David finally found the truth that it was not his seed of kingship but the promise made to Abraham that made him holy. From that, David refused to be moved and wrote this Psalm by the necessity of the Spirit as the assurance of faith. The law never made a man holy, not even one as robust as David; yet faith did this great thing without lifting a finger.
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.
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.

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Repentance is not limited to a season.
Epiphany is one of the most important festivals of the church year, although often sadly overlooked.
We now are the magi: we worship Christ because of who he is, but also because of what he has done for us and what he continues to do in his gift-giving to us.
Epiphany continues the work done at Christmas, bringing light and life to a dying world desperate for hope.
The “Chalking of the Door” is a way to celebrate and literally mark the occasion of the Epiphany and God’s blessing of our lives and home.
The grain of God’s goodness and grace is made known by many trees throughout the Bible.
Below is the Thinking Fellows Essential Reading List with contributions from each of the Thinking Fellows hosts.
Dr. Montgomery taught me the Christian faith is both a true story and a delightful story—in fact, it is the greatest story ever told.
Dr. Montgomery spent his life—even into his final year at the age of 92—contending for the whole Christian faith once and for all delivered to the saints.
The point of Revelation is to reveal consolation in Jesus, not to revel in chaos and confusion.
This is an edited excerpt from Addendum A, “The Church Year,” On Any Given Sunday: The Story of Christ in the Divine Service, written by Michael Berg (1517 Publishing, 2023), pgs. 113-120.
Moltmann is gone now, but his theology will continue to provoke and provide.