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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Jacob is given the gospel afresh right when he needed it and it is because of this gospel that his faith is stirred up anew.
“Praying the Bible” sounds odd to the ears of most believers today. That’s unfortunate.
This article is part of Stephen Paulson’s series on the Psalms.
This is an excerpt from Chapter 4 of Clothed with Christ written byBrian W. Thomas (1517 Publishing, 2024). Now available for preorder.
In the Bible, we meet the God who also does not prance around naked as a jaybird.
As both law and gospel are proclaimed, judgment and deliverance are miraculously pronounced over the hearer.
With so many TV preachers, pastors, and Bible teachers claiming to be authoritative voices for God himself, how do you know who to listen to?
Free speech isn't dead yet, and when it comes to the proclamation of the gospel, it never will be.
God’s headline for his church prioritizes the person of Jesus and his purpose to demonstrate God’s power by dying and rising again for our salvation.
The point of Revelation is to reveal consolation in Jesus, not to revel in chaos and confusion.
The good news for Jacob is that God humbled himself so that he could lose a wrestling match to a man with a dislocated hip so that he could give him a new name.
Despite the fact that this could sound strange to modern ears, Luther has an important reason for saying what he does about the Commandments.