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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Lent is a gift to the Church from the Church. It belongs to all Christians who desire to be conformed to the likeness of our Lord.
If we think God’s power, love and beauty are reserved merely for the glories of Transfiguration, then we have not understood the Father; we have not understood divine revelation.
Justification and regeneration are, therefore, necessarily connected and have profound implications upon the craft of preaching.
Christ is present in the pure preaching of the gospel. And if Christ is present, then we have entered into the domain of the sacraments.
Meeting the crown prince is one thing; meeting God in the flesh, as the Light of the Gentiles and the Savior of the world is another.
Love turns out to be not simply a thing or action, but a characteristic of God himself.
In preaching, auditors are informed and instructed on hearing the voice of the Other, not themselves or contemporary resonances.
The Advents of Christ (past, present, and future) elicit faith in the word of Christ, confirmed by his presence.
There is no other transitionary event in human history that warrants three full months of focused attention and persistent acknowledgment than the incarnation of the Son of God.
Preaching is the first line of defense and catechetical offensive against these corrosive falsehoods.
Let us move beyond the milk and onto solid food — the meat of biblical, creedal, confessional theology in our preaching.
The new life Christ opened for us in His justifying resurrection, the new life into which we were baptized is a life of faith.