’s persecution and Eusebius had the opportunity to visit his mentor in jail where they wrote the “Apology of Origen.” While Pamphilus was martyred in 309, Eusebius escaped persecution and carried on the work of collecting and archiving various writings and documents from the Early Church. This culminated in Eusebius’ “Church History,” a collection of books written to document the history of the Church. Because of his personal experience with persecution and the wealth of writings left by Origen and Pamphilus, Eusebius was uniquely positioned to explain the significance of Constantne’s legalization of Christianity in 313 at the Edict of Milan.The impact of Eusebius’ work is substantial. It is largely thanks to his quotations that scholars have been able to positively identify many of the writings presented in previous episodes. He directly contributed to our confidence in the Canon of Scripture, as it is largely because of his witness that we know which letters and books were included in the Early Church’s Bible. There is little else to be added to this important work, other than to highlight the following from Eusebius’ own introduction.“But at the outset I must crave for my work the indulgence of the wise, for I confess that it is beyond my power to produce a perfect and complete history, and since I am the first to enter upon the subject, I am attempting to traverse as it were a lonely and untrodden path. I pray that I may have God as my guide and the power of the Lord as my aid, since I am unable to find even the bare footsteps of those who have traveled the way before me, except in brief fragments, in which some in one way, others in another, have transmitted to us particular accounts of the times in which they lived. From afar they raise their voices like torches, and they cry out, as from some lofty and conspicuous watch-tower, admonishing us where to walk and how to direct the course of our work steadily and safely.”Because of Eusebius, Jerome, and thousands of other scribes and scholars, the trail of Church history is no longer lonely. While seldom trodden in its entirety, for those who follow the path guideposts like this clearly mark the way.

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• Eusebius’ Martyrs of Palestine

  This episode contains the Martyrs of Palestine from Eusebius’ “Church History.” Eusebius was born around AD 260, likely in Caesarea in Palestine. While little is known about his personal life, the lack of a conversion story suggests that he was born into a Christian family. During his youth he worked under the Bishop of Caesarea, Pamphilus, who had studied in Alexandria and stewarded Origen’s expansive library. Pamphilus was arrested in 307 during Diocletian’s persecution and Eusebius had the opportunity to visit his mentor in jail where they wrote the “Apology of Origen.” While Pamphilus was martyred in 309, Eusebius escaped persecution and carried on the work of collecting and archiving various writings and documents from the Early Church. This culminated in Eusebius’ “Church History,” a collection of books written to document the history of the Church. Because of his personal experience with persecution and the wealth of writings left by Origen and Pamphilus, Eusebius was uniquely positioned to explain the significance of Constantne’s legalization of Christianity in 313 at the Edict of Milan.The impact of Eusebius’ work is substantial. It is largely thanks to his quotations that scholars have been able to positively identify many of the writings presented in previous episodes. He directly contributed to our confidence in the Canon of Scripture, as it is largely because of his witness that we know which letters and books were included in the Early Church’s Bible. There is little else to be added to this important work, other than to highlight the following from Eusebius’ own introduction.“But at the outset I must crave for my work the indulgence of the wise, for I confess that it is beyond my power to produce a perfect and complete history, and since I am the first to enter upon the subject, I am attempting to traverse as it were a lonely and untrodden path. I pray that I may have God as my guide and the power of the Lord as my aid, since I am unable to find even the bare footsteps of those who have traveled the way before me, except in brief fragments, in which some in one way, others in another, have transmitted to us particular accounts of the times in which they lived. From afar they raise their voices like torches, and they cry out, as from some lofty and conspicuous watch-tower, admonishing us where to walk and how to direct the course of our work steadily and safely.”Because of Eusebius, Jerome, and thousands of other scribes and scholars, the trail of Church history is no longer lonely. While seldom trodden in its entirety, for those who follow the path guideposts like this clearly mark the way.

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• Eusebius’ Church History Book Eight

  This episode contains book eight of Eusebius’ “Church History.” Eusebius was born around AD 260, likely in Caesarea in Palestine. While little is known about his personal life, the lack of a conversion story suggests that he was born into a Christian family. During his youth he worked under the Bishop of Caesarea, Pamphilus, who had studied in Alexandria and stewarded Origen’s expansive library. Pamphilus was arrested in 307 during Diocletian’s persecution and Eusebius had the opportunity to visit his mentor in jail where they wrote the “Apology of Origen.” While Pamphilus was martyred in 309, Eusebius escaped persecution and carried on the work of collecting and archiving various writings and documents from the Early Church. This culminated in Eusebius’ “Church History,” a collection of books written to document the history of the Church. Because of his personal experience with persecution and the wealth of writings left by Origen and Pamphilus, Eusebius was uniquely positioned to explain the significance of Constantne’s legalization of Christianity in 313 at the Edict of Milan.The impact of Eusebius’ work is substantial. It is largely thanks to his quotations that scholars have been able to positively identify many of the writings presented in previous episodes. He directly contributed to our confidence in the Canon of Scripture, as it is largely because of his witness that we know which letters and books were included in the Early Church’s Bible. There is little else to be added to this important work, other than to highlight the following from Eusebius’ own introduction.“But at the outset I must crave for my work the indulgence of the wise, for I confess that it is beyond my power to produce a perfect and complete history, and since I am the first to enter upon the subject, I am attempting to traverse as it were a lonely and untrodden path. I pray that I may have God as my guide and the power of the Lord as my aid, since I am unable to find even the bare footsteps of those who have traveled the way before me, except in brief fragments, in which some in one way, others in another, have transmitted to us particular accounts of the times in which they lived. From afar they raise their voices like torches, and they cry out, as from some lofty and conspicuous watch-tower, admonishing us where to walk and how to direct the course of our work steadily and safely.”Because of Eusebius, Jerome, and thousands of other scribes and scholars, the trail of Church history is no longer lonely. While seldom trodden in its entirety, for those who follow the path guideposts like this clearly mark the way.

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