Whether a Christian enjoys high church, low church, or something in between, aesthetics in the Church are not about any one individual person and their particular tastes. Aesthetics are, fundamentally, not a matter of legalism, but of edification—that the Gospel of Christ might be preached and taught to all peoples, unhindered by its medium.
Let us live by walking with Jesus, so that our Neo-Pagan neighbors, the witch, and frankly a lot of us Christians, can put down our crystals, our superstitions, our vision boards, and our bound sage in order to live out a liturgy of life, with rituals, practices, and behaviors that reflect who we are as followers of Christ.
As Jesus hung on the cross there would be no last second escape. No Greek goddess would swoop in to rescue him. He suffered alone. And yet even in that suffering he declared his victory on the spiritual battlefield to be your victory.

All Articles

We are called to believe in the church even when we don’t believe in the church.
Is there a significant difference between changing your mind and doing penance? Absolutely.
Luther’s final thoughts were not meant to bum you out or lead you to despair.
Luther’s famous treatise contains great consolation for Christians struggling with grace, suffering, and hope.
The addict’s condition speaks a hard truth: that we are all beggars before God, every one of us bent toward the grave.
What do we do with Katie Luther? What kind of historical character can we paint her to be?
There is a “re” involved with baptism, but unlike the Anabaptists, it’s not a “re-do,” but a “re-turn" or a “re-member.”
Epiphany is one of the most important festivals of the church year, although often sadly overlooked.
The narrative of the Nativity is what Christmas is all about.
This article is part of Stephen Paulson’s series on the Psalms.
The love of God is creative, always giving, always reviving.
This is an excerpt from Broken Bonds: A Novel of the Reformation by Amy Mantravadi (1517 Publishing, 2024), pgs. 24-27