Why did Jesus die? Who were the leaders of the early Christian church? Were early Christians subservient to the Roman Empire?

These were just three of seven big questions addressed on  Nov. 11 by Yale University graduate and Associate Professor of Theology at Fordham Michael Peppard, Ph.D. at Holy Innocents Catholic Church on Bedford Rd.

The lecture was part of the parish’s monthly lecture series, and garnered around 65 attendees. Even though most of them were local parishioners, some came from as far away as Valhalla to listen to the lecture, and even some non-Catholics attended.

“I could spend a whole semester just focusing on one of these big questions,” Peppard said. “But for tonight, I have to condense all of that information into one 45-minute lecture.”

At the end of his lecture, he acknowledged that some questions asked by early Christians are still difficult to answer today. These questions included “how does Christianity open itself to new members?” “who are authority figures today which carry on succession from the apostles?” and “how do one’s material possessions serve the common good?”

These questions, as well as the ones asked by the audience after the talk, according to Peppard, were the “so what” of his lecture.

For the past three years, Holy Innocents has been hosting monthly lectures on all kinds of topics.

“Last month, we had a woman from Uganda come and speak, and she even did a dance with the audience,” said Father Hugh Burns, pastor at Holy Innocents. “For our next lecture, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) will be sending one of their representatives to our parish, and every January, we try to do a lecture on race, in remembrance of Martin Luther King Day.”

The parish’s next lecture is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 2. More information about this lecture will be on Holy Innocents’ website.