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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Merry Christmas, Christ has spoken, and his verdict stands.
Tetzel peddled righteousness for gold, but God gives it freely through faith in his promised Word, the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Decisionalism expects you to raise yourself through a choice, but Scripture says only Christ raises the dead.
News of Kilmer's death hit me like a freight train because his Doc Holliday stirred something in me about friendship—both the earthly kind and the divine.
What does professional wrestling and preaching have in common?
Your heavenly Father has not purchased you with gold or with silver but with the most valuable currency in the universe; the blood of God.
Confession and absolution offer more than assurance, they gift real and genuine Divine promises.
What if Jesus had said on the cross, “Earn it”?
The existence of aliens can not negate the promise given to us by God courtesy of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We need to hear the gospel because it is good news that is not from you, or about you, or because of you.
There is someone outside of I, someone outside of you, that our faith and hope is in.
Scott Hall may not have been a theologian or a preacher but for me, at that moment he might as well have been.