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.
The word of assurance given to Moses at Sinai echoes through eternity on the lips of the Savior, untroubling troubled souls with the good news that there is one who walks the paths of life with you, and soon he’s coming to bring you to himself.

All Articles

Contrary to what pop-psychology, social media memes, and your sweet grandmother told you, you are not fine just the way you are.
Preaching is simply the verbal bestowal of what Scripture has already given us in written form
The following is an excerpt from “Let the Bird Fly” written by Wade Johnston (1517 Publishing, 2019).
These new texts and manuscripts, while not altering the message of the text, can give us better insight into particular historical and grammatical issues.
Indeed, baptism is life because resurrection is life. Nothing short of regeneration—renewal of life—is accomplished by God through sheer grace because of Christ Jesus.
Jesus names what life does not consist of, and in doing so he gets to something near and dear to our hearts as Americans—our possessions.
These treasures show us that, no matter how well we think we know this poem, there’s always more layers to uncover.
The following is a Question and Answer session with author and pastor Donavon Riley where we talk about his latest book, “Crucifying Religion: How Jesus is the End of Religion”.
We are saved by God's grace, apart from our work – so why does obtaining God's wisdom require such work?
The following is an excerpt adapted from, “Human Rights and Human Dignity,” written by John Warwick Montgomery (1517 Publishing, 2016).
Believers are reminded—and the preacher is to remind them—baptism marks the forgiveness of sins, the end of legal demands, justification and regeneration, and the ultimate triumph over rulers and powers.
The following is an excerpt from “Crucifying Religion” written by Donavon Riley (1517 Publishing, 2019).