It is impossible to separate Christianity from the Roman context in which it developed and spread. Some of the influences the Roman Empire had on Christianity were negative, though it also strengthened the fledgling religion. In other ways, Christianity was well served by the vastness of the empire and the infrastructure it had in place. The effect of the Roman Empire on Christianity is recognizable to this day. From the Christian creeds to Papal titles, the fingerprints of the Roman Empire can be seen in Christianity.   The Roman Empire and Christian Origins The Confession of Saint Longinus, by James Tissot, between 1886 and 1894. Source: Brooklyn Museum   Jesus Christ lived and ministered less than a century after the death of Julius Caesar. At the time the Roman Empire stretched from the Middle East to Spain throughout Southern Europe and from Egypt to Mauritania in North Africa. A vast empire indeed. It was the Roman judicial power that allowed Jesus to be crucified at the hands of Roman soldiers, who also guarded the tomb where Jesus was resurrected. These two events are central to the Christian faith.   The Roman Empire was generally tolerant of other faiths, as long as they did not impede on emperor worship, a practice common throughout the Roman Empire. To people from polytheistic faiths, this posed no problem. To Christians, however, emperor worship was diametrically opposed to their monotheistic views. Christians, therefore, found themselves at odds with the Romans.   Saint Paul, on occasion, called on Rome when persecuted because of his faith. He could do so because he was a Roman citizen. This gave him the opportunity to minister in the capital of the empire before its rulers and the elites. As a Roman citizen, he could also freely traverse the Roman Empire on his missionary journeys which may have seen him travel as far West as Spain. Well-established Roman infrastructure in terms of road networks and merchant shipping would have made traveling to remote parts of the empire much easier. In this way, the gospel message was indirectly served by the Empire.   Marble bust of Roman Emperor Diocletian, 17th century, on display at Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, France. Source: Wikimedia Commons   However, before long, the Roman persecution began, declaring Christianity illegal and utilizing a variety of tactics to force pagan converts to revert back to traditional Roman religion. Nero, for instance, led a persecution in which many early Christians were martyred. He executed both Paul and Peter and conducted indiscriminate slaughter of Roman Christians. They were scapegoated and blamed for the fire that destroyed much of Rome in 64 CE. Persecutions also continued sporadically on a local level, throughout the reign of Domitian 81-96 CE.   Later there emerged a series of empire-wide persecutions beginning with Emperor Decius, in 250 CE. Among other things, Christians were ordered to sacrifice to the gods. The persecution only ended when the empire itself faced the prospect of collapse.   The next and worst persecution of all was under Diocletian. During his reign, Christian churches were destroyed, Christian scriptures were burnt, clergy were imprisoned, and many were forced into performing pagan sacrificial rites. Christians were banned from holding state office positions and some who previously had were sent into exile.   The persecution had a similar effect to the Reformation persecutions many centuries later. It galvanized the faith of Christians and served as a witness to those who observed the faith of Christians being punished or executed.   Refining the Faith Emperor Constantine IX, mosaic in the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul Turkey. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Persecution was a significant force in strengthening the Catholic Church. It became apparent to early Christians that their faith was worth dying for and many Christians were called upon to defend their faith.   Initially, there was much diversity in Christian beliefs, as the apostles and missionaries spread Christianity throughout the world. However, the prospect of martyrdom forced Christians to solidify their beliefs. If Christians were going to die for their faith, it was essential to know exactly what they believed. It was under persecution that the early Christian creeds began to take shape because it was important that unity be maintained.   The Apostles’ Creed was based on the teachings of the apostles in the New Testament, and it lists the precise Christian beliefs. The need for statements of faith later gave rise to many councils where the church could develop creeds defining the core Christian beliefs. These creeds served to separate authentic Christian beliefs from those of cults and heresies. They were fundamental to the development of orthodoxy and unity within the Christian faith.   From Acceptance to State Religion The chi rho letters, photo by Jebulon, 4th century CE. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Constantine the Great was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity (though some scholars doubt whether his conversion was true). He supposedly did this after seeing a vision just before the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 CE. In this vision, he saw a cross in the sky with the words “IN THIS SIGN CONQUER.” After he became emperor, Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in 313 CE, which accepted Christianity along with all other religions. In 330 CE, Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to its new seat in the East, Byzantium (later named Constantinople and today known as Istanbul, located in Turkey).   