10 most difficult Chris­tian­i­ty riddles

There may be only one active pope. Not so. There is a Coptic pope.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, certain icons covertly identify Saint Christopher with the head of a dog. The background to the dog-headed Christopher is laid in the reign of the Emperor Diocletian, when a man named Reprebus, Rebrebus or Reprobus was captured in combat against tribes dwelling to the west of Egypt in Cyrenaica.

Nicholas Breakspeare, better known as Adrian IV (b. Approx. 1100 in the Abbots Langley) was the pope in the period from December 4, 1154 to September 1, 1159, the only Englishman on the Chair of Peter. He was the son of a monk Robert of St. Albans. Nicholas began his schooling at St Albans, but soon moved to France, where he joined the Congregation of Canons Regular of St. Rufus.

The iconoclast Council of Hieria was a Christian council of 754 which viewed itself as ecumenical, but was later rejected by the medieval Catholic Church. It was summoned by the Byzantine, Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine V in 754 in the palace of Hieria opposite Constantinople. The council supported the emperor's iconoclast position in the Byzantine iconoclasm controversy, condemning the spiritual and liturgical use of iconography as heretical.

This is the monastery "Megalo Meteoro" (Metamorfosi tou sotiros) in Greece

Such an occupational surname could have been passed to following generations only in areas dominated by the Orthodox church, where priests are allowed to marry and have children. Popescu is the most common surname in Romania.

In about 316 AD, Frumentius and his brother Edesius from Tyre were taken to the Ethiopian court as slaves. They were given positions of trust by the monarch, and converted members of the royal court to Christianity. Ethiopia, a major empire at the time, was the second country to officially adopt Christianity (after Armenia).

Saint Arnulf of Metz (c. 582 – 640 AD) was a Frankish bishop of Metz and advisor to the Merovingian court of Austrasia, who retired to the Abbey of Remiremont. This bishop became famous by miraculous reproduction of beer in south France. Also he is author of prayer to beer.

Seraphs are described in the Book of Isaiah as fiery six-winged beings that fly around God's throne singing "holy, holy, holy". The Seraphim are easily recognizable on medieval paintings thanks to six fiery wings. The name Seraphim means "the burning ones."

Paul the Apostle was an apostle (though not one of the Twelve Apostles) who taught the gospel of the Christ to the first century world. Paul is generally considered one of the most important figures of the Apostolic Age and in the mid-30s to the mid-50s AD he founded several churches in Asia Minor and Europe. He took advantage of his status as both a Jew and a Roman citizen to minister to both Jewish and Roman audiences.