What Jesus Really Looked Like

ARK presents a source-centered reading of the attributed narratives of Pontius Pilate, Flavius Josephus, and Publius Lentulus, set within the historical world of Judea under Tiberius Caesar and the Roman governorship of Pontius Pilate.

Across centuries of Christian conversation, art, and historical reflection, believers and researchers alike have returned to one enduring question: what did Jesus actually look like? In popular circulation, three names are frequently presented as witnesses to his appearance—Pontius Pilate, Flavius Josephus, and Publius Lentulus. When these three attributed narratives are placed side by side, they present a fascinating contrast: one is judicial and observational, one is historical and descriptive of Jesus’ public role, and one offers a vivid portrait of physical features and personal bearing.

Historical Setting: Time, Empire, and Province

To understand these accounts in context, they must be situated within the world of first-century Roman rule. Jesus’ life and ministry unfolded during the reign of Tiberius Caesar, who ruled the Roman Empire from 14 to 37 CE, and during the governorship of Pontius Pilate in Judea, commonly dated to 26–36 CE. Pilate’s name is inseparably connected to the crucifixion narratives, while Josephus, writing later in the first century, preserved one of the best-known non-Christian references to Jesus in his historical work Antiquities of the Jews. The Lentulus description, transmitted in later tradition, is the source most often cited when readers encounter a detailed visual portrait of Christ and what Jesus really looked like.

Pontius Pilate’s Attributed Narrative to Tiberius Caesar

In the narrative attributed to Pilate and commonly circulated as the Letter of Pilate to Tiberius, Jesus is presented in the setting of Roman administration and inquiry. The text is framed as an official-style communication and includes Pilate’s reflections on Jesus’ character, conduct, and unusual presence. In the version of this tradition widely circulated in Christian discussion, Pilate is also said to describe Jesus’ appearance in striking language, writing, “His golden colored hair and beard gave to his appearance a celestial aspect.” The same narrative portrays Jesus as appearing to be around thirty years of age and speaks of a countenance marked by sweetness and serenity. Within this attributed Pilate account, the emphasis is not only on judicial events but also on the impression Jesus made on those who encountered him, including the sense that his appearance carried an uncommon dignity.

TO TIBERIUS CAESAR:

A young man appeared in Galilee preaching with humble unction, a new law in the Name of the God that had sent Him. At first I was apprehensive that His design was to stir up the people against the Romans, but my fears were soon dispelled. Jesus of Nazareth spoke rather as a friend of the Romans than of the Jews. One day I observed in the midst of a group of people a young man who was leaning against a tree, calmly addressing the multitude. I was told it was Jesus. This I could easily have suspected so great was the difference between Him and those who were listening to Him. His golden colored hair and beard gave to his appearance a celestial aspect. He appeared to be about 30 years of age.

Never have I seen a sweeter or more serene countenance. What a contrast between Him and His bearers with their black beards and tawny complexions! Unwilling to interrupt Him by my presence, I continued my walk but signified to my secretary to join the group and listen. Later, my secretary reported that never had he seen in the works of all the philosophers anything that compared to the teachings of Jesus. He told me that Jesus was neither seditious nor rebellious, so we extended to Him our protection. He was at liberty to act, to speak, to assemble and to address the people. This unlimited freedom provoked the Jews — not the poor but the rich and powerful.

Later, I wrote to Jesus requesting an interview with Him at the Praetorium. He came. When the Nazarene made His appearance I was having my morning walk and as I faced Him my feet seemed fastened with an iron hand to the marble pavement and I trembled in every limb as a guilty culprit, though he was calm. For some time I stood admiring this extraordinary Man. There was nothing in Him that was repelling, nor in His character, yet I felt awed in His presence. I told Him that there was a magnetic simplicity about Him and His personality that elevated Him far above the philosophers and teachers of His day.

Now, Noble Sovereign, these are the facts concerning Jesus of Nazareth and I have taken the time to write you in detail concerning these matters. I say that such a man who could convert water into wine, change death into life, disease into health; calm the stormy seas, is not guilty of any criminal offense and as others have said, we must agree — truly this is the Son of God.

