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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We know we are made for something great. We humans were created in God’s image and restored through Christ in his perfect image.
It is difficult to overestimate the importance of these early Lutheran hymns – and their physical availability in hymnals – in the piety of common people living in Lutheran towns and territories.
The Battle of Frankenhausen stands as a warning for what can happen when we abandon the Word God has given us and chase after some vision of our own imaginations.
Some part of us always wants our ability under the law to be just as important (or more) than grace.
You are the baptized, for in Christ we are all wet. The demographic dividers are washed away.
Zwingli the Pastor provides an excellent introduction to the Swiss reformer’s life and work, focusing on Zwingli’s philosophy of church reform, biographical details, and mode of exegesis.
Are you on the receiving end of freedom? Or are you trying to make yourself free?
This is the sound of freedom. The Eternal One died so that we who are dying might live eternally with him.
The more I got to know Dr. Rosenbladt, the more I saw that he wasn’t a man divided.
He was rooted in his own tradition but gracious with others when they wanted to learn about his faith or their own.
Anyone could tell he enjoyed teaching theology and loved his students.
One way or another, Rod always found a way to bring whatever story he was telling back to the gospel and God's grace in Christ.