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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God will establish justice and righteousness even in the midst of the most uncertain and evil times. This we know because of the hope based upon the promise.
Jesus saves us from the love of money which sent the rich young man away sad.
Whereas Moses faithfully rescued God’s people from slavery in Egypt and led them to the Promised Land of Canaan, Jesus has rescued us from the slavery of sin and the tyranny of the Devil to lead us to eternal life.
Undershepherds of our shepherd go rejoicing as sheep among the lambs entrusted to us into God’s everlasting sheep pen, no shabby place to spend forever.
God and Jeremiah may have been looking at the same person, but they were seeing very different things.
Grace does not emancipate us from any requirement of obedience. Rather, grace allows Jesus to be obedient on our behalf that the righteous demands of the law can be fulfilled.
Preaching is the first line of defense and catechetical offensive against these corrosive falsehoods.
Man and woman together are complete. Apart, they are incomplete. The two correspond and form “one flesh” when combined in sexual relationships and as helpmates.
Angels minister to us, but Jesus becomes one of us and calls us His brothers and sisters, sharing in our flesh and blood.
God’s promise never to separate us from the love of Jesus means that our security, and our confidence, and our forgiveness—even for our part in past divisions—depends entirely on His faithfulness and not ours.
Except for the Augsburg Confession, Melanchthon’s Loci communes of 1521 were the most important of his writings.
This complaining is a rejection of the LORD and all He has done to rescue them, guide them, and provide for them as He leads them to the Promised Land.