What did Mary and Joseph do after Jesus was born? Here's what the Bible says



The Virgin Mary gave birth to the promised Son of God in the town of Bethlehem — just as the angel and the Scripture had foretold. The buildup to this birth in Luke’s Gospel is eventful. In Luke 1 there are angelic appearances and revelations, a visit between pregnant female relatives, songs of praise and wonder, and a formerly barren woman giving birth to the forerunner of the Messiah.

After many years of waiting for the Messiah, the promised Son was born: “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger” (Luke 2:7).

But what about after Jesus’ birth? What happened in the hours and days that followed? Are there things we can both see explicitly and deduce implicitly from the biblical data?

1. Shepherds rushed to Bethlehem to see the newborn.

This was the same day as the birth. The angel told them, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). The shepherds would find the baby still in the manger (2:12; see 2:7).

So in the hours after the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph were receiving shepherds as visitors.

2. Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day.

According to Genesis 17, circumcision was the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham.

In Luke 2:21 we’re told, “And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.”

Mary and Joseph were obeying the law of Moses.

3. Mary was persevering through her time of ritual uncleanness.

According to Leviticus 12, a woman was ritually unclean for several weeks if she gave birth to a boy. Biblical law prohibited her from going to the sanctuary until her time of uncleanness was complete. Once her uncleanness was over, she was to bring an offering to the temple (Leviticus 12:5-8).

In Luke 2:22-24, Mary kept the regulations of the law, and at the appointed time she brought the appropriate offering to the temple.

4. Mary and Joseph received visiting wise men.

These men from the east brought gifts for the Christ child (Matthew 2:11-12). They arrived at “the house” where Mary and Joseph were staying (2:11).

This house would have been the same relative’s home where the couple first arrived in Luke 2:1-7. (The “guest room” in Luke 2:7 was not the guest room of a motel; it was the guest room of a home.)

The wise men didn’t arrive on the night of Jesus’ birth. Matthew 2 doesn’t report how much time has elapsed since the birth, but Herod’s plan to kill babies who were “two years old or under” suggests that when the wise men came, more than a year had passed since Jesus’ birth.

5. Mary and Joseph went to Egypt.

Still in Bethlehem with Mary and Jesus, Joseph had a dream, in which an angel told him, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him” (Matthew 2:13). When Joseph awoke, he followed the angel’s instructions and left Bethlehem, taking his little family to Egypt.

While we only have snapshots of things that happened in the hours, days, weeks, and months that followed Jesus’ birth, these snapshots should be studied and treasured.

This essay was originally published at Dr. Mitchell Chase's Substack, "Biblical Theology."

The truth about Christmas: Debunking the pagan origin myth once and for all



Christmas is a much-beloved holiday, celebrated by billions of people across the globe. In the U.S. alone, the Pew Research Center reports that nearly 96% of the population celebrates Christmas, including eight out of 10 non-Christians like atheists, agnostics, and those who have no faith commitment.

However, Christmas is also a uniquely Christian holiday; its core message is about a personal God taking humanity upon himself and stepping into the world to redeem sinful human beings who could never redeem themselves. The Christian message is inescapable.

Imagine a modern church seeking to replace Halloween celebrations by having a harvest festival on November 8. It wouldn't work!

I believe the love of Christmas coupled with the loathing of Christianity is one reason why atheists continue to repeat the claim that Christmas is a repurposing of a pagan Roman holiday. Two of the most popular pagan holidays put forth are the celebration of Saturnalia, which honored the Roman god Saturn, or the Dies Natalis of Sol Invictus, which is the “Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun.” Both of these celebrations were held in the second half of December, making them somewhat close to Christmas.

The claim that the roots of Christmas are pagan isn't new.

The New England Puritans, who valued work more than celebration, taught such. Increase Mather preached that “the early Christians who first observed the Nativity on December 25 did not do so thinking that ‘Christ was born in that Month, but because the Heathens Saturnalia was at that time kept in Rome, and they were willing to have those Pagan Holidays metamorphosed into Christian.’”

When one digs into the actual history, however, a much different picture arises.

There are two ways to approach the question: one is to see how December 25 became associated with the Nativity, which is how the early church would have referred to the day of Christ's birth. The other is to look at the celebrations like Saturnalia and Sol Invictus. Let’s explore both.

Looking at the history of Christmas

Much of the thrust of the “pagan Christmas” claim rests on the idea of a Christianized Rome trying to convert a populace that wouldn't want to give up its feast traditions, akin to the practice of churches celebrating a harvest festival instead of Halloween.

Yet, scholars like Yale University's T.C. Schmidt find the marking of December 25 to appear much earlier in Christian history.

When translating Hippolytus' "Commentary on Daniel," written just after 200 AD, Schmidt notes that five of the seven manuscripts contain December 25 as the date for Jesus' birth and another offers the 25 of either December or March. Clement of Alexandria in this same time offers the date of March 25 as the date of the Incarnation — that is, the conception of Jesus — in his "Stromata."

Both works assert the idea that Jesus' death would have happened on the same day as his conception.

Christmas and Easter are linked

Why the December 25 date?

As Thomas Tulley works out in his book "The Origins of the Liturgical Year," early church members believed the date of the death of Jesus would also reflect either his birth or his conception.

Augustine wrote of this, saying, “For He is believed to have been conceived on the 25th of March, upon which day also He suffered; so the womb of the Virgin, in which He was conceived, where no one of mortals was begotten, corresponds to the new grave in which He was buried, wherein was never man laid, neither before nor since. But He was born, according to tradition, upon December the 25th.”

St. John Chrysostom goes ever further, noting the Angel Gabriel's announcement of Mary's conception happened while Elizabeth was six months pregnant with John the Baptist (Luke 1:26). Chrysostom argues Zechariah's service was the Day of Atonement, thus making the conception of John the Baptist happen in the fall. Add six months and Jesus' conception lands in the spring, that is, March 25.

I don't know if this calculation is accurate, but it shows how much the early church tied the events together. The idea of randomly choosing a pagan date instead seems a pretty big stretch.

Here's the thing: If Christians were recognizing the birth of Christ by the beginning of the 3rd century AD, does it make sense to think that this was a 4th century AD invention to sway the Roman populous over to Christianity?

Christianity was gaining ground in the time of Clement, but it was by no means out from under the shadow of persecution. It also wasn't borrowing much from pagan customs at the time. So why believe they would do so for this date?

Roman time and Saturnalia

What about the year-end Roman celebration of Saturnalia, though?

When studying this holiday, one primary source is Macrobius, a Roman who lived in the 5th century AD. His "Saturnalia" provides details on the origin stories of the celebration as well as its customs.

T.C. Schmidt highlights this passage from "Saturnalia" (book 1, chapter 10), giving the dates of the celebration:

Our ancestors restricted the Saturnalia to a single day, the fourteenth before the Kalends of January, but, after Gaius Caesar had added two days to December, the day on which the festival was held became the sixteenth before the Kalends of January [January 1], with the result that, since the exact day was not commonly known — some observing the addition which Caesar had made to the calendar and others following the old usage — the festival came to be regarded as lasting for more days than one.

And yet in fact among the men of old time there were some who supposed that the Saturnalia lasted for seven days ...

[But] one can infer, then, from all that has been said, that the Saturnalia lasted but one day and was held only on the fourteenth day before the Kalends of January; it was on this day alone that the shout of "Io Saturnalia" would be raised, in the temple of Saturn, at a riotous feast. Now, however, during the celebration of the Saturnalia, this day is allotted to the festival of the Opalia, although the day was first assigned to Saturn and Ops in common.

So Saturnalia was a three-day long feast that began 16 days before January 1.

Their December was 31 days long as is ours, which places Saturnalia on December 17, far too early to be mistaken for December 25. However, Macrobius notes that another celebration, Sigillaria, was celebrated after these three days. Schmidt, in his article, provides a translation of chapter 10 in its entirety, as dates are referenced throughout.

