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.
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.
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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With the Spirit we will get lost in the world. We are on a new track.
Dispel some of that darkness bottled up inside you, with the grace first shared to us by Christ that is now ours to share with those around us.
Lutherans have a unique heritage that makes teaching predestination doubly difficult.
This is an excerpt from Chapter 7 of Your God is Too Glorious: Finding God in the Most Unexpected Places by Chad Bird (1517 Publishing, 2023).
The gospel is for sinners – both the tax collector and Pharisee, both in need of the Great Physician.
The Good Shepherd doesn’t leave the sheep to fend for themselves.
A Christian story untethered from the reality of Christ and his mercy toward sinners becomes a mere fable, while a sermon disconnected from the hearts of its listeners remains a hollow oratory.
This article is written by guest contributor, Christopher J. Richmann.
You are the baptized, for in Christ we are all wet. The demographic dividers are washed away.
Patrick's breakthrough came when he began to leverage his knowledge of the native language and customs to build a bridge between Irish lore and the Christian mythos.
We can interpret "be the Church" as either law or gospel.
The church is called to preach the good news of Jesus Christ. Where is that message found? In every blade of grass, on every page of Scripture.