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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Wake Up Dead Man is not ultimately a story about mystery, exposure, or even justice. It is a story about what happens when mercy speaks to death—and death listens.
Christmas is not only about a cradle in Bethlehem, it’s also about a cross outside Jerusalem where salvation was won for us.
Below is a list of our favorite theological books - across all categories - from 2025. A special thanks to our contributors who submitted titles, wrote summaries and full reviews for these books and more throughout the year.
Was Jesus ambitious or unambitious? We have to say that the answer is…yes.
The unity of God’s people is grounded not in lineage nor land but in the promise of the coming Christ.
This is an excerpt from this year’s 1517 Advent Devotional.
“The well that washes what it shows” captures the essence of Linebaugh’s project, which aims to give the paradigmatic law-gospel hermeneutic a colloquial and visual language.
Caesar gets your taxes. Christ gets your heart.
Every age has its emergencies, and the church must never ignore them. Yet, our response cannot be one of panic or propaganda.
It is by his perfect surrender that our true Exodus was accomplished.
When we fail, our first impulse is the same as that of our spiritual ancestors: to sprint headlong into the bushes.
Resurrection does not start in sunlight. It begins in the dark.