One of the interesting things in Eusebius concerns the genealogies of Jesus. While modern scholars often argue that one genealogy is for Joseph (our Lord’s legal line through adoption), while the other is Mary’s genealogy, (showing our Lord’s biological descent). Eusebius, however, citing a letter from an earlier scholar named Julius Africanus (c. 160-240 AD), whom Eusebius considers to be “no ordinary historian,” makes the case that both genealogies are for Joseph.

 “Lutherans continued to use the five ancient liturgical colors as well as the liturgical vestments in the service and for sacramental acts; this usage lasted amazingly long, partly up to the brink of the nineteenth century…

With District Convention season largely behind us, and with our 2026 LCMS National Convention looming ahead, those who weary of our internal disputes might find some historical perspective from Ramsay MacMullen’s Voting About God in Early Church Councils (2006). MacMullen (1928-2022) served as a history professor at Yale. The American Historical Association awarded him for his great contributions to scholarship and called him “the greatest historian of the Roman Empire alive today." His special areas of interest involved the social history of the Roman world, in particular the transition from paganism to Christianity.