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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Children are not meant to carry crowns. They are not meant to rule. The burden crushes them in slow, invisible ways.
Jesus is very difficult to bring down. That’s the power of it.
Instead of a “how-to” manual, the Bible is a “what-you-didn’t-do” story.
Below is the Thinking Fellows Essential Reading List with contributions from each of the Thinking Fellows hosts.
The one who delights in the law of the Lord learns to fear his own good works and trust God outside of them.
God does not give us an undebatable answer to suffering. Instead, God suffers, too.
You are the baptized, for in Christ we are all wet. The demographic dividers are washed away.
Do our petitions move God?
There is no true life and meaningful community apart from forgiveness.
Both now and forever, the bruised and crucified Lord nailed to a cross is our assurance of deliverance.
Every day is a Sabbath for Christians. Every day is the day the Lord has made. Every day is a day to find rest in Christ.
Righteousness before God is possessed only by grace and that through the currency of faith.