The Reality of Jesus Christ

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The Jesus of the New Testament has at least one advantage over the Jesus of modern reconstruction. He is not a manufactured figure suitable as a point of support for ethical maxims, but a genuine person whom a man can love. Despite all the efforts to remove him from the pages of history, there are those who love him still. Christianity is ultimately real because it is grounded in a relationship between God and creation. And that's the hope of the Christian faith. It's a hope that the beatific vision, it's the hope that we will dwell with him.

What’s in a name?

In the past, when Christians talked about Jesus, it was safe to assume we were talking about the son of God become man who conquered death to save the lost. You know, the person the Bible’s about.

But with the rise of liberal theology in the 19th and 20th centuries, that meaning began to change. At least for some people. Christ, liberal theologians said, might be better understood as an idea, a metaphor, or a good example, rather than the sinless supernatural savior who accomplished our redemption in the first century.

This was J. Gresham Machen’s line in the sand in 1923. If we don’t worship the same Christ, Machen said, we don’t have the same religion.

Politics. Technology. Identity. Power. Science. Everything seems to be changing. So why not faith?

Visit christianityandliberalism.com for more on the book, audiobook, and show.

Music: “Line in the Sand (C&L)” by Timothy Brindle Produced by Nobody Special Wrath and Grace Records Music Licensing Codes: G80CW5LAONGBUAXB BYDTC3Y8K96ACYJ2