February 6, 2026
Holy thread wars
Early Christian Writings
Ancient church texts crash the tech party, comment section explodes
TLDR: A site cataloging early Christian writings hit a tech forum, igniting a fight over relevance. Some cried “not tech,” others loved the history and recommended Origen’s debate with Celsus, showing the community’s curiosity beyond code and why ancient ideas still shape modern arguments.
Hacker News woke up to a curveball: a portal of Early Christian Writings, complete with timelines and links to classics like Gospel of Thomas, Mark, and Revelation, plus a rabbit hole of essays and the Early Writings Forum. Cue the drama. Gatekeepers stormed in asking, “Why is this here?” and “How is this tech?” while others cheered the off-topic detour like a philosophical coffee break.
The strongest opinions? Tech purists demanded relevance, but a wave of history nerds and curious believers clapped back, saying this is peak brain food. One evangelical commenter said digging into early church leaders was “filled with Greek philosophy… and a ton of wisdom,” a subtle clap at modern churches. Another dropped a mic: for anyone into the science-versus-faith saga since Darwin, read Origen’s Against Celsus—the OG debate thread where a Roman thinker and a Christian Platonist duke it out. Jokes flew: “404: Technology Not Found,” “HN monks compiling theology,” and “Did the Didache ship v1.0?” Between the snark and the scholarship, the vibe was clear: this isn’t about code, it’s about curiosity—and the comments turned into a lively seminar with memes, side-eyes, and surprising respect for ancient receipts.
Key Points
- •The page is a chronological index of early Christian and related texts with estimated date ranges from roughly 30 to 250 CE.
- •Entries include canonical New Testament books, apocryphal gospels, patristic writings, and external Roman-era sources.
- •Each listed item links to a dedicated page for further information.
- •Canonical gospels are dated within ranges: Mark (65–80), Matthew (80–100), Luke (80–130), John (90–120); Revelation (90–95).
- •Navigation provides access to an intro, Jesus theories, Christian Origins site, online books, a blog, and a forum.