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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The gospel's message is the scandalous announcement that Yahweh has stooped to our frame, to where we are.
The usual acclamation when one becomes King is: “Long live the King!” But this King of kings, this son of David, has come to die.
As the writer to the Hebrews affirms, what makes the Christian gospel so much better is that we are no longer dealing with “types and shadows."
Despite our best efforts to avoid him, King Jesus remains very much unavoidable.
Who would ever want all these screamers and haters? It turns out that Christ does.
If Jesus shows up and you are a sinner, ‘tis more blessed to receive than to give
For with God we look not for the order of nature, but rest our faith in the power of him who works.
For Christians, Advent is the time when the Church patiently prepares for the coming of the Great King, Jesus the Christ.
The Church stands firm on the word of promise that Christ will one day return to change what we know by faith into sight.
We live again, not so that we will now pay our debt, but to proclaim that we live because our debt was paid!
The epistle text from Colossians 1 declares how the great drama of redemption and human history ends.
We don’t start with behavior and work toward Christ. We start with Christ and everything works out from there.