1. If Jesus did not rise, then religion is just religion — a mere anthropological phenomenon.
  2. It was meant to be Karlstadt’s moment to shine, but all anyone remembered was Luther.
  3. The resurrection of Jesus encompasses the total and comprehensive glorification of a human being, not merely his restoration.
  4. As Luther said, “Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection not in books alone, but in every leaf of spring.”
  5. The Holy Spirit unleashes his power through us, his vines, and we then get to watch as his fruits blossom and ripen.
  6. Everything in Scripture is God revealing himself to his people, you and me.
  7. The Parable of the Lost Sheep bursts through the confines of convention and demands that we embrace the messiness of life and the unpredictable ways in which God's grace and forgiveness operates.
  8. Caesar boasted: “I came. I saw. I conquered.” Christ can rightly say: “I came. I saved. I ascended.”
  9. It’s not our eloquence or persuasive rhetoric that changes hearts, but the Word of God that pierces through the hardened shells of unbelief and breathes life into the dead bones of sinners.
  10. Church historians attempt to determine why Melanchthon made those controversial decisions.
  11. This is an excerpt from chapter 9 of “What Can Really Know?: The Strengths and Limits of Human Understanding” by David Andersen (1517 Publishing, 2023).