Your most obedient servant,
Pontius Pilate

Flavius Josephus and the Historical Notice in Antiquities

Flavius Josephus, by contrast, writes as a historian rather than as a governor. Born in Jerusalem in 37/38 CE and later active in Rome, Josephus composed Antiquities of the Jews around 93 CE. In the passage most often discussed in relation to Jesus, Josephus refers to him as a wise man, a teacher, and a doer of remarkable works, and he notes that Pilate condemned him to the cross at the urging of leading men. Josephus also records that Jesus’ followers continued after his death. In this narrative, however, the focus falls on Jesus’ public life, influence, and historical significance rather than on physical features. Josephus’ account contributes to the historical memory of Jesus as a teacher and movement-founder, but in the commonly cited passage it does not dwell on bodily appearance in the way later portrait traditions do.

Publius Lentulus and the Detailed Portrait Tradition

The most visually detailed of the three narratives is the account attributed to Publius Lentulus. In the Letter of Lentulus tradition, Jesus is introduced in a formal letter setting and then described with remarkable specificity. The text presents him as a man of notable and dignified presence, with hair likened in color to hazel-nut, falling in an ordered manner and parting at the top after the pattern associated in the text with the Nazarenes. His brow is described as smooth and his face as without blemish, tinged with a slight redness. The account speaks of an abundant beard matching the hair in color, divided at the chin, and eyes that are bright and expressive. Beyond physical features, the Lentulus description also emphasizes demeanor: Jesus is presented as possessing both gravity and sweetness, capable of stern rebuke and gentle admonition, with a presence that inspires both reverence and affection. The portrait extends to emotional character as well, noting tears more than laughter and describing the beauty of his posture, hands, and arms.

The following was taken from a manuscript in the possession of Lord Kelly, and in his library, and was copied from an original letter of Publius Lentullus at Rome. It being the usual custom of Roman Governors to advertise the Senate and people of such material things as happened in their provinces in the days of Tiberius Caesar, Publius Lentullus, President of Judea, wrote the following epistle to the Senate concerning the Nazarene called Jesus.

“There appeared in these our days a man, of the Jewish Nation, of great virtue, named Yeshua [Jesus], who is yet living among us, and of the Gentiles is accepted for a Prophet of truth, but His own disciples call Him the Son of God- He raiseth the dead and cureth all manner of diseases. A man of stature somewhat tall, and comely, with very reverent countenance, such as the beholders may both love and fear, his hair of (the colour of) the chestnut, full ripe, plain to His ears, whence downwards it is more orient and curling and wavering about His shoulders. In the midst of His head is a seam or partition in His hair, after the manner of the Nazarenes.

His forehead plain and very delicate; His face without spot or wrinkle, beautified with a lovely red; His nose and mouth so formed as nothing can be reprehended; His beard thickish, in colour like His hair, not very long, but forked; His look innocent and mature; His eyes grey, clear, and quick- In reproving hypocrisy He is terrible; in admonishing, courteous and fair spoken; pleasant in conversation, mixed with gravity. It cannot be remembered that any have seen Him Laugh, but many have seen Him Weep. In proportion of body, most excellent; His hands and arms delicate to behold. In speaking, very temperate, modest, and wise. A man, for His singular beauty, surpassing the children of men.”

Reading the Three Narratives Together

When these three narratives are read together, a clear pattern emerges in the way each contributes to the conversation. The Pilate tradition, as popularly circulated, offers a compact but memorable visual impression, especially in the phrase about golden-colored hair and beard and a “celestial aspect.” Josephus supplies a historical notice centered on Jesus’ wisdom, deeds, crucifixion, and enduring followers. Lentulus provides the fullest portrait, elaborating on hair, face, beard, eyes, and bearing with language that has profoundly shaped the Christian imagination. Read side by side, they form a layered literary tradition in which Jesus appears as both historical figure and figure of profound personal impression.

Why These Narratives Still Matter to Christian Readers

For Christian readers, these narratives have long served not only as historical points of interest but also as windows into how Jesus was remembered, described, and contemplated across different textual traditions. Whether encountered in historical discussion, devotional reading, or artistic reflection, the Pilate, Josephus, and Lentulus narratives continue to draw attention because they attempt, each in its own way, to answer a question that remains deeply human and deeply reverent: what did the face of Jesus look like?

Further Reading References

Readers who wish to explore the source texts and related historical context may consult the Letter of Pilate to Tiberius, Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews (Book 18), the Publius Lentulus entry, and the general overview of the Letter of Lentulus. For historical background on the Roman period, see Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, and Flavius Josephus.

ARK, the first Christian marketplace in the world, is scheduled to launch by May 1, 2026. Register here.