He then concludes:

Macrobius does an excellent job summarizing authorities that were available to him, most of which I think have been lost. His conclusion is quite clear, Saturnalia originally was one day and occurred on the 14th day before the Kalends January, but when Caesar altered the calendar it was extended to three days and started on the 16th, later a new Festival of Sigillaria extended the celebrations to complete seven days, meaning that the Festival ended on either the 10th or ninth day before the Kalends of January depending on how we count. Of course neither of these days fall on the eighth day before the Kalends of January, that is December 25.

The dates don't fit

Remember, Macrobius was writing in the 5th century AD, and we have Christmas sermons from John Chrysostom preached on December 25 from a century earlier. Yet, the dates don't correspond.

If Christmas were created to supplant Saturnalia, the Christians would have chosen December 17. Add to that the references I noted about the December 25 date stretching all the way back to 200 AD, and you have a very real problem with Saturnalia being the origin of the date for Christmas.

Imagine a modern church seeking to replace Halloween celebrations by having a harvest festival on November 8. It wouldn't work! People could celebrate one and then attend the other. The concept of substitution would be fairly ineffective in such a case.

There is one other possibility suggested when discussing Christmas borrowing from pagan Rome: Sol Invictus — the winter solstice. You can read about why that suggestion fails as well here.

I hope this little study has encouraged you to see that sometimes historic coincidences aren’t always significant. Our assumptions can be very wrong sometimes!

You may celebrate the coming of Jesus confidently knowing this is a very Christian holiday, and let me wish you a very merry and blessed Christmas!

This article is adapted from a post that originally appeared on the Worldview Bulletin Substack.

Church of England reportedly urges clergy to alter Christmas carols to avoid offensive lyrics. But church has different view.



The Daily Mail reported over the weekend that the Church of England has urged clergy to change the lyrics of certain Christmas carols and Advent hymns so they can be sung "without causing unnecessary offense." But the Church of England on Monday told Blaze News in a statement that "no one has been asked to change words in carols or liturgies."

The Daily Mail said a vicar shared with the outlet an email to Birmingham diocese clergy that reads, "Try to use language that won’t add further confusion or tension or take away anything from the good news of the Nativity."

'If the Church cedes the line on this, what else?'

The vicar added to the Daily Mail that the Church of England has "really lost the plot" and that even Russian dictator Vladimir Putin "doesn’t order Orthodox churches to censor carols at Christmas."

The outlet said "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" has been targeted for depicting other faiths as being "outside of God’s grace" — and the hymn's "captive Israel" reference also rubs church higher-ups the wrong way.

The Daily Mail also said "Lo, He Comes with Clouds Descending" — a favorite of Queen Victoria — has been called out as well, with clergy receiving a link to research noting that the second verse contains "problematic words" that state Jesus is the "true Messiah."

What does the Church of England have to say?

The Church of England on Monday told Blaze News that the Bishop of Birmingham, the Rt. Rev Dr. Michael Volland, issued the following Sunday statement in regard to the Daily Mail's report:

No one has been asked to change words in carols or liturgies. Members of our team working closely with diverse communities in Birmingham invited churches to think about providing some context for people new to church who might be unsure why "Israel" is being discussed and whether this has any relation to the current conflict. The lyrics in some of our hymns, even those that have been sung for many years, are not always understood as having their roots in the Bible rather than current situations. The email from our team was an encouragement to help churches think about how they can tell the Christmas story authentically, without confusion, and in a way that makes all visitors feel welcome.

Canon Chris Sugden — a former member of the General Synod and executive secretary of the Anglican Mainstream group — told the Daily Mail that hymns shouldn't be altered just because the Church of England "conforms to every progressive cause."

"If one was attending a Jewish or Hindu festival, would you expect them to alter the lyrics or alter the liturgy because there are some who might find them difficult?" Sugden added to the outlet. "Who are the people they think are going to object to this?"

He also told the Daily Mail that "people who attend Christmas carols ... will expect to have them sung properly. If the Church cedes the line on this, what else?"

The outlet noted that diocesan officials on its "presence and engagement team" claim the hymns have a "strong emphasis of supersessionism" — a doctrine holding that the Christian Church has replaced the Jewish people as God's true covenant people.

The Daily Mail added that the email reads, "Some of the language used in our liturgy, hymns, and readings could easily cause confusion."

Sam Margrave — a lay member of the General Synod — told the outlet that his "advice to clergy is sing loud and proud. We have a great heritage of hymns in this Christian nation, and any clergy who don’t like what the Church has to offer needs to think whether they are in the right role."

A Daily Mail op-ed published Monday noted in connection with the Church of England's reported Christmas carol email that "leftist, worldly preoccupations are displacing the divine. If God is disappearing from so many people's lives, it is at least partly because He is disappearing from our national Church."

Readers may recall a 2022 Blaze News report noting that All Saints with Holy Trinity church in Loughborough, England, changed the lyrics of the 17th-century carol "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" to read "God rest you, queer and questioning" and "God rest you also, women, who by men have been erased."

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Blaze News original: 12 times leftists have sought to twist, hijack, and stomp on Christmas



The Freedom from Religion Foundation recently set up its annual "Winter Solstice" exhibit at the Wisconsin Capitol in opposition to religious displays, which is accompanied by a sign that reads, "At this season of the Winter Solstice, may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but a myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds."

The Catholic League responded to the display with a billboard in the vicinity of the FFRF's headquarters in Madison that reads, "ATHEISTS STRIKE OUT AT CHRISTMAS. Celebrating Winter Solstice is a Child's Game. This Is Our Season — Not Theirs. Celebrate the Birth of Christ. Merry Christmas."

'I couldn't help but notice your Christmas lights display. ... The idea of twinkling, colorful lights are a reminder of divisions that continue to run through our society, a reminder of systemic biases against our neighbors who don't celebrate Christmas or who can't afford to put up lights of their own.'

Left-wing writer John Pavlovitz published a December 16 Substack piece titled, "The War on Christmas Is Here (and the Christian Right Has Declared it)." In it he says that "the very white conservatives who’ve been loudly sounding the alarm are the incessantly-advancing [sic] hordes" and have "disregarded their own faith tradition’s birth story." Pavlovitz adds that:

Christmas is a child of Palestinian Jewish parents desperately fleeing politically-ordered [sic] genocide.
Christmas is a dark-skinned child, born where animals feed because no human-worthy welcome could be found.
Christmas is a poor, itinerant, street preaching rabbi living off the generosity of those around him.
Christmas is a compassionate caregiver, feeding and clothing and healing whoever crossed his path.
Christmas is a liberal activist fighting for the poor, condemning violence, shunning material wealth, and calling the world to live sacrificially for the common good.

"The white Evangelical Church in America has no use for this Christmas," he also declares. "In fact, worse than that: it has open contempt for it."

Once again, it appears that leftists are seeking to twist, hijack, and stomp on Christmas in one form or another. It's happening this year just as it has taken place prior to 2024. The following are a dozen examples.

Nativity scene at Vatican showed infant Jesus lying on keffiyeh scarf — a 'potent symbol of the Palestinian cause'


A Nativity scene at the Vatican earlier this month displayed the infant Jesus lying on a keffiyeh scarf. Pope Francis on Dec. 7 attended the inauguration of the Nativity scene, and the Associated Press said special representatives of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas were on hand. The AP said the Nativity raised eyebrows because the keffiyeh has become a "potent symbol of the Palestinian cause."

"Just like the Nazis tried to rewrite Jesus as Aryan to justify their genocide of Jews, Palestinians are now rewriting Jesus as Palestinian to erase Jewish indigeneity to Israel," the watchdog group StopAntisemitism posted in regard to the Nativity scene. "The lies may shape-shift, but the centuries-old hatred towards the Jewish people continues."

But just days after the Nativity scene was unveiled, the depiction of the infant Jesus along with the keffiyeh scarf vanished. A Palestinian official told the AP that the Vatican gave no explanation about the removal, and it wasn't clear if the Nativity scene would be restored on Dec. 24.