The decision to call the First Council of Nicaea in 325 CE, was a result of Constantine’s desire to have a unified Christian faith to help support his authority, not a result of Constantine’s own conversion. Nevertheless, it helped establish consensus on some aspects of the Christian faith. Only with the reign of Theodosius I from 379-395 CE did Christianity become the official state religion.   Vision of the Cross, by Raphael, 1520, the Vatican. Source: WGA   This change did not come without compromise. Christians had faced internal pressures to change certain aspects of their religion to fit better with Roman culture for more than a century before becoming the official state religion. Accommodations made included the introduction of a hierarchical leadership structure, a shift in the religion’s focus from symbolic acts to ritual acts, and a reinterpretation of the “love feast” (agape) into the “Eucharist” as the central ritual act of Christianity.   With the favor of various emperors and a new freedom from persecution, Christian leaders could quickly adapt Christianity to contemporary Roman cultural norms while capitalizing on the religion’s newfound ability to openly compete with alternative faiths. Staunch opponents of the Roman Catholic Church go as far as to call these compromises “baptized paganism,” claiming pagan feasts, statues, and rituals were reassigned “Christian” names and significance. They allege that these pagan themes thus entered Christianity.   From State to Church Council of Nicaea 325, fresco in Salone Sistino, Vatican, 1560. Source: Incompleteness   Most scholars agree that Papal dominance in Rome happened gradually. According to the Donation of Constantine, a document many scholars believe to be a forgery from the 8th century, the emperor gave charge of Rome to the papacy in the 4th century CE. Whether this claim is true or not, it is evident that the papacy rose in prominence and power after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.   Many writers and historians have attested to this fact:   “Out of the ruins of the Roman Empire there gradually arose a new order of state whose central point was the Papal See.” The Church and Churches, p. 42, 43. “And if a man considers the original of this great ecclesiastical dominion, he will easily perceive that the papacy is no other than the ghost of the deceased Roman Empire, sitting crowned upon the grave thereof: for so did the papacy start up on a sudden out of the ruins of that heathen power.”  Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, p. 436. “While this Christian Church, little by little, was emerging from the general dissolution of the Roman Empire, there also emerged gradually at its head a new figure, the Pope.” Coulton, Medieval Panorama, p. 20.   Saint Peter, depicted as the first pope, Catalan, before 1348. Source: The MET, New York   Since the popes claim lineage from Peter, who was martyred in Rome, it follows that they would prefer their seat to be located in that city, where the Vatican is to this day (although there have been times of turmoil in and outside of the Roman Catholic hierarchy when the pope resided Viterbo, Orvieto, Perugia, and Avignon).   The transition from the Imperial Roman Empire to Papal State is evident from the transfer of certain titles the Roman Emperor had, which were given to the pope — such as “Pontifex Maximus,” from which the term Pontiff arose. Pontifex Maximus means “greatest pontiff,” the title of the head of the College of Priests in the ancient Roman religion. Today, it is the title of the pope.   Roman Empire & Christianity: Conclusion St Peter’s Cathedral, Vatican City, note PONT.MAX written on the façade, short for Pontifex Maximus. Source: Pixabay   It would be impossible to comprehensively address the origins of Christianity without taking note of the influence the Roman Empire had on it. Some influences were negative, such as the persecution of Christians, though even these had a positive result. Having some Christians martyred for their faith, galvanized the faith of others, and caused Christianity to work toward establishing confessions of faith. These creeds helped differentiate between orthodoxy, heresy, and cult.   The Roman Empire provided the environment in which Christianity could move from persecution to recognition as the official State religion. Its vast empire and infrastructure also facilitated the quick spread of the Christian faith. Several scholars and historians see a continuation of the Roman Empire in the Roman Catholic Church, claiming the latter is a later, yet very different iteration of the former.