
What the first Christians believed about Easter
From Faith Lab by Nate Hanson & Shelby Hanson
April 1, 2026 · 18 min · Episode 12
About this episode
This episode explores the beliefs of the first Christians about Easter and the broader understanding of the gospel.
The hardest critiques of the cross target one version of the gospel. The earliest Christians were teaching something bigger. For a thousand years before penal substitution became the dominant framework, the church proclaimed something wider: that God entered into death to destroy it from the inside. Irenaeus, Athanasius, and Gregory of Nyssa all described it, and their version answers the questions that trip most of us up. 🙏 Faith Lab is a listener-supported show. If these conversations are helping you, you can support the show at faithlabshow.com/support ★ Support this podcast ★
People in this episode
Hosts: Nate Hanson, Shelby Hanson
Topics covered
- Easter
- early Christianity
- theology
- penal substitution
- resurrection
- death
- gospel
Keywords
- Easter
- first Christians
- theology
- gospel
- Irenaeus
- Athanasius
- Gregory of Nyssa
- penal substitution
- resurrection
- death
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