what about Advent?

Someone asks what Advent means in the Christian calendar, where it is found in the Bible, and whether Christians ought to observe it.

Isaiah, Luke and us

Can you think of a book with two major divisions and 66 smaller parts? The first division contains 39 parts and the second has 27. The second division begins with "a voice in the wilderness" and ends with "new heavens and earth." In the middle it tells of an innocent man who dies for the sins of others.

salvation history renewed

The Bible relates the story of God's activities in human space and time, by which he intends to rescue very many people from judgment, death and all the consequences of human sin. . . . This salvation history is both earthly and heavenly -- it happens on earth, but with heavenly power and with a heavenly goal.

three angelic announcements

Dr. Luke was a practicing physician, a prudent man -- and his Christmas story is sober truth. It is sobering truth as well. For it says that approximately 2,000 years ago, on days that were otherwise inconspicuous, in an obscure sliver of the globe three angelic visitations occurred.

blessed virgin Mary

She could have said "no," you understand. It was a sacrifice unheard of -- a call to trust and submission unprecedented in human history. . . . But Mary is full of faith. "Behold, the bondslave of the LORD," she replies. "Be it done to me according to your word."

Matthew's genealogy of Jesus

Matthew begins his Gospel with a selective list of Jesus' ancestors that both omits from and adds to the official records in First Chronicles 1-3. His intent is not to recite a detailed family tree but to make three points about Jesus.