ARK｜Iron Sharpens Iron: The Importance in Life & E-Commerce

Iron Sharpens Iron: ARK Becomes the Global Leader in Marketplace Morality

ARK – The Faith Driven Marketplace, is a US tech company and startup with their World headquarters located in Las Vegas, NV and their Canadian headquarters located in Vancouver, BC.

Let’s face it. Amazon, eBay and Etsy are cooked. Amazon, eBay and Etsy all sell Palestinian terrorist gear. Amazon has so many fake reviews the platform is completely corrupt and rigged and honest sellers are being willfully sabotaged and Amazon does little to nothing about it. Instagram , TikTok and X, are completely bankrupt. Deleting followers in the millions, telling you what you can and cannot say. They’re all lost and undone. Chasing the love of money. All authoritarian and tyrannical.

Like Ricky Gervaise said to the face of the Hollywood elites, “If ISIS started a streaming service, you’d call your agent.” Big Tech is the same. They’ve all called. And they’re going to keep calling because that’s the shape of their heart. And in doing so, they have pierced themselves through with many sorrows. And they’ll learn how many on Judgment Day and what it will cost them.

The Abrahamic Adventure and Call of God on ARK is to bring order out of chaos and to put Christ’s values front and center in the global marketplace. To actually run a platform of Christian integrity. And the founders, CEO Steph Drennon and CTO Osagie Anolu, are committed to doing just that. On ARK no Palestinian, BLM or ANTIFA terrorist gear can be sold as clearly articulated in their Terms of Service all ARK community members agree to when registering.

No Trans, LGBTQ+, Islam or any other godless ideologies may be listed or sold in the first marketplace aligned exclusively with Christian identity and purpose. ARK is a vigorous apologist and defender of the Christian faith while protecting Christian children, minors and young adults from malevolent content and products designed by Satan to draw them away from Christ.

All ARK reviewers when reviewing for the first time must electronically e-sign their “ARK Review Covenant” terms outlining what is acceptable in their Christian marketplace. Simply put, ARK is raising the bar on acceptable conduct on their Ekklesia platform. If a ‘buyer’ puts up reviews trying to make competing products and/or sellers look bad, and/or defaming them, their account will be deleted immediately. What is tolerated and winked at on Amazon will be dealt with consequentially on ARK quickly.

“As iron sharpens iron, so people can improve each other.” – Proverbs 27:17 NCV

The stated goals of ARK are that members become more consecrated to Christ and improve in their walk with God daily. The 27:17 Proverb is brief, but its anthropology is expansive: human beings are not formed in isolation. Scripture presents character as something refined through covenantal presence—through truthful speech, faithful exhortation, and patient correction practiced within a community that fears the Lord.

The sharpening image is intentionally ordinary: iron does not become sharper by wishing, nor by avoiding friction, but by contact that is real, repeated, and properly directed. In a Christian frame, this is not mere self-optimization; it is sanctification—the Spirit’s work of conforming believers to Christ, often mediated through the words, witness, and accountability of other believers (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18).

Context & Meaning From a Christian Theological Perspective

Proverbs 27:17 belongs to wisdom literature, which aims less at abstract theorizing and more at moral formation—training the reader in the fear of the Lord and the habits of a life ordered toward God (Proverbs 1:7). “Iron sharpens iron” assumes at least three theological realities.

First, it assumes the social nature of wisdom. Proverbs is not written as a solitary manual for private spirituality, but as communal instruction: wisdom is learned, modeled, tested, and strengthened among persons. The Christian tradition later names this as discipleship: believers are “members one of another,” whose growth is tied to shared life and truthful speech (Romans 12:4–5; Ephesians 4:25).

Second, it assumes that improvement is moral and relational, not merely technical. The sharpening is not only about competence; it is about becoming the kind of person who loves what is good. In the New Testament, this is sharpened further: Christians are called to “speak the truth in love” so that the body may grow into maturity (Ephesians 4:15–16). Truth without love becomes harshness; love without truth becomes sentimentality. Wisdom insists on both.

Third, it assumes that rightly ordered “friction” is a gift of grace. Scripture does not romanticize conflict; it condemns quarrelsome speech and malice (James 1:19–20; Ephesians 4:31). Yet it also refuses the false peace of silence when correction is needed. Genuine sharpening is the disciplined practice of exhortation: “encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11), “stir up one another to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24–25), and restore one another “in a spirit of gentleness” (Galatians 6:1).