Atheists complain about 'Keep Christ in Christmas' sign near Nativity scene in Canadian city. The next day, the sign is gone.


Every year the Knights of Columbus put up an outdoor Nativity scene in Kelowna, British Columbia — and this year after a "Keep Christ in Christmas" sign was displayed next to the Nativity scene, the Kelowna Atheists, Skeptics, and Humanists Association complained.

A Dec. 9 letter from the group called the sign "political" and "advocating for a specific religious interpretation of the holiday." The next day the sign came down, with the city confirming that the sign isn't part of the Knights of Columbus' permit for the Nativity scene.

Australian elementary school bans students from exchanging 'food or Christmas-themed items' — and gets an earful from parents livid over 'woke ideology'


An elementary school in Melbourne, Australia, earlier this month banned students in grades 5 and 6 from exchanging "food or Christmas-themed items," the Daily Mail reported.

One mother said the ban was enacted so "non-Christian students" wouldn't be offended.

"I've heard that this is also happening at other local schools, and it's a woke ideology trying to interfere in what originally is a religious holiday that people who aren't even religious follow and observe," she told Herald Sun, according to the Daily Mail.

As you might imagine, the mother wasn't the only parent who was outraged, and the parents let Eltham East Primary School know about it, the outlet said.

Would you believe that soon afterward, Principal Warren Lloyd reversed the ban and apologized for the "oversight"? The Daily Mail Australia said it contacted the Victoria Department of Education for further comment.

Bella d'Abrera from the Institute of Public Affairs told the outlet that the school's initial ban represented political correctness on overdrive: "Every year like clockwork, left-wing activists in our schools and institutions find an excuse to cancel Christmas. What have we become as a society if activists’ cancel culture now extends to canceling Christmas for [elementary] students?"

Catholic priest politicizes Christmas by telling CNN panel that it's 'about a Palestinian Jew' — then gets history lessons


On Christmas morning 2023, Catholic Fr. Edward Beck — a CNN religion commentator — told a panel on the cable network that "the story of Christmas is about a Palestinian Jew."

He continued: "Now, how often do you find those words put together? A Palestinian Jew born into a time when his country was occupied, right? They can't find a place for her to even give birth. They're homeless. They eventually have to flee as refugees, into Egypt no less. I mean, you can't make up the parallels to our current world situation right now. And so in some way, that is who we believe God becomes, born into that situation."

Conservative commentator Jason Rantz caught the exchange and posted a retort on X, saying Beck is "trying to push Christians into Palestinian nationalism & erase Jewish history." It appeared that Beck soon blocked Rantz on Christmas Day, and Rantz observed that "the activist Father doesn’t like getting called out by Jews."

Radio host Christopher Calvin Reid added, "This 'Father' doesn't represent orthodox Christians or practicing catholics in [any way]. Christ was born in Israel and salvation is for the Jews first and then for the gentiles. God's promises to Israel will never be broken, and those who lie about history in order to promote Hamas have nothing to do with my faith. But you can always find some minister[s] who [call] themselves 'Christian' who are wolves amongst the sheep."

Chris Enloe, who wrote Blaze News' story on the controversy, added that Beck "is the same Catholic priest who two years ago said that Christians who did not receive the COVID-19 shot should not attend Christmas church services."

Florida hotel that hosted 'A Drag Queen Christmas' show gets in trouble after state says minors were at sexually explicit show


The office of Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in December 2022 said it was investigating venues hosting "A Drag Queen Christmas" for possible violations of state laws against exposing children to sexually explicit themes.

In March 2023, DeSantis' office sought to revoke the liquor license of the Hyatt Regency Miami for hosting “A Drag Queen Christmas” the previous Dec. 27, NBC News reported. The DeSantis administration argued that the hotel violated Florida statutes on lewdness by hosting the show and exposing children to “simulated sexual activity, and lewd, vulgar, and indecent displays," the news network said, adding that the venue allowed minors to attend the show if accompanied by an adult.

By last December, the state settled with the Hyatt Regency Miami, NBC News said, adding that as part of the settlement, the hotel was to pay a $5,000 fine and agreed to prohibit anyone under the age of 18 from attending any performance at the hotel that “contains, depicts or simulates any activities” described in Florida’s statutes on lewdness.

Amid local library's Christmas tree ban, town human rights commissioner says Christians believe in 'happy horses**t,' 'magic sky daddy' in unhinged rant. She later resigns.


A member of the Human Rights Commission in Dedham, Massachusetts, resigned in December 2022 after writing that Christians believe in "happy horses**t" and a "magic sky daddy" as part of an unhinged rant on social media amid a Christmas tree ban in the town's public library.

In 2021, some people allegedly were "uncomfortable" with the sight of a Christmas tree in the library, which reportedly led to a ban on Christmas trees there in 2022.

Lisa Desmond, supervisor of the Endicott branch of Dedham's libraries, said in a now-unavailable Facebook post in December 2022, "I found out today that my beautiful library will not have [its] Christmas tree this year. Zero explanation. When I asked I was told 'people' were made uncomfortable last year looking at it. I’m sorry WHAT?" Desmond said in the comments section of her post that the Dedham public library director made the decision. Hundreds of comments under her post and several other related posts on Desmond's Facebook page were squarely against banning Christmas trees in the town's public libraries.

Desmond also added a Dec. 6 post with screenshots of a profanity-laced rant on a local Facebook page against Desmond and her issues with the Christmas tree cancellation. The rant's author, Diane Loud — whom Desmond said works for a local human rights commission — called Desmond a "selfish, f***ing bitch who does not care about anyone else but herself. For a tree? A motherf***ing TREE? You have put people's lives in a lot of danger. A lot of danger. For a motherf***ing Christmas tree."

The rant also read, "I hope that you — who claim to believe in Christ or whatever happy horses**t you're trying to hide behind — are the least gracious, most hateful, most disgusting trash in the world. Is this what you think your magic sky daddy wants? Where in the Bible was this again?"

And there was even more: "In closing I would like to add a final round of F*** YOU, YOU PIECES OF TRASH. I hate each and every one of you, and I do wish great suffering on you. You are terrible, terrible people."

Interestingly, the rant's author prefaced it all by saying, "I know there's no way to survive whatever sanctions you'll ask the select board to put my participation in commissions that actually try to make people's lives better, so I might as well go for it."

Desmond said in her Facebook post that "police have been notified" about the rant, and she also called for the rant's author to resign from the town's human rights commission.

Two days after Desmond shared Loud's rant, it was announced that Loud "has stepped down from her position on the Dedham Human Rights Commission. We sincerely appreciate Diane's service and look forward to working with the Commission on Disabilities to find a representative to take her place."

What's more, after a massive pushback against the Christmas tree ban, the library director soon said the trees were allowed to go up after all. Library Director Amber Moroney said in a Dec. 12 statement that "Christmas trees will be put up" at both of Dedham's public libraries, WBTS reported. Moroney said in a statement to Fox News that "the initial decision to not display a Christmas tree was the result of an ongoing review of all our holiday decorations and displays that started back in the spring."

A statement from Dedham officials said "town staff" were "targeted by recent online threats and bullying" over the controversy and that "what could have been something of legitimate discourse turned neighbor against neighbor, and has threatened the safety and well-being of community members and staff."

You can view a video report here about the controversy when it was first brewing.

Nativity scene threatened with removal in Arkansas town that has been referred to as 'the Bible Belt's LGBTQ oasis.' But folks fight back.


In December 2022, Robert Berry — mayor of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, which CNN called "the Bible Belt's LGBTQ oasis" — wanted a Nativity scene gone from its usual spot in Basin Spring Park after nearly 70 years.

Randall Christy, executive director of the Great Passion Play, told KNWA-TV that after the mayor called him about removing the Nativity scene, "We decided we're not taking it down. We refused to take it down." Christy also told conservative radio host Todd Starnes, "This is Christmas. ... Why is the Nativity such a threat to the mayor of Eureka Springs?"

As you might guess, there was substantial backlash over the threat of the Nativity scene's removal. Christy said, "People have just been pouring out — posting pictures, saying, ‘don’t take it down, don’t take it down,’ and the mayor has heard the cry of the people."

According to Berry, a town resident had threatened to sue Eureka Springs over the Nativity scene, claiming the religious imagery violated his constitutional right to freedom of religion, reported the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. City Attorney Forrest Jacob and the city's parks director, Scott Miskiel, reportedly told the mayor that "as long as you allow other secular displays to be displayed, then you're OK," according to Berry.

Christy posted the following to Facebook: "I want to sincerely, personally thank Eureka Springs Mayor Butch Berry who just notified me in writing that he has changed his mind and WILL NOT require us to remove our Nativity Scene out of the city's Basin Park. He and I will STAND TOGETHER to fight this potential lawsuit. We stand together to keep Christ and the Nativity in Christmas in Eureka Springs!!!"

Wishing others 'Merry Christmas' is 'white supremacy culture at work'? Really?


In 2020, a Chicago woman made an astonishing claim on Christmas Day that wishing someone a "Merry Christmas" is "white supremacy culture at work."

"This is your annual reminder that not everyone celebrates Christmas! The default to 'Merry Christmas' as a normal greeting is also white supremacy culture at work. If someone celebrates, then by all means. But so many people don't," Jen Bokoff posted on X.

The post caught the attention of conservative pundit Joe Concha, who mocked it. Widespread backlash soon erupted, and Bokoff apparently locked her X account. But that didn't stop others from responding.

One detractor said, "Who wants to tell her that hundreds of millions of Christians who celebrate Christmas worldwide are something other than white?"

Another pointed out, "This isn't a racist white thing. Jesus was Middle Eastern. This is a, 'I follow Christ thing.' Bless her heart."

Yet another replied, "I was walking on the sidewalk today a Muslim lady was going the other direction, she said Merry Christmas to me. I was thrilled. I wished her Merry Christmas, we both smiled and kept walking. It was a great moment for me. The real person should give it a try and get real."

Home's Christmas lights pummeled as 'harmful' and a 'reminder of divisions ... systemic biases.' Then anonymous critic receives holiday haranguing.


In early December 2020, a Minnesota couple received an anonymous letter criticizing the Christmas light display on their St. Anthony home as "harmful," Fox News noted.

The letter to Kim Hunt and her husband begins: "I couldn't help but notice your Christmas lights display. During these unprecedented times, we have all experienced challenges which casual words just don't describe what we're feeling. The idea of twinkling, colorful lights are a reminder of divisions that continue to run through our society, a reminder of systemic biases against our neighbors who don't celebrate Christmas or who can't afford to put up lights of their own."

It adds that "we must do the work of educating ourselves about the harmful impact an outward facing display like yours can have."

You can check out the letter and the "harmful" Christmas lights here.

The letter writer then says, "I challenge you to respect the dignity of all people, while striving to learn from differences, ideas, and opinions of our neighbors. We must come together collectively and challenge these institutional inequities. St. Anthony is a community welcoming of all people, and we must demand better for ourselves."

Hunt told Fox News that she and her husband were "very surprised, shocked, and saddened by the letter" — particularly since the lights give her a sense of "joy" when she returns from her job as a nurse working with COVID-19 patients. She added to the cable network that "these times we live in are so divisive" and that it's "a sad statement that Christmas lights have to be a target."

"We need to be inclusive of everyone, and let's face it, a lot of people put up holiday lights or decorate their homes for other occasions to bring beauty and happiness to what can be a very ugly world," Hunt told Fox News, adding that three other homes in the area have received the same letter.

As you might expect, the letter writer got an earful from Twitter users who saw the Crime Watch post containing the photo of the letter. Fox News said former Baltimore Ravens quarterback Derek Anderson observed: "Saw this coming a long time ago. 'If I can't have it nobody can' or 'if they have it we all deserve it' that's not life."

Others had similar reactions:

  • "Ironic that the letter writer is doing exactly what they accuse the homeowner of doing — not being accepting of others," another commenter said. "I would redouble my lights."
  • "People just need to stop already!!" another user declared. "If I lived in that neighborhood I'd help the owner put up even more lights."
  • "If I were the recipient of that letter, I would put up THREE TIMES the amount of lights that I originally had put up," another commenter noted.

'God rest you, queer and questioning ...' Altered lyrics for iconic Christmas carol sung at English church; ideology behind it blasted as 'woke, unbiblical'


A church in England — All Saints with Holy Trinity in Loughborough — reportedly raised eyebrows in December 2022 for performing iconic Christmas carol "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" with altered lyrics that reflect a "woke, unbiblical" ideology. The updated carol removes references to Satan and Christ as Savior while mentioning those who are “queer and questioning” and “women, who by men have been erased."

Rev. Matthew Firth said the new lyrics fit the Church of England's "woke, unbiblical agenda," the Daily Mail reported. "'All ideas about Christ as savior have been erased. Triumph over Satan's power has been erased. And the whole nativity story has been erased."

Christmas ad 'bringing people to tears' shows grandfather applying makeup to grandson's face — and grandson soon presenting as female to family around dinner table


A J&B Blended Scotch Whisky commercial from Spain is "bringing people to tears with its message of love and acceptance," Today reported in December 2022.

The description of the ad on YouTube via Google Translate reads, "At J&B we want everyone to be able to celebrate at Christmas, without anyone being left out. But, sadly, on these dates, many people from the LGTBIQ+ collective feel uncomfortable or rejected in their own families and cannot celebrate with them. For this reason, we have made this Christmas story starring a grandfather and his family."

Interestingly, those wishing to view the ad on YouTube must sign in to confirm their age as the video "may be inappropriate for some users."

The ad begins with a grandfather trying to learn how to apply makeup to his face without his wife finding out as a version of the song “She" plays in the background, Today noted. After multiple attempts, Today said the grandfather finally "studies himself in the mirror, sporting a full face of expertly applied makeup."

"At first, it seems like the commercial is about the grandfather exploring his own identity — but then comes the emotional twist," Today continued.

Family members soon arrive at the grandparents' house for Christmas dinner — including 26-year-old "Alvaro." The grandfather motions for Alvaro to come with him — and the pair enter a bathroom, after which the grandfather locks the door. With that, the grandfather "uses his newfound makeup skills to lovingly transform his grandchild’s look, applying a beautiful, bold red lip, blush and winged eyeliner," Today said.

Finally, Alvaro and the grandfather emerge from the bathroom — and "Alvaro" has become "Ana" and is "appearing to come out to the family as transgender," Today added.

"The family is surprised at first, but a second later, Ana's mother stands and embraces her, moved to tears, and the rest of the family looks on with love and approval," Today said in its description of the commercial.

The ad's only clear connection to J&B is a shot at the end showing a bottle on the dinner table along with family members drinking it.

Canada's human rights commission suggests holidays like Christmas amount to 'systemic religious discrimination'


The Canadian Human Rights Commission in the fall of 2023 published a paper suggesting that statutory holidays linked to Christianity — particularly Christmas and Easter — are evidence of "religious intolerance."

"Discrimination against religious minorities in Canada is grounded in Canada's history of colonialism," the paper read. "This history manifests itself in present-day systemic religious discrimination. An obvious example is statutory holidays in Canada. Statutory holidays related to Christianity, including Christmas and Easter, are the only Canadian statutory holidays linked to religious holy days."

The paper continued, "As a result, non-Christians may need to request special accommodations to observe their holy days and other times of the year where their religion requires them to abstain from work."

Conservative lawmaker Jeremy Patzer wrote in response to the report, "This is ridiculous. Christmas is celebrated all around the world by people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds. This is another example of woke ideology fomenting within the federal government. I for one will be celebrating Christmas whole heartedly. Merry Christmas!"

John Rustad, leader of the Conservative Party of British Columbia, added on X, "The Trudeau Liberals have lost their minds to woke culture. There is nothing discriminatory about Christmas."

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The best gifts aren't under your tree: 7 gifts from God to treasure this Christmas



It's Christmas wish list season, isn't it? Where we all share the gifts we'd like and learn what our loved ones are hoping for. But of course, it's also Advent, and it occurred to me that I would do well to spend a little less time obsessing over buying gifts and my wish list and a little more time mindfully contemplating the abundant gifts I already have.

Are you with me here?

His gifts are an invitation to join in his work and to enjoy our relationship with him.

First, we all know — but constantly need to be reminded — that God gives us all we need. That phrase is easy enough to glibly unleash without stopping to let it penetrate our hearts.

But as the trappings of the Christmas season swirl around us, slowing down and savoring that truth gives us time to consider the glories hidden within it — including the glorious truth that Christmas joy never needs to end. We can infuse every day with joy when we consider the abundance of gifts he offers.

It's not Christmas morning yet, but these gifts are already ours, so let's open them again now.

Life

He gave you ... YOU. He made you a unique creation, and he decided to make you before the beginning of time.

All the wonders of life — all the joys, blessings, and experiences — they're all part of the gift of life, which is given to everyone, along with the gift of the five senses with which to experience the next gift.

The world

He surely placed us on a planet brimming with blessings for us to enjoy with all our senses: sunrises and forests and waterfalls for us to see, birdsong and roaring waves and all kinds of music to hear, flowers and bread baking and clean laundry to smell, sizzling steak and juicy strawberries and tacos (tacos!) to taste, soft kittens and fuzzy slippers and cozy blankets to feel.

These gifts, this lushly furnished beautiful world, is for all of us.

Even in its present sin-stained state, our world offers breathtaking beauty every day, from a lone violet bursting through a sidewalk crack to a black velvet galaxy of stars, from a Beethoven symphony to a Rembrandt masterpiece. He must have known we would need beauty in this world, don’t you think?

Each other

He gives us relationships, starting with our placement within families.

Life was never meant to be experienced alone, and he made us with a need to belong. When we're talking about relationships with fellow Christians, we call it fellowship, and that is a very sweet gift indeed.

Work

He gives us plenty to do — starting clear back in the Garden.

Work was not a curse! God gave Adam and Eve the work of cultivating that garden before the Fall brought any curse on human endeavors. The ability to bring our skills and talents alongside him and help make his world a better place is an honor and a gift, whether those skills entail something the world deems magnificent, like building a skyscraper or leading a country — or something significantly less glamorous, like changing a diaper or digging a ditch.

It is a privilege and a gift to be allowed to create order, beauty, or service to others in this world. That we often earn our income from this activity is a gift as well, but work itself is ordained and blessed by God.

Salvation, transformation, and eternal life with him

This is one of those gift packages where a bunch of presents come stacked together.

I previously wrote about the bounty of gifts he bestows in that transformational moment when he makes us his own, including:

  1. Eyes to see we need repentance;
  2. A heart to embrace faith;
  3. Salvation itself as our chains drop off;
  4. Justification as our debt is paid and our slate wiped clean; and
  5. The start of a lifelong journey of sanctification as the Holy Spirit indwells us.

It’s important to reflect on these gifts because they’re every disciple’s starting point. We cannot grow as we are meant to grow from any place other than that starting point of first being transformed by his gospel and gratefully accepting those wondrous gifts.

His word

He also offers the gift of his word, the Bible.

That is a treasure we can never exhaust in this life, the greatest masterpiece ever written, direct from the creator God to his people.

Spending time each day mining those riches — reading, studying, memorizing, applying, learning — is one of the highest uses of our time. Colossians 1:10 talks about two things that “please Him in all respects”: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

There is only one path to that “increase,” and it exists entirely within the pages of his word, which he graciously provides for us.

All the things

Every attribute that we are to embody — love, hope, faith, joy, peace, wisdom, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control — as well as every individual talent and ability, these are all gifts from him.

They’re given to us so we can use them in service of his kingdom. The best gifts are the ones you can use!

Ultimately, God’s gifts to us are not just to make us happy. They are not even just so we can serve him. His gifts are an invitation to join in his work and to enjoy our relationship with him.

This is not by any means a comprehensive list of the many presents under our “Christmas tree” in this life.

Just think of what you’re thankful for, and you’ll have many more. But let’s conclude with this gift that holds so much promise. As our Father, he gives us our inheritance as his heirs (Colossians 1:12). In that verse, Paul uses language normally reserved for Jews under the old covenant (see Genesis 13:14-17 for an example) and applies it to us! Through Jesus’ work on the cross, we (all his followers) get to share in this inheritance. We get to live forever in his light, his very presence!

Chew on that for a while. I don’t think any of us can fully comprehend what it will be like to live literally in his glory. How is that not a mind-boggling gift worthy of our meditation as we journey through this world?

This article was adapted from an essay originally published on Diane Schrader's Substack, "She Speaks Truth."

Allie Beth Stuckey warns about 'manipulation tactic' used to silence Christian conservatives



During a speech at Turning Point USA's AmericaFest over the weekend, Allie Beth Stuckey warned about a "manipulation tactic" used to silence Christian conservatives.

She opened her speech by stating that one of her passions has been to help Christian women "out of soft theology."

'Christians not only have the right to do that but the responsibility to do that.'

"I am going to talk about the legacy of Christian courage that is our heritage," Stuckey told the AmFest crowd on Saturday evening.

She explained that ancient paganism justified infanticide, forced marriages, and every form of sexual immorality.

"A new revolutionary way to view human beings interrupted the pagan world and turned its philosophy on its head," she said, referring to Christianity.

"Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness: That is a distinctly Christian belief. Everywhere that Christians have gone over the centuries, everywhere Christian feet are on the ground, we have said, 'The child sacrifice ends now. The pagan worship ends now,'" Stuckey stated.

She cautioned that the term "Christian nationalism" has been used to shut down conservative voices.

"'Christian nationalism' … is a moniker used as a manipulation tactic to get Christian conservatives, and only Christian conservatives, to shut up. That's all it is," Stuckey declared.

She encouraged God-fearing individuals to counter the "superstitious beliefs" of so-called secular atheists by voting based on their faith.

"Every single person brings the fullness of their belief system to the voting booth. The secular atheist gets to use their subjective beliefs to define policy, to write curriculum, to change their workplace, to influence their communities," she said.

Stuckey remarked, "This idea that a human being can be trapped in the wrong body and declare themselves the opposite gender? That's not a secular, neutral belief that we just have to accept. That is their religious belief."

"If they have the right to come forth with their superstitious beliefs about when life begins, or when humans are valuable, or what gender is, or what marriage is, then Christians not only have the right to do that but the responsibility to do that," she declared.

Stuckey noted that one day, Jesus will return and bring an end to politics. "We get to look forward to that day. It's not here yet, though."

"That is our hope, that is our joy, that is our motivation to do the next right thing in faith with excellence and for the glory of God until Jesus comes back," she concluded.

— (@)

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Russell Brand's bold message for OnlyFans star who slept with 100 men in single day



New Christian Russell Brand is sharing a message of hope for Lily Phillips.

Phillips, a 23-year-old British woman, recently completed a stunt in which she had sex with 100 different men in 24 hours. The degrading act became the subject of a YouTube documentary, which went viral this month and sparked a debate about the failure of liberal, postmodern sexual ethics.

'Jesus loves Lily Phillips.'

After playing a clip from the documentary in which Phillips admitted she dissociated during the stunt — suggesting that she knew it was a traumatic experience — Brand shared a personal message in which he implored Phillips to stop looking for fulfillment in sex and online attention.

Instead, Brand urged Phillips — and everyone — to look for love in the right place: Jesus Christ.

"Lily Phillips, I can relate," Brand said. "I've not done exactly that or even those numbers, but I know what it's like to commodify sex and to look to sex for some kind of fulfillment and to use the energy of sex as some kind of commodity."

"Sometimes what I think it is is an attempt to defibrillate divinity down here on the lower levels and the lower planes. Think about how often in scripture it talks about sexual sins and Christ being the bridegroom and us [the church] being like the bride," he continued.

"I would pray that all of us that have looked for love in the wrong places are able to find what it is we're truly looking for," Brand went on to say. "Dignity, sanctity, and sacred love with one another, rather than making everything profane, everything a game, everything a like and a click and a lick."

In the end, Brand urged people to "love one another" and to "forgive one another."

"There's a way home for all of us, and by individually changing, we can change our culture to something beautiful and look for the kind of conjugation and connection that we're all really looking for," he said.

Meanwhile, Brand wrote on X, "Jesus loves Lily Phillips."

— (@)

It's true that Jesus loves Phillips, and it's true that Jesus associated himself with people that polite society had shunned, including prostitutes.

But Jesus didn't simply "hang out" with such people as if he excused their sin. The Gospels, in fact, show Jesus confronting sin, urging repentance, and offering to the contrite new life in the kingdom of God. Most important: Jesus transformed and redeemed sinners. He did not leave them in the destruction of their sin, but he invited them to find true life in him.

Jesus even declared in one famous teaching, recorded in Matthew 21:

Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you [the religious leaders].For John [the Baptizer] came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

This radical statement gives hope to everyone, including Phillips. If we repent from our sin and follow Jesus, he will save us.

It is important, meanwhile, to observe how Phillips' stunt exposes the failure of liberal sexual ethics.

"This tragedy, I suggest, is illuminating," observed James Wood, a professor at Redeemer University.

"It is a symbolic reductio ad absurdum exposing the limits of such a consent-centered, choice-maximizing morality," he explained. "Such a framework lacks the categories to account for the deep darkness involved in such acts, the damage they bring upon oneself and society, and the multifarious forms of failure involved."

Fortunately for Phillips, you, and me, there is no deep darkness that the grace and power of Jesus Christ cannot overcome. The tomb, indeed, is empty.

Triumph of Orthodoxy? Why young men are embracing ancient faith



The New York Post recently caused a stir in the Christian world with its article, “Young men leaving traditional churches for ‘masculine’ Orthodox Christianity in droves.”

To those of us in the Orthodox world, nothing in this article came as a surprise.

Where can a young man lost in the world find the truth, a solid rock upon which to build his life?

Most of us attending Orthodox churches in the United States are used to a swarm of new visitors every Sunday, often families and — as the article specifies — single men. Our own parish has nearly doubled in size in the two years we’ve been attending, and we’re scrambling to expand. You can read about my family’s conversion story in the fall 2024 issue of Frontier magazine.

While the New York Post article did not surprise us Orthodox, it caused a stir in the Protestant world, with pastors and apologists suddenly awakening in a panic that young men are fleeing their denominations for Orthodoxy.

First, let me make this very clear: For many, Orthodoxy was their “last stop” in their spiritual journey before abandoning God entirely. Visit our small parish in Kentucky, and I’ll happily introduce you to many converts who attended all manner of churches before looking into Orthodoxy.

Perhaps, the more interesting question isn’t, “Why Orthodoxy?” but rather, “Why Christianity?” especially in an age where it’s so much easier not to be Christian at all.

I believe the answer is fairly simple: Young men are desperately seeking structure in a time of chaos and upheaval. Many young men these days simply have no idea what the rules of society are — something as simple as asking a woman on a date can be a risky proposition, leading to the dire state of dating and the incel crisis. We saw this come to a head with the cancel culture and #MeToo phenomenas, where once-accepted behaviors were suddenly grounds to be expelled from polite society, with the rules sometimes changing from day to day.

For nearly 2,000 years, the glue that bound Western civilization was Christianity. Yes, there were often bitter — and bloody — theological struggles, but we generally accepted what was and wasn’t permissible in daily interactions. For many young men, that desperate need for clarity and stability draws them to church.

But then the question becomes: Which church? Where can a young man lost in the world find the truth, a solid rock upon which to build his life?

Orthodoxy: A brief 2,000-year history

Christ did not leave us with sacred scripture. In fact, when he ascended to Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, much of it was still to be written. Rather, he left us with the church (Matthew 16:18): A mystical organization established by Christ to guide the faithful. Furthermore, he promised that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

The book of Acts tells the tale of the early church, and the Council of Jerusalem described in Acts 15 gives us the model for making decisions in the church: through a council of bishops.

While we Orthodox agree with our Roman Catholic friends that St. Peter was the first pope of Rome, scripture disproves the notion that the papacy was ever all-powerful. If Peter was an absolute monarch, why bother having a council? Furthermore, while Peter makes the winning argument, it is the apostle James the Just, bishop of Jerusalem, who made the final declaration (Acts 15:13).

For nearly 1,000 years, the pope of Rome was a central figure to the church, but much like the chief justice of the Supreme Court, he was a first among equals who acted as a stabilizing force in the church’s seven ecumenical councils. Unfortunately, what later became known as the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches separated in 1054, when Pope Leo IX and Michael I Cerularius, patriarch of Constantinople, simultaneously excommunicated each other for long-brewing grudges too complex to explore here.

Our Roman Catholic friends say that it is the Eastern Orthodox who are in schism. However, at the time, the church was chiefly divided into what is known as the Pentarchy, comprising the patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, Jerusalem, and Rome.

After 1054, and to this day, four of the five patriarchates remain in communion, with Rome being the odd man out. So which one is in schism?

Tradition: Unwelcome in Rome

Since the Great Schism, the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches have been on wildly divergent paths, with all attempts at reconciliation having failed. Our Roman friends have developed many innovations over the past 970 years, as so-called “traditional Catholics” can attest.

After the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, the Roman Church forcefully abandoned the Tridentine Mass standardized at the Council of Trent — itself derived from the liturgy of Pope St. Gregory the Great (St. Gregory is a pre-schism saint recognized by both the Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox).

Instead, it was replaced with the Novus Ordo, the modernized Mass of Pope Paul the VI. The Tridentine Mass was briefly permitted under Pope Benedict XVI before being all but banned by Pope Francis in "Traditionis custodes."

To outsiders, the struggle appears to be a simple difference between using Latin or English in worship, but the aftermath of Vatican II brought many innovations to both worship and ecclesiology. Perhaps the most tragic change to the Mass is the quality of the music. After Vatican II, the beauty of Gregorian Chant has largely been discouraged, instead replaced with often sappy, insipid, and off-key music dating back to the 1970s.

If one man can suddenly change a belief that is thousands of years old, was it ever true in the first place?

The music reflects the more liberal and ecumenical nature of the post-Vatican II Roman Church. Many Roman Catholic priests take great liberties with the Mass. I’ve never seen the much-dreaded “clown Mass,” but I did attend one where the priest broke out a ukulele.

Perhaps most offensive was the fact that the post-Vatican II Roman Church expunged 93 saints from its liturgical calendar, including some of the most beloved saints of all time, such as St. Christopher, St. Nicholas (yes, Santa Claus!), and St. George (the great martyr and dragon slayer). St. Crispin’s Day, the inspiration for Shakespeare’s legendary speech? Gone. Funny enough, after Pope John Paul II was turned away by the Orthodox abbot of the Monastery of St. Catherine, the Pope added St. Catherine of Alexandria back to the calendar.

All that is to say: Those seeking stability and tradition won’t find it in Rome, as the Roman Church is at war with itself.

If you inquire into the Roman Catholic Church, as we did in 2013, the priest will readily tell you that the Catholic Church hasn’t changed in 2,000 years, but that’s laughably false. In fact, it’s changed radically over the past 60 years!

Part of the reason the Roman Church can change so fast is because of the absolute authority of the pope of Rome. Recently, Pope Francis edited the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which dates back to 1992, to declare the death penalty immoral. That, despite thousands of years of the Roman Church supporting — and often enacting — the death penalty.

Our Roman Catholic friends chide the Orthodox Church for our lack of a central authority figure, but I would argue that it’s one of our greatest advantages. Yes, it makes high-level doctrinal decisions difficult, but it also prevents any one person, or even a determined group, from hijacking the church. Many have tried.

Unfortunately, “traditional Catholics” have no choice but to take what the pope dishes out. As Pope Pius the IX declared, “I am tradition! I am the church!” Thus, why I have no choice but to put “traditional Catholic” in quotation marks because if you defy the will of the pope, you are rebelling against your own tradition.

But we must turn now to a more disturbing truth: If one man can suddenly change a belief that is thousands of years old, was it ever true in the first place? Did the men who taught these things ever believe them? If they did, were they wrong to do so? Was the church teaching error? Is the word of Christ eternal, divine wisdom, or does Jesus need to “get with the times"?

Sadly, our Protestant friends are in no better position.

Before we continue, I must apologize to our non-Catholic and non-Orthodox friends in advance for using the term Protestant as a generic term to encompass many diverse believers, such as Baptists, the Churches of Christ, Pentecostals, etc. — some of whom don’t appreciate being called Protestant at all, particularly the Landmark Baptists.

I’ll try to be specific where I can, otherwise I hope you can forgive my generalizations for the sake of brevity.

Protestantism: A house built on sand

Protestantism, from the very start, was built on a foundation of sand.

The effective thesis of Protestantism is that the church fell to corruption at some point: either immediately after the ascent of Christ, during the reign of Constantine the Great, or at some later point. Regardless, the claim is the same: The church that Christ established somehow failed and therefore Christ lied when he said that the gates of hell would not prevail against it.

Furthermore, many Protestants insist that holy scripture is all that is needed for religious instruction, with no interpreter required — what they call "sola scriptura." However, the idea of sola scriptura is bankrupt. If sola scriptura were true, and scripture were so easy to understand outside of the church, why do so many Protestant denominations draw wildly different conclusions?

No one reads scripture without an interpreter, whether that’s holy tradition, a commentary, or a Sunday morning preacher. Chances are, you read the Bible in English and not in its original language, and anyone multilingual knows that a translation is itself an interpretation, as many foreign words do not neatly translate into English. For instance, the Greek language acknowledges many different forms of love. You hopefully love your spouse (eros) in a different way than you love your children (storge).

Our KJV-only friends understand this all too well, as many newer English versions feature radically different translation choices, or omit entire verses.

If you are willing to compromise on your church’s beliefs for worldly reasons, you never truly believed them in the first place.

This again illustrates why holy scripture — as precious as it is — cannot be the sole foundation for one’s faith. Holy scripture must be interpreted through the accumulated wisdom of Christ’s church, through the apostles, the councils, and great saints that we call the holy fathers. Many of the issues hotly debated today in the Protestant world were settled long ago in the church.

And this very much matters because as much as the Roman Catholics have changed doctrine over the past few years, many of our Protestant friends have radically overhauled everything including their preferred Bible translations, their music and worship style, and essential social teachings, such as those on abortion, gender roles, and the sanctity of marriage.

Our Protestant friends have the same problem as our Roman Catholic friends: If your beliefs change so easily to suit the world, did you ever believe them?

In fact, Anglican convert Ben Christenson basically said so to the Post: “All of that stuff was basically fungible, which gave me a sense that the theological commitments are kind of fungible, too.”

To be fair, the Anglicans have been much more fungible than other denominations.

Here’s a simple but unpleasant truth: If you are willing to compromise on your church’s beliefs for worldly reasons, you never truly believed them in the first place.

To shrug your shoulders and give up on fundamental Christian belief is a slap in the face to the thousands of Christian confessors and martyrs who suffered persecution under the Romans, the iconoclasts, the Ottomans, and the Soviets. Read a Synaxarion (a collection of the lives of Orthodox Saints), and you’ll read horror story after horror story of Christians who refused to compromise, even when faced with being mauled by animals, dismembered, mutilated, raped, set on fire, and all manner of horrors unimaginable to the American mind.

It is a shame that many of our Protestant friends have largely rejected the stories of the saints. Every time I read them, I’m inspired by their courageous faith, something we desperately need in this age.

Orthodoxy: An immutable truth

I recently asked Grok — Elon Musk’s freewheeling AI — to roast the Orthodox Church, and the result was funny but also true.

Even my priest chuckled at this:

The Orthodox Church – where tradition isn't just a suggestion, it's the whole damn rulebook. Here, change isn't just resisted; it's actively hunted down like it's the last heretic in Byzantium. Imagine a place where the liturgy hasn't had a facelift since the time monks were the original hipsters with their beards and robes.

Come visit an Orthodox Church any given Sunday, and you’ll witness the Divine Liturgy written by St. John Chrysostom in the 4th and 5th centuries. The one exception is during the season of Great Lent, when we celebrate the even-older Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great. And that has largely been the case since the reign of Justinian I.

We do not budge on the truth, even if it’s painful.

There are no surprise rants, spontaneous guitar solos, or random ukuleles. The priest will not show up in a football jersey or attempt to re-enact a "Marvel" movie. We recite the Nicene Creed, as was formulated long ago by the holy fathers, not the Sparkle Creed or some other bizarre variant.

We have a good sense of humor. We often laugh about the beards, our stubbornness, and overall incomprehensibility. But the Divine Liturgy is deadly serious. There is no tolerance for improvisation or irreverence. It is the beating heart of the church and the center of our Christian lives. Every Sunday, we welcome the Lord into our spiritual home and our very bodies. The Divine Liturgy is the very glue holding the world together. It is not a joke or a game.

We do not budge on the truth, even if it’s painful. If you challenge us on our teachings on abortion, female clergy, gay marriage, or any number of controversial stances, there is no argument to be had, even if we sometimes struggle with the church’s teachings ourselves. Those matters were settled long ago in holy scripture, through the collective teachings of the holy fathers, and the church’s seven ecumenical councils, which decided everything from the nature of God to the proper role of iconography. These issues have been thoroughly examined, debated, and settled.

The challenge for us as Orthodox Christians is to learn to accept and understand them.

While we stand firmly for the truth, we do not make a point of beating others over the head with it as many so-called fundamentalists do. We are far too busy repenting for our own sins or at least should be. As Christ asked, “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?”

Every Sunday at liturgy, just before we partake of the holy Eucharist, the congregation prays: “I believe, O Lord, and I confess that Thou art truly the Christ, the Son of the living God, Who didst come into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”

I, chief among sinners and a new convert to the Orthodox faith, am no theologian. I don’t expect my worldly reasoning or historical trivia to persuade you. Instead, I would encourage you to come and see.

If you want to know why young men are joining the Orthodox Church, join us for a Divine Liturgy some Sunday morning, and perhaps you will understand.

God keeps his promise: Jeremiah's prophecy comes to life



There are different titles to give the son God promised to send for our salvation. He’s the son of Abraham, the son of David, the serpent-crusher, the prince of peace, the anointed one, the stone that would be rejected, the good and faithful shepherd, and the list could keep expanding.

Each of these notions is based on Old Testament expectations about what the promised deliverer would do and who he would be.

In Genesis 3:15, God plants the promise of a future son who will be victorious through suffering.

Have you ever reflected on the promise in Jeremiah 23:5 and the title used there? God said, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”

We need to make several observations here. First, “I will raise up for David” is a callback to God’s covenant with David, which is found in 2 Samuel 7:12-13. In those verses, God promised a future descendant who would occupy the Davidic throne.

“When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Samuel 7:12-13).

God’s act “for David” (Jeremiah 23:5) is a promise-keeping act. God had formed a covenant, and he would fulfill what he said he would do “for David.”

Second, the Davidic descendant would “reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land” (Jeremiah 23:5). The world needs righteousness. Who will bring the righteousness that this world needs? The Davidic king.

Other prophetic statements confirm that David’s descendant will rule in righteousness. In Isaiah 9, the prophet says that the promised son would establish and uphold peace “with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore” (Isaiah 9:7).

The promised figure in Jeremiah 23 was not someone different from the person in Isaiah 9. Rather, both chapters spoke of the same future Davidic descendant who would bring justice and righteousness to God’s world.

Third, the image used for the Davidic king is a branch. Notice that the Lord says, “I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king” (Jeremiah 23:5).

A branch grows from something that is planted. According to the metaphor, the Davidic king is a messianic branch, something that grew from a Davidic family tree. This connection with a “branch” and David’s family is confirmed in Isaiah 11, where the prophet says, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit” (Isaiah 11:1).

According to Isaiah 11:2, this “shoot” or “branch” is a “him,” and in 11:4-5, this future figure shall act with “righteousness.” This is the same promised son in Isaiah 9 and Jeremiah 23.

In Genesis 3:15, God plants the promise of a future son who will be victorious through suffering. And across the Old Testament, that promise grows. Jesus is the branch emerging from the messianic hope that grows not only through the Old Testament but through David’s family in particular.

Jesus was born because God was keeping his covenant promise to “raise up for David a righteous Branch” (Jeremiah 23:5).

This essay was originally published at Dr. Mitchell Chase's Substack, "Biblical Theology."

The Proverbs 31 woman today: How women can thrive in their calling



“The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.”

This famous quote from the English poet William Wallace rings true, but can women rock the cradle while simultaneously typing on a laptop? How can we do both?

The debate on whether or not women should work or be stay-at-home mothers seems like a lose-lose situation.

Motherhood is one of life’s greatest gifts and gravest responsibilities. Between working, parenting, cooking, and cleaning, mothers feel the full weight of parenthood in the ups and downs.

Over the last several years, the “trad wife” trend emerged as the antithesis to the working career mom that feminism shoved down women’s throats. “Trad” is short for traditional. Simply put, it means women who take on the traditional role of motherhood in things like cooking, staying home, raising children, and living out the conventional gender roles.

Since the rise of feminism, society has told women that “you don’t need no man,” and your career is far more important than raising children and homemaking. But like most things in life, human nature tends to swing from one extreme to another, and now women feel like they’re boxed in a corner with only two options: career or motherhood.

But they’re not mutually exclusive.

When I was a little girl, I dreamed of being a stay-at-home mom. I bottle fed my baby dolls. I played “house.” I cooked food in my “kitchen” outside. And, even from a young age, I wanted to homeschool my future kids.

You could say I was a “trad wife” in waiting — well, minus the hobby farm.

I never imagined I would get married at nearly 30 and have children later down the road. I spent a portion of my 20’s living and working in the political belly of the beast: Washington, D.C. I related to the career-only women who wanted nothing to do with children or marriage. Ironically, my “career” and the skills I gained in D.C. led me to South Dakota where I met my husband, started a family, and ultimately planted roots.

The debate on whether women should work or be stay-at-home mothers seems like a lose-lose situation. And when we look at the ideal, biblical mother through the lens of scripture, there’s a key piece of information we often miss.

From the very beginning of time and before sin entered the world, God tasked Adam with the garden to “work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). Since women are helpers and co-workers (Genesis 2:18), we too are called to work. In Colossians 3:23, Paul exhorts believers to work, saying, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.”

With our work, we are commanded to prioritize our families and homes, as Titus 2:5 lays out for ladies — be “workers at home.” Work doesn’t merely equal a job outside the home because managing a house is full-time work.

The biblical world didn’t have laptops and remote work or 9-5 job options — but God lays out principles for us as we live and work.

When we think of the epitome of a godly woman who works, we often look to Proverbs 31. Admittedly, reading this chapter can make any woman feel inadequate. Who is this superwoman?

No one truly “has it all,” but the Proverbs 31 lady certainly seems to be the complete package. She sounds perfect. She runs businesses; she cooks; she feeds the poor; she makes clothes; she wakes up early and goes to bed late (a true superpower); she “looks well to the ways of her household;” she worships the Lord; she laughs at time to come; she works out; she manages finances; she’s hospitable; she’s wise; she’s kind; she “works willingly with her hands.”

The list goes on.

This woman sounds like Martha Stewart meets Elon Musk meets the Ballerina Farm woman, Hannah Neeleman. What doesn’t she do?

But that’s not the intent here.

Interestingly enough, Old Testament scholars have noted that the present-tense verbs in Proverbs 31 function to convey past tense or whole actions, so she isn't doing all of the things listed at the same time. This chapter displays the Proverbs 31 woman’s resume of past experience, not her current job description. King Lemuel’s mother, the author of Proverbs 31, instructs her son on the kind of woman he should marry — someone who works hard and serves the Lord with excellence. She doesn’t list a specific woman and then exaggerates her countless abilities. Not at all.

To aspiring mothers

During my early single years, I felt like if I had a “career” it would send a signal to potential guys that I’m not interested in having a family. I believed the lie that pursuing a full-time career was somehow distancing myself from that life because it might appear I was prioritizing work over having a future family.

However, pursuing what God called me to do by working hard, learning new skills, pouring myself into my church and community, and striving to refine my character paved the way for me to meet my husband and use my God-given gifts within motherhood.

The habits we build, the skills we hone, and the person we become is who we’ll be in marriage. Pining away for a guy and living a couch potato life is far from what God intended for us. If being a stay-at-home mother one day is a priority, then working hard and learning as much as possible in singleness will equip us for excellence in marriage and motherhood. There are so many transferable skills — like time management, handling money, and more.

Before marriage and family comes along, I’m of the opinion that every woman should have some way to earn a living.

To mothers who stay home full-time

In contrast to the above, there should be no pressure to have a full-time “career” in a different season of life.

Choosing to stay home full-time and raise children and educate them (which has become a popular option for a lot of mothers) is worthy and noble. My mother stayed at home full-time with me and my siblings, and so did my mother-in-law and most of the mothers I grew up around.

For those who have done this well, it’s no walk in the park. Managing a house, educating children, and all of the in-between things can be more exhausting than going to work full-time. But if this is what we choose to do, we should strive to do it with utmost excellence, using every skill and gift we have and applying it to the home.

A lot of full-time stay-at-home moms I know even like to dabble with side hustles like tutoring, teaching piano, blogging, and other things to use their skills to make some side money.

God has given us a mandate in 1 Peter 4:10-11 that says, "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms."

So as mothers, we’re called to work using our talents and giftings whether that’s full-time mothering and/or home-educating. Master cooking. Be the expert on educating. Work hard at setting a peaceful tone in the house.

The principle is this: We must strive to honor the Lord in every kind of work he’s called us to do faithfully and excellently like the Proverbs 31 woman.

No matter what, we shouldn’t half-heartedly tackle our calling. We should strive to be masters of it.

To mothers who work full-time

None of us should feel guilty about working full-time outside the home either. Our primary calling is to build strong character and gain skill sets with the gifts God’s given us — building our own version of a Proverbs 31 resume.

Working a job should never be prioritized above our family, though. There are situations where a mother working full-time outside the home is in fact the best way to serve their family as long as she keeps her priorities straight and is candid with herself about her motivations.

When we put our career on a pedestal and stake our identities in it, that’s when we need to reorder our priorities.

The Proverbs 31 woman has jobs and ran businesses and “out of her earnings she plants a vineyard” (verse 16). She finds another way to invest her profits. We don’t know whether the Proverbs 31 woman was running a business while feeding three under three (highly doubtful), but it really doesn’t matter. The point is that whatever we do, we must do it well and honor God with our work. In verse 13, it says she “works with eager hands.” As mothers, we should be working with a willing spirit as God has instructed us.

Whether we’re aspiring mothers, stay-at-home moms, or working full-time while juggling kids, our highest calling is to honor and glorify God, using the gifts He’s given us to serve and work for the good of others and his kingdom.