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he wants to clean house in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) when President Trump takes office. In some cases, he wants to remove entire departments from the federal agency. The former presidential candidate said some departments, such as nutrition, “have to go” because they’re not “doing their job” to protect children. “I can get the corruption out of the agencies,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been doing for 40 years. I’ve sued all those agencies. I have a Ph.D. in corporate corruption,” he added. WATCH: BREAKING: RFK Jr. just vowed to remove entire departments of the FDA! This is what I’m talking about! pic.twitter.com/sR0sYxM6YF — Gunther Eagleman (@GuntherEagleman) November 6, 2024 “FDA’s war on public health is about to end. This includes its aggressive suppression of psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, hyperbaric therapies, chelating compounds, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins, clean foods, sunshine, exercise, nutraceuticals and anything else that advances human health and can’t be patented by Pharma,” RFK Jr. said in October. “If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. Preserve your records, and 2. Pack your bags,” he added. FDA’s war on public health is about to end. This includes its aggressive suppression of psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, hyperbaric therapies, chelating compounds, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins, clean foods, sunshine, exercise, nutraceuticals and anything… — Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) October 25, 2024 Fortune reports: The Food and Drug Administration has been around since 1906, though under different names at times before officially becoming the FDA in 1930. Recently, Kennedy said Trump has asked him to do three things: First, “clean up the corruption in our government health agencies”; second, “return those agencies to their rich tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science”; and third, “Make America Healthy Again by ending the chronic disease epidemic.” Apparently that means potentially removing fluoride from water, banning pharmaceutical advertising, and getting toxins out of foods, if Kennedy has his way. President Trump has asked me to do three things: 1. Clean up the corruption in our government health agencies. 2. Return those agencies to their rich tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science. 3. Make America Healthy Again by ending the chronic disease epidemic. pic.twitter.com/WHMOsD0CiI — Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) November 6, 2024 WATCH: RFK has the opportunity to make a difference in America… God bless himRFK Jr. vows to clear out entire departments at FDAFox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel joined 'Fox & Friends' to discuss what RFK Jr.'s efforts would look like as he vows to make America healthy… pic.twitter.com/y0kfWKA3gj — Camus (@newstart_2024) November 8, 2024 From The Hill: Kennedy endorsed President-elect Trump in August after initially running as a Democratic candidate for president, and then as an independent. Trump’s win in the presidential race sets Kennedy up as a winner himself, who is likely to play some kind of role in health care for the Trump administration. Kennedy last week said Trump assured him he would get a role in The White House if he won the presidential election. “We don’t know what I’m going to do. I talked to the president about it yesterday, and he asked me what I wanted, and I said, we’re developing a proposal now,” Kennedy said during a separate interview with Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum, who asked if Kennedy is getting the job of Health and Human Services secretary. That job would require Senate confirmation. Republicans appear likely to have a majority in the Senate of at least 52 seats, but it is unclear how easy it would be to get Kennedy confirmed. There has been plenty of speculation that Kennedy would serve in a role that does not require Senate confirmation. Howard Lutnick, the co-chair of Trump’s transition team, recently said Kennedy is “not getting a job” as HHS leader.

Both C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien are towering figures of mid-20th-century literature whose legacy on pop culture—and on discourse around the “Christian imagination”—is felt powerfully today. But neither author would’ve become who he was without the influence of the other. Their decades-long friendship unfolded in college rooms, pubs, and garden paths in Oxford—but its ripple effects have been felt around the world, for over half a century. On one level, these were just two tweedy blokes who geeked out over Norse mythology while sipping pints at The Eagle and Child. But history has shown their friendship was hugely consequential for the faith, art-making, and amusement of scores worldwide. Lewis and Tolkien’s decades-long friendship unfolded in college rooms, pubs, and garden paths in Oxford—but its ripple effects have been felt around the world, for over a half century. The Lewis-Tolkien relationship has been told in many books before, but never like it is in The Mythmakers, a just-released graphic novel by the acclaimed illustrator John Hendrix (who’s a believer). Geared toward young-adult audiences but rewarding for older readers too, The Mythmakers combines artistic whimsy, theological reflection, and flourishes of Sehnsucht in a way that feels totally appropriate for a book on the Lewis-Tolkien story. In a real sense, the medium is the message of this book. I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the Inklings or a general desire to think more Christianly about art and the creative community. I recently chatted with Hendrix about his inspiration and process for The Mythmakers, what most surprised him in the research, and what the church can learn about Christian art-making from Lewis and Tolkien. Where did you first get inspired to tell Lewis and Tolkien’s friendship story? What most people need to know about this book is that it’s basically fan art. At the core, I just owe so much to these two men and their works, and the permission it gave me as a young person to not just take my imagination seriously, but also my faith