In other words, Proverbs 27:17 is not an endorsement of perpetual criticism; it is a call to communal holiness.

ARK’s Canadian Subsidiary and Headquarters is located in Vancouver, BC. Pictured: Capilano Suspension Bridge Park

Beneficial Outcomes of Being “Sharpened” by Our Environments & Relationships

The Proverb presses a question that is both spiritual and practical: Who and what is shaping me? Christian formation is never neutral. Environments catechize; relationships disciple. The New Testament therefore calls believers to discernment—testing speech, habits, and influences (Romans 12:2; 1 John 4:1). When sharpening occurs within Christ-centered relationships and God-honoring contexts, several outcomes tend to follow.

Maturity of character. Christian growth is not merely acquiring religious vocabulary; it is the cultivation of virtues—humility, patience, honesty, self-control—formed through real interactions. “Iron” implies resistance: we discover our pride, impatience, or presumption precisely when others challenge us. By God’s grace, this becomes a pathway toward maturity (James 1:2–4).

Clarity of conscience. Healthy sharpening strengthens moral perception. We learn to recognize self-deception, to receive correction without collapse, and to correct without contempt. Jesus’ teaching about removing the “log” from one’s own eye before addressing another’s “speck” is not a ban on judgment; it is a command for purified judgment—humble, honest, and proportionate (Matthew 7:3–5).

Resilient relationships. When truth is practiced in love, communities become more durable. Confession and forgiveness become normal rather than exceptional. Speech becomes constructive rather than corrosive (Ephesians 4:29; Colossians 3:12–14). In such communities, people are not disposable; they are accountable and beloved.

Fruitfulness and vocation. Scripture consistently ties spiritual health to outward fruit—work, stewardship, service, generosity (Ephesians 2:10; Titus 3:14). Sharpening therefore has vocational consequences: believers become more trustworthy, more competent, and more aligned with God’s purposes in the marketplace and beyond.

A Christian can summarize these outcomes with a single phrase: formation toward Christ for the sake of others.

How This Applies to ARK Reviews & Ratings

In digital commerce, reviews and ratings are often treated as consumer utilities—signals that reduce uncertainty and increase conversion. That is true, but insufficient. In a faith driven marketplace, reviews also become a moral practice: a structured form of speech with the power to build up or tear down, to bless or to curse. Scripture treats speech as spiritually weighty; words are not neutral data points (Proverbs 18:21; Matthew 12:36). Therefore, ARK reviews are not merely feedback; they are a community discipline.

When practiced with integrity, reviews enact “truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). They tell the truth about product quality, shipping reliability, and seller responsiveness; yet they refuse exaggeration, mockery, or vindictiveness. They do not weaponize disappointment. They aim at clarity, fairness, and improvement.

When practiced with humility, reviews avoid the pride of absolutism: “My experience is the whole truth.” Instead, they are careful, specific, and proportionate. They separate what is factual from what is preference. They distinguish between a seller’s negligence and a shipping carrier’s delay. Such discernment is itself a kind of wisdom (James 3:17).

When practiced with charity, reviews become a pathway for restoration rather than humiliation. Scripture does not equate love with the absence of critique; it calls for critique that serves the good of the other. Even when a review must be negative, it can remain constructive—clear enough to warn future buyers, and humane enough to invite sellers into better practices (Galatians 6:1–2; 1 Corinthians 13:4–7).

In short: ARK reviews can become “iron sharpens iron” at scale—buyers and sellers mutually improved through truthful, gracious accountability.

ARK’s World Headquarters is located in Las Vegas, NV United States. Pictured: The Sphere

Why Honest and Gracious Reviews Advance ARK’s Aim to Reward Human Flourishing

ARK’s distinctive claim is not simply that it hosts Christian retailers and shoppers worldwide, but that it is intentionally and strategically designed in Christ to reward what strengthens human flourishing—economically, relationally, socially, and eternally. Reviews and ratings are central to that design because they shape incentives and culture.

Economically: Honest reviews reward diligence. When excellent service is praised with specificity, it becomes visible, repeatable, and economically rewarded. When poor practices are named without malice, they are discouraged without dehumanizing the person behind the storefront. This aligns with biblical wisdom that commends honest scales, integrity in trade, and fair dealing (Proverbs 11:1; Leviticus 19:35–36). A marketplace cannot be righteous by branding alone; it must operationalize righteousness through systems that honor truth.

