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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Virtue, like all good things, can easily be weaponized. And not only can, but constantly is. Indeed, I would argue that, for churchgoing, rule-following, tradition-honoring, morality-applauding people, virtue often becomes the cancer that we deem a badge of honor.
If you want to boil Schleiermacher down to some foundation upon which to build up his theology, think feelings.
Theology is not to simply adopt the positions and presuppositions of philosophy, nor should it reject philosophy.
Jesus does not say to us, “Try really hard, and you will be better.”
Biblically speaking, we won’t find much evidence for a preordained spouse.
The following is an excerpt adapted from, “Human Rights and Human Dignity,” written by John Warwick Montgomery (1517 Publishing, 2016).
Perhaps best known for his “wager,” Pascal is often associated with this curious argument for the existence of God and eternal blessedness.
In life, we make decisions, from the most basic to the most lasting, lacking specific knowledge about the outcome.
Pelagianism is the ancient heresy that says that if you work hard enough and will something strongly enough, you can prevent sin
Is a god fully understandable and explainable according to the finite logic and world we inhabit, is that a god one can trust and truly believe?
What postmoderns see in modernism is a misuse of power through the control of dominant narratives.
We try believing in more abstract concepts: justice, happiness, and self-improvement, only to find that we can never truly grasp which standards should be accepted and which should be rejected.