really seriously too. The book is about an exploration of their dual biography, but it’s using their friendship story as a lens to ask some larger questions about storytelling and fairy and the history of myth in general. © 2024 John Hendrix Do you remember how old you were when you first encountered Lewis and Tolkien? For both of them, I have very vivid young memories. Someone gave me an illustrated copy of The Hobbit. It had a very vivid drawing of Smaug on the cover, and I carried it around, even after I had finished the book, like it was a Bible. I would travel with it, and it was very important to me, the illustrations particularly. Then I read Narnia. I think I had even read them out of order initially. I did not really clock the allegory, at least in terms of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. They were just great stories—portal fantasy to me. Then later, I’m like, “OK, I see what he’s doing there.” What did the research look like? Was it hard to get to a point where you felt comfortable telling the story with accuracy and fidelity to what actually transpired? It is such an act of humility to try this at all. David French said this thing recently, and I’ve been thinking about it: humility should be indexed to complexity. The more complex something gets, the more humble your mindset should be. And this is what happens anytime I learn about anything. I think I know the most at the beginning, and then the more I read—somehow—the less I feel like I know. I read a lot of books. I went to Oxford. I drew all night at The Kilns, and I tried to just load my brain up with as much as possible. But, for me, the real act is stepping away and asking, “What is the metatext? What is the metanarrative?” And then finding ways to cite that idea throughout the book in a form that a Young Adult (YA) audience can really understand and maybe internalize. That’s the goal for me. © 2024 John Hendrix Do you illustrate simultaneously with the research, or do you research on the front end before you even illustrate? How does that process work for you? I start the book with images that I really want to make, and then I write a little bit. And then writing is honestly so abstract for me that it is really hard for me to write without the imagery alongside it. The framing device in this book of a lion and wizard came along because I’m making a graphic novel about the Inklings, and most of what they do is sit around and talk. You can’t have 300 pages of that. I needed a narrative frame that allowed us to go on some of the adventures, and that allowed young readers to latch on to these ideas. The lion and wizard framing developed very early on out of a drawing, and that gave me a place to write from. I’m making a graphic novel about the Inklings, and most of what they do is sit around and talk. You can’t have 300 pages of that. For Tolkien, I considered maybe king or elf, but wizard seemed to fit his personality too. And lion fits Lewis so well, because he was such a boisterous, big personality. I have to test everything out, and in this case, when I started writing with that framing, it worked. It was one of those things where I’m like, “Oh, this is happening.” And then it was a matter of convincing my editor this was the right choice. Was there anything in the research about Lewis and Tolkien that came as a surprise to you? I had known the basic beats of their story together. But I think the depth of their estrangement and the pain they felt from that was really heavy. I really remember thinking, What does this do to this story? And ultimately, I realized it was so necessary to tell the tale. In some ways, it made it more poignant, and it pointed toward the ending of the story, where I give them a chance to recapitulate the losses we all feel on this earth before we enter the new creation. I’ve heard from several readers who had to put the book down when they got to that because it was such a bummer, but I do think it offers us lessons about friendship and fellowship and creative community. Consider any friendship you’ve had in the last 30 years. We all change. How do you support one another as you change? How do you not grow bitter or jealous—or the thing that happens in old age where your ideas start to calcify and you’re less flexible? © 2024 John Hendrix The book is about how important relationships are for forming our creative imagination and process. So I’m curious about you as a creator: What does this look like for you? Do you have any long-term relationships with fellow creatives who really spur you on? I tell my students that our work always gets better in community. And for some reason the world tends to tell artists the opposite, right? The book is dedicated to two of my friends at Washington University: Abram Van Engen and John Inazu—both professors and people that I trust—that have now been in my life for over 10 years, and I hope are here long after that time. To have a collaborative community—especially people who share your faith and share your aims for what your work can do in the world—is so valuable. All three of us had books come out this year, and I was able to illustrate both Abram’s and Inazu’s books. It was a really sweet celebration of collaborative and shared mission. I don’t think everyone has that, and maybe not everyone has it for every season of their life, because I certainly couldn’t have said that 15 years ago. But when we come into these moments of creative community and collaboration, it’s really wonderful. A half century later, we’re still pointing to Lewis