By around the fourth century, the Christian church began commemorating (around January 6) the visit to Jesus by the wise men recorded in Matthew 2:1–12. The festival was called Epiphany (Greek, “revelation”), since it is in this text that we see Christ’s glory revealed to the world. Despite Luther’s attempt to retain the festival—to emphasize […]
Tuesday, 07 January, 2020 by William Boekestein
Imagine a man returning home from a hard day’s work. Upon entering the house he erupts in anger; the place is trashed. In a rage he screams at the first kid he sees. As soon as she opens her mouth to talk he slaps her on the face. His daughter drops to the ground. She […]
Monday, 14 October, 2019 by William Boekestein
Like every book in the Bible, the fourth gospel was uniquely inspired by God. He used a special human author to write an important message to a particular original audience, a message that he has carefully preserved to our day. Puritan William Perkins called John (along with Romans) one of the keys to unlocking the […]
Friday, 16 August, 2019 by William Boekestein
Fortress Press, 2015 264 pages (hardcover), $16.99 Protestant non-Lutherans tend to know Martin Luther the way they know their own great-grandfather: they can give the highlights about him, but that’s about it. But when it comes to knowing the most important Christian Reformer of the past five hundred years, for lots of reasons, highlight knowledge […]
Tuesday, 05 July, 2016 by William Boekestein
No amount of freedom is worth the compromise of biblical teachings” (52). This maxim can serve as a reminder of Christian priorities at a time when religious freedom remains under threat throughout the world. In Marie Durand, Simonetta Carr reflects on persecuted Protestants in eighteenth-century France. After the revocation of the right to peaceful worship, […]
Thursday, 31 December, 2015 by William Boekestein
We live in a place and time of unparalleled individual freedom of choice. We choose how we dress from an almost endless number of options. We decide whether we want our books in paper or digital format. Young people graduating from high school or college enjoy a host of vocational opportunities. Our culture trains us […]
Wednesday, 30 April, 2014 by William Boekestein
Fewer people are pursuing marriage today than ever before, and those who do are waiting longer to get married. In 1960, 59 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds were married compared to just 20 percent in 2010. In 1960, the median age for entering marriage was in the early 20s; today it's nearly 30. As marriage […]
Friday, 01 March, 2013 by William Boekestein
Athanasius North Africa was one of the leading centers of Christian thought for most of the first millennium after Christ. Near the heart of early North African Christian influence was a fourth-century Egyptian bishop named Athanasius’a churchman revered by Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christians alike. Simonetta Carr's newest book in her Christian Biographies for Young […]
Tuesday, 01 May, 2012 by William Boekestein