Relationally: Reviews are one of the few public forms of communication between strangers in commerce. If that speech is cynical, cruel, or careless, it habituates distrust. If it is measured, candid, and respectful, it models neighbor-love in a commercial setting. The command to “let your speech always be gracious” does not exclude candor; it governs how candor is expressed (Colossians 4:6). In this way, ARK reviews can become a liturgy of everyday life—training believers to communicate as disciples even when disappointed.

Socially: A high-trust community is a social good. When buyers and sellers expect honesty and are held to it, the whole ecosystem becomes safer—less prone to manipulation, retaliation, and fraud. Scripture consistently treats community health as a moral achievement, not an accident: “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). Reviews are a practical instrument for this building up—public, searchable, and consequential.

Eternally: Christians cannot reduce eternity to overt evangelism alone. Eternity also concerns formation into truth, love, repentance, patience, and justice—virtues that reflect Christ. When ARK members practice truthful and gracious reviewing, they participate in sanctifying habits: they learn to tell the truth without cruelty and to pursue justice without vengeance. Over time, such practices shape the heart. The marketplace becomes one more arena where discipleship is embodied—where believers “do all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Colossians 3:17).

If “iron sharpens iron” is communal sanctification, then reviews—properly governed—become a mechanism by which a digital marketplace participates in moral formation. That is how ARK can plausibly claim to “move people forward” across multiple dimensions: not by sentiment, but by a culture of truth-telling ordered by agape love, and by Kingdom systems that reward what strengthens human flourishing.

ARK is expected to launch by May 1, 2026. Register here.

A two-nation founding team is launching a Christian marketplace designed to connect Christian retailers and sellers with faith driven shoppers—with a focus on integrity, trust, and purpose.

VANCOUVER, BC — ARK, The Faith Driven Marketplace, is preparing to launch what its backers describe as the first Christian marketplace built for global scale—an Amazon-style multi-vendor platform designed specifically for Christian retailers, sellers, and shoppers worldwide.

ARK is currently in final development and is scheduled to launch the world’s first Christian marketplace, similar to Amazon, eBay and Etsy, by May 1, 2026.

While online commerce is abundant, explicitly faith-aligned shopping ecosystems remain fragmented. ARK’s strategy is to consolidate discovery and trust into one destination: a marketplace where Christian identity and purpose are not treated as an afterthought, but as the organizing principle for community, commerce, ministry, and social impact.

ARK’s World Headquarters is located in Las Vegas, NV United States.

ARK is a U.S. company with it’s world headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada, and their Canadian headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company is being built by a compact, execution-focused, agile and executive team of Christian academics in the United States and Canada:

• Steph Drennon: Founder & CEO, United States
• Osagie Anolu: Technical Co-Founder & CTO, Canada

The Importance of ARK Spiritually, Psychologically & Missionally

Spiritually, ARK is not merely an e-commerce platform; it is a literal redemptive response from the Kingdom of God to a cultural and economic void. ARK provides a restorative Christian marketplace, rooted in Christian identity and purpose, where faith driven consumers and retailers can transact without compromise, belong without apology, and build without fear of exclusion. By addressing Faith Driven Consumers desire for both spiritual alignment and participating in a Christian economy, ARK affirms their identity and empowers their eternal impact for Christ.

Psychologically, ARK carries profound significance for the 2.6 billion Christians across the globe. In a world where the consumer marketplace is often shaped by secularism, relativism, and ideological neutrality, Christians face a growing sense of dissonance—between what they believe and what they must support when engaging economically. This creates a persistent internal conflict, often forcing them to choose between conscience and convenience.

Missionally, in this fragmented world, ARK becomes the unifying space. It restores coherence to Christian identity in the marketplace and empowers believers to pursue Kingdom purpose with undivided hearts. For the global Body of Christ, ARK is therefore spiritually empowering, psychologically vital, and missionally strategic.

ARK’s Canadian Headquarters is located in Vancouver, BC Canada.

ARK Leadership

Osagie Anolu, ARK’s Technical Co-Founder and CTO, said his commitment to the venture is rooted in both faith and urgency, “I really believe in this mission. Everything that has happened since I joined ARK on this mission is exactly what God showed me in visions, which is why I know I am on the right path. Our mission is to create a Christian marketplace that serves both buyers and sellers with integrity, innovation, and purpose—and we must operate in a way that matches the urgency of the mission.”

