Valiant for Truth - Christ

Ever since the resurrection of Christ, there has been a steady drumbeat of claims denying, in one form or another, the veracity and reality of the resurrection. Over the years theories have been offered--the disciples were confused, they lied, they stole the body, they shared a common hallucination, Jesus actually never died, he swooned on the cross, there was a body-double, and on and on.

The title of Julie Canlis’s book is clearly provocative. Yet the title is not a trick. In this work Canlis sets out to show how essential the concept of ascent is for Calvin’s theology. For Calvin, Canlis argues, the possibility for ascent rests in humanity’s participation in Christ rather than in an inherent anthropological capacity.

I was recently reading my son a book that featured popular talking vegetables. I’m not sure where the book came from, but my son asked me to read it to him. The book was supposed to be about Easter. I thought to myself, “Well, I’m not sure how this will turn out but I’ll give it a read.”

As redemptive history unfolds in the Bible, the story of God’s saving purposes takes a number of surprising twists and turns. The New Testament opens with an angel announcing to a young virgin that God’s promised Savior was at long last coming to visit his people with salvation. 

The diagnosis is not very good: we are ignorant, guilty, and corrupt. But the prognosis is far worse. We are under the curse and face certain death. As fallen sinners ravaged by a threefold consequence of our sins, our hearts are darkened (Romans 1:21) and our thoughts are continually evil (Genesis 6:5).