and Tolkien as some of the best examples of Christian art-making. What can Christian institutions, churches, and communities do to create fertile soil for the next Lewis or Tolkien to emerge? What can we do better as the church to inspire creative excellence? It’s such a good question. First, you have to have the desire for artists to participate in that storytelling. If you had told me when I was 18 that I would be making a literal picture book about Jesus, that would have struck me as “Surely that cannot be good.” Because what I saw in Christian bookstores was uninteresting kitsch. It’s not that it was bad. It was boring. The church should try to support things that are weird. We should try to relax our reflex for fear. Maybe churches could regularly give out studio spaces for artists and not police what goes on there—maybe just invite in people from the community. This could be a way for the church to become a vessel where people see the church as wanting interesting things to be made, as opposed to “Let’s have you sign this faith statement before we let you make some canvases in our basement.” There needs to be discernment, sure. But in general, fear has tended to run the show. Do you think there’s anything in Tolkien’s idea of sub-creation that Protestants can learn from? Protestants threw out all the art in the cathedrals. I get why we did that, but we are honestly still dealing with the repercussions. Lewis and Tolkien are these perfect little avatars for their little Protestant-Catholic differences. Tolkien’s world is adorned with baroque things. There are things everywhere, and he made them for the goodness of making. But I think you could actually argue that The Lord of the Rings’ Middle-earth is almost more infused with gospel ideas than Narnia, if you had to truly count them up. Protestants should be OK with the idea of myth being something that points to the deepest, truest things. We are telling certain stories over and over again for a reason, and there is a certain mystery there. © 2024 John Hendrix For a young person who’s a Christian and cares about the arts, and maybe has artistic ambition, what do you hope he or she takes away from The Mythmakers, especially regarding creativity and faith? My favorite thing inside of this research was reading some of Tolkien’s letters. It’s the thing I tell people to read if they want to really digest something of his they haven’t encountered yet. One thing that’s clear from the letters is that great art is made on a Tuesday afternoon. We look back at them as these geniuses, but they did not know they were the C. S. Lewis and the J. R. R. Tolkien. They were two guys who were meeting in between curriculum committees. There’s this one passage I cited in the author’s note where Tolkien talks about how in the morning, he took Frodo and Sam to the gates of Mordor. In the afternoon, he cleaned the chicken coops and worked on the plumbing. He was Tolkien, but he was plumbing his own toilet. The thing he wants to do is write The Lord of the Rings, but he’s got life happening around him. Lewis and Tolkien were just extremely normal people who were not corrupted by fame or the sort of genius-tag that happens in our world today. So for young people reading this: Make your art. Be faithful to it. Find friends who can share the journey with you, and enjoy the act of creating. Tolkien’s whole idea was sub-creating. We honor God when we create like him, and that’s such a beautiful idea.

By all reports, Ray and Jani Ortlund are really nice people. Who’d have thought they had a secret vision to take over the world? Their secret is out now in the form of a book: To the Tenth Generation: God’s Heart for Your Family, Far into the Future. In it, the Ortlunds give their plan for world domination. But they don’t call for domination in a worldly way, using methods of modern kingdoms. Instead, they present a plan to reach the world for Jesus through godly families over the long haul. It’s a beautiful vision. You may be thinking, Another book about raising godly families? So what? And that’s understandable. In my quick survey from Goodreads alone, I counted 128 of them. Many are helpful and contain wise counsel. So hasn’t everything been said that needs to be said? No. This book shows us why with surprising and garden-fresh takes on God’s big picture. The Ortlunds call it “generational devotion to Christ” (ix). It’s the idea that if we raise faithful generations of godly families “unto the 10th generation,” we can see worldwide effects for the cause of Jesus. Hence the book’s title. This thought springs from Jani’s devotional reading of Deuteronomy (no less). She and Ray argue that God desires to bless individual families well beyond the typical myopic focus of two generations—parents and their children. Biblical Vision Jani, an author and conference speaker, points out after some quick, unscientific math that 10 generations would be approximately 200 years. In that time frame, taking the natural growth of their own family as an example, they’ll have 55,000 descendants—equivalent to “a city the size of Sarasota, Florida” (12). Ray, president of Renewal Ministries and a canon theologian in the Anglican Church in North America, joins his wife to pray an audacious prayer: that “the whole world will hear about Jesus through [their] family.” They go on to say, “We’re not asking God for an ideal family. . . . We’re just asking him for a saved family” (13, emphasis original). What a refreshing take on family and missions. It’s nothing new; family and missions have long been rooted in God’s plan to bless the peoples of the world throughout biblical history. Yet it’s a countercultural perspective. And it’s a selfless perspective. I’ve never thought much past five generations: grandparents, parents, my generation, children, and grandchildren. But the expansive view of 10 generations is a call to serve those you’ll never meet: for example, your great-great-grandchildren. This big vision is captivating. Yet the authors make few promises about what will happen. I approached this book with some trepidation. Books on child-rearing remind me of diet books: promises of success, strict regimens, and dramatic anecdotes, but in the end? Mixed results. In contrast, the Ortlunds’ recommendations for child-rearing are the ordinary means of grace and godly wisdom, bounded by Scripture. Consistent Vision A few things set this book apart and put it at the top of my child-rearing book list. The Ortlunds’ recommendations for child-rearing are the ordinary means of grace and godly wisdom, bounded by Scripture. The book is an easy read. It’s peppered with pithy quotes from others (beyond the obligatory quotes from C. S. Lewis). But some of the most memorable lines come from the authors. For example, they write, “Nominal Christianity would be a curse to our children. But a real, rugged faith in Christ is a blessing to our children” (150). Amen to that. Much of what’s good in this book is expected, but it’s presented with captivating sparkle. They include a chapter on the importance of a strong marriage, for example. Yet such calls bear repeating in our day. And though the book advocates a big-picture view of family, it’s also chock-full of down-to-earth, practical ideas for raising a godly family. Comments from their grown children give credibility to their advice—the Ortlunds practiced what they preach. Unique Vision Unlike many Christian books on parenting that focus only on the nuclear family, the Ortlunds include wisdom about making church central to child-rearing. It’s beyond a mere “go to church.” They provide clear help on what kind of church you should attend: a humble, gospel-centered, healthy church that feels like family. They offer advice about creating a gospel culture in the home: “A truly Christian family is one in which the gospel culture they share makes it almost feel like Jesus lives there too” (50). That requires treasuring God’s Word and treasuring one another. I often feel alone in making my way with my seven grandchildren without much published wisdom from others. Thankfully, the Ortlunds have a chapter for grandparents, and the prayers they write for a grandparent’s family are priceless. Those made it into my prayer journal. The Ortlunds offer grace and encouragement to those who feel their families are failures. This section is so good, and they write with such tenderness. I wondered why it was tucked away in the book’s second-to-last chapter, but perhaps the lesson here is to read the whole book. The book concludes with 10 biblical insights that form an expanded summary of the book. My English teacher was a stickler that “conclusions must conclude”—the Ortlunds didn’t have my English teacher. These insights contain new material, so don’t skip the conclusion because you think it’s only a summary. Renewing Vision As I read the book, I couldn’t help feeling it wasn’t for everyone. It won’t be relevant for some: The single mom struggling to get by while holding down a job and trying to raise her kids. A family with a member struggling with addiction. Or, in a more extreme example, the refugee family living in a tent who attended the church I pastored in Iraq. They offer grace and encouragement to those who feel their families are failures. Yet two things came to mind as I read. First, the Ortlunds never claim this is a book for everyone; they regularly say, in effect, “You don’t have to do it our way.” Their focus is on intact Christian families with humble parents who have an abiding faith in our risen Lord. And good for them—the world sometimes derides those who aspire to raise godly families with traditional structures. Second, throughout the book, the Ortlunds maintain a biblical vision rooted in Scripture that’s applicable, in principle, even to refugees living in tents. Does it take some contextualization? Sure, but the wisdom is relevant. To the Tenth Generation is a book for those who long to strengthen Christian families, including their own. It’s worthy of being front and center in your family library. Will their vision win the world for Jesus? Maybe. But we should never forget Psalm 110. One day, God the Father will give to his beloved Son, Jesus, the world for his footstool.

The Advent season offers unique opportunities for family and personal discipleship. So how can we prepare well? In this episode, The Gospel Coalition staff Kendra Dahl, Melissa Kruger, Jared Kennedy, and Bill Kynes share their experiences navigating the Christmas season as individuals, as families, and within church communities. They suggest resources, reflect on memorable traditions, and consider opportunities for outreach, connection, and celebration. Recommended Resources: Unto Us: 25 Advent Devotions About the Messiah Jared Kennedy, “Why Advent Is a Time to Build on Family Traditions” Melissa Kruger, “Celebrating Advent: Looking Back and Looking Forward” Jared Kennedy, “Countdown to Christmas with These 6 Resources for Advent” Jared Kennedy, “The Good News That Jesus Came for You” GoodKind Advent Blocks

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