Steph Drennon, Founder & CEO, added, “As a Christian marketplace, ARK is not simply another e-commerce platform, it is a faith driven economic movement, combining commerce, community, and calling. Its value proposition is not only serving an underserved 2.6 billion consumer segment, but also by serving and leading in the global marketplace with Kingdom-aligned exclusivity and irreplaceable cultural positioning. In this context, ARK is not just important, it is indispensable. ARK is the new leader of the global Faith Driven Economy and we understand the responsibility this solemn obligation carries for the entire team. For us, it’s the apex of Belief and Tribal Network Effects. It’s total ministry.”

ARK is building more than a marketplace: it is building a trust-forming institution for the digital economy—one that treats commerce as a daily arena for integrity, stewardship, and human dignity. In a strife-ridden world, this is not an abstract aspiration; it is a strategic intervention. ARK aims to move people forward—economically, relationally, socially, and eternally—by strategically designing a Christian marketplace to reward what strengthens human flourishing, and by anchoring that vision through FAITHx as ARK’s official ministry partner and outreach mechanism.

Faith Driven Consumers Faith Impacts Their Shopping Decisions

Faith Driven Venture Capital, the venture firm backing ARK with LP’s in Texas, frames the opportunity in clear consumer terms. Faith Driven VC states that “89% of all faith driven consumers would like to see the global marketplace do more for them in terms of being adequately acknowledged, welcomed and provided for as Christians.”

Faith Driven VC’s thesis is that an eschatologically-aligned Christian marketplace can serve real consumer demand while also advancing Kingdom impact through faithful leadership, business execution and ministry outreach.

About ARK — The Faith Driven Marketplace

ARK is a Christian marketplace and venture-backed faith driven tech startup developing a first-mover e-commerce platform and ecosystem aligned exclusively with Christian identity and purpose. ARK is blessed with registered Faith Driven Retailers on 6 continents and 60 countries to serve 468 million Faith Driven Consumers with an annual purchasing power of US$10 trillion, and a total of 2.6 billion Christian shoppers worldwide. Register as a retailer, seller or shopper at ARK here.

FAITHx — The Official Ministry of ARK

FAITHx is the official ministry partner of ARK. A FAITHx event focuses on Faith, Culture, Entrepreneurship & Technology through ideas, commentary, information and God’s Word. Our goal is to ignite conversation, connection & fellowship!

FAITHx is the ‘TED Talks of Christianity.’

FAITHx offers faith driven worshippers and global attendees disruptive innovation via a new engagement model using technology, media, music, education and broadcasting tools to capture hearts and minds for Christ worldwide. Learn more here.

About Faith Driven Venture Capital

Faith Driven Venture Capital is a global investment firm launched in 2021 which specializes in venture capital and invests exclusively in Faith Driven Ventures targeting Faith Driven Consumers. Faith Driven VC’s mission is to serve an underserved global Christian tech, investor and faith driven consumer community by partnering with entrepreneurs and investors committed to measurable impact and Kingdom purpose. Interested Christian investors can apply to connect with Faith Driven VC to discuss ARK’s Christian marketplace investment opportunity here.

Everything clicked when Peter Thiel gave the speech about God.

The occasion was a 40th birthday party for Trae Stephens, who is Mr. Thiel’s venture capital partner as well as one of the founders of Anduril Industries, a maker of high-tech defense systems and weaponry. It was a multiday affair, held in 2023 at Mr. Stephens’s home in New Mexico. It began with an evening roasting the birthday boy, followed by another toasting him and then a brunch with caviar bumps, mimosas and breakfast pizza. At the brunch (the theme was the Holy Ghost), Mr. Thiel, the Silicon Valley billionaire and right-wing kingmaker, delivered a talk about miracles, forgiveness and Jesus Christ. The guests were enthralled.

“The room of over 220 people, mostly in technology and venture capital, were coming up to us saying, ‘Oh, my goodness, I didn’t know Peter Thiel was a Christian,’” recalled Michelle Stephens, Mr. Stephens’s wife. “‘He’s gay and a billionaire. How can he be Christian?’”

That reaction — eyebrows raised, curiosity genuine — gave Ms. Stephens an idea: Gather influential people, including in Silicon Valley, to talk about Christian belief. Last year, she started a nonprofit called ACTS 17 Collective, which holds events where the bigwigs of the tech and entertainment industries discuss their faith. For those seeking not just spiritually but also professionally, it’s a chance to get close to industry demigods.

Mr. Thiel was the featured speaker at the first ACTS 17 event last May, at the San Francisco home of Garry Tan, the chief executive of Y Combinator. He talked about how Christian theology informs his politics and which of the Ten Commandments he finds most meaningful. (The first and last: Worship God, and don’t covet what others have.) A D.J. added ambience, mixing worship beats for the more than 200 attendees.

Garry Tan, the chief executive of Y Combinator, at a fund-raiser for female Asian politicians. Mr. Tan has hosted events for ACTS 17, a nonprofit devoted to introducing Christianity to the tech world, at his home. Credit: Mike Kai Chen for The New York Times

In October, the nonprofit hosted another talk at Mr. Tan’s home, this time with Dr. Francis S. Collins, former director of the National Institutes of Health, who has long talked about how he reconciles science with his Christian faith. Ms. Stephens is planning more events in San Francisco, as well as one in Los Angeles, and has reached out to potential speakers like Pat Gelsinger, the former chief executive of Intel, as well as Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an activist and Muslim turned critic of Islam who converted to Christianity.

The name ACTS 17 is an acronym (Acknowledging Christ in Technology and Society), but it also refers to the biblical chapter in which Paul the Apostle crisscrosses Athens and Thessaloniki to spread the Gospel among Greek “kings and queens of culture,” as Ms. Stephens puts it, the eminent and affluent demographic that she aims to minister to today. It’s a somewhat counterintuitive Christian calling, she acknowledged.

“We were always taught as Christians to serve the meek, the lowly, the marginalized,” Ms. Stephens said. “I think we’ve realized that, if anything, the rich, the wealthy, the powerful need Jesus just as much.”

Silicon Valley executives are accustomed to chasing the elusive — fortune, breakthroughs, power — but God has not tended to rank high on the list. The Bay Area is one of the least churchgoing parts of America, where people have been more apt to meet their spiritual longing with meditation, ayahuasca, intermittent fasting or cold plunges. An episode of the HBO show “Silicon Valley” once satirized this with a gay entrepreneur aghast at being “outed” as Christian. In a place built on stretching human limitations, where people exert dominion over everything from fertility to outer space, even turning mortality into a business opportunity, the divine has seemed, to some, obsolete.

When Peter Thiel, pictured here in 2022, delivered a talk about his Christian faith at Trae Stephens’s birthday party, attendees were intrigued. The response inspired Michelle Stephens to start ACTS 17, which holds events where the bigwigs of the tech and entertainment industries discuss their faith. Credit: Getty Images

Mr. Thiel has long been an exception to the atheism and agnosticism of his peers. He has said his Christian faith is at the center of his worldview, which he expounds upon with a heterodox approach — fusing references to Scripture and conservative political theory, parsing ancient signs and wonders for their connection to tech wonders today. In recent podcast interviews, he draws on biblical prophesies to warn of an Antichrist who will promise safety from existential threats like artificial intelligence and nuclear war but bring something much worse: one-world government. (Mr. Thiel declined to be interviewed through Ms. Stephens; his spokesperson did not return an email.)

Other tech and entertainment gurus also seem to be embracing religion. Last year, Joe Rogan talked about the importance of faith in multiple podcast episodes, saying he had at times been “pretty atheist” but became more spiritual after the death of his grandfather. “As time rolls on, people are going to understand the need to have some sort of divine structure,” Mr. Rogan said in an episode last February. “A lot of very intelligent people, they dismiss all the positive aspects of religion.”

Credit: Joe Rogan/The Joe Rogan Experience & Elon Musk/Pool Photo by Kenny Holston

Elon Musk, in a recent interview with Jordan Peterson, a psychologist who has become a sort of manosphere guru, said he was a “big believer in the principles of Christianity.” Mr. Musk summed this up in a ditty on X: “Atheism left an empty space, secular religion took its place,” he wrote. “Maybe religion’s not so bad to keep you from being sad.”

ACTS 17, which is nondenominational, aims to give people an easy, approachable introduction to religious belief. Its website deploys the hallmarks of millennial direct-to-consumer branding, featuring pretty people in puffy jackets talking and smiling alongside floating sans serif promises about “redefining success for those who define culture.”

If religious rituals offer up old ways of muddling through newly tