December 20, 2025
Who’s That Guy?
Chad Broaddus tells us about reading the Christmas story with his family and how Quirinius reminds him of the authenticity of Jesus' birth.
Articles for tag: Roman Empire
April 1, 2021
The Roman Centurion:
Caught Between Kingdoms
The Words of the Roman Centurion When He Came Face-to-Face with the True Son of God Still Resonate His retirement drew near. He’d been serving Rome faithfully for 23 years. Now 43, he was ready to hang up his helmet. His decision to enlist with the Roman military had been a practical one. As a poor man’s son, he knew he needed a stable source of food and shelter. He often wondered what life might have been like had he chosen a different profession.* Had he been a farmer or fisherman, perhaps his closest friends would still be alive. Perhaps
November 2, 2020
The Spectacle of the Cross
By Stuart Powell The first-century Romans knew how to create spectacles. In the theater, stories from Roman history were glamorized to build legends. In their military parades, known as the “Republican triumphs,” the spoils of Rome’s conquests were prominently displayed. Even when carrying out executions, the Romans attempted to draw the attention of the crowds by putting the condemned on display as graphic examples of the consequences of rebelling against Rome. The intention of crucifixion was to create a spectacle by causing the one convicted to suffer in a visually striking way for their crimes against the empire. In Jerusalem,
February 25, 2016
Theology in the Public Square
By T. R. Robertson Polarization. Insults. Railing against wrong. The apostle Peter showed approaches better than these for Christian response to injustice in government and society. A once great nation is in the throes of transition from a democratic republic to a de facto dictatorship. A neophyte has been given the reigns of power, to which some critics maintain he has no birthright. The gap between the super rich and the middle class is widening. People from other countries covet the benefits of citizenship, yet the nation”s reputation among the rest of the world is declining. Christians find themselves increasingly
April 22, 2015
World on Trial
By Jim Tune Henri Nouwen tells about a doctor in Paraguay who spoke out against the oppressive tyranny of the government. The local police took revenge against him by arresting his teenage son and torturing the boy to death. It was a brutal and senseless murder. The boy”s courageous father responded with the most powerful protest imaginable. At the funeral, the father did not have his son”s body cleaned up and embalmed. Instead, he displayed it as he found it in the jail: naked, scarred, twisted, with open wounds from the beatings and burns from cigarette butts. All the villagers
February 14, 2014
Valentine Love
By Tom Claibourne Legends abound regarding the origin of Valentine”s Day and the namesake for the holiday. At least three different Saint Valentines, all of them martyrs, are mentioned in the early martyrologies associated with February 14. The best-known account features a Roman priest who was martyred during the reign of Emperor Claudius for refusing to renounce his faith and for defying an edict issued by the emperor. The Roman Empire under Claudius was involved in many bloody, unpopular military campaigns. As a result, it became increasingly difficult to recruit soldiers. The emperor reasoned that the Roman men did
February 25, 2013
Lesson for March 3, 2013: Daniel’s Vision of Change (Daniel 7)
This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. ______ By Sam E. Stone The genuineness of the prophetic message of Daniel was sanctioned by Jesus Christ himself (Matthew 24:15). Edward J. Young points out, however, “Daniel was not a prophet in a restricted, technical sense. He was rather a statesman at the court of heathen monarchs . . . inspired of God to write his book.” Daniel was one of the prominent Jews taken from Jerusalem to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar when Israel was conquered (Daniel 12:1-7). These young
