Josephus does not tell us that Christianity is true, and Christians do not need Josephus to tell them that Christ is risen. But Christianity makes claims about things that happened in public history under identifiable rulers, priests, and governors. For that reason, testimony from outside the church matters.
Today, the longing for cultural Christianity on both the left and the right hearkens back to an older version of Christendom that was a mixed blessing for the church in the western world. The cultural mediation of Christian views on created order has certainly benefitted the civilization we’ve inherited. But the gospel itself isn’t something that can be reduced to cultural mediation either. Instead, the gospel as a message stands apart from all human accomplishments and achievements, no matter how beneficial they might be.
The student of Scripture should always have a map open next to their Bible as they read. If possible, they should also travel to Israel, not to make a pilgrimage, but to see the context of the land in which these stories took place. These are not fairy tales made up about fictional fantasy lands; these are stories about real people in real places interacting with a real God.

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Who is God? What did God do in the person of Jesus, and how are we connected to the benefits of the Resurrection?
In the suffering of Jesus, we have an example of trusting in the promises of the Father.
On this Day Handel Begins Composing Messiah, and 5 Things We Can Learn From It
A person, not a nation, can be a Christian because only a person can be saved by grace through faith in the work of Christ.
Stories like Onoda’s offer an interesting parallel to our life in the Gospel.
These new texts and manuscripts, while not altering the message of the text, can give us better insight into particular historical and grammatical issues.
The story of these faithful Christians serves to highlight the roles of both Africa and martyrdom in the early church and today.
What follows is a little crash course in how to read Calvin with respect, for our benefit, and with an eye to how we keep Reformation giants at a proper historical arms distance.
We can’t all afford to travel the world, but the more we read from outside our own context, the bigger we see the world.
When the church has gone astray, it has been the responsible (not slavish) approach to history that has helped correct the course.
Perhaps best known for his “wager,” Pascal is often associated with this curious argument for the existence of God and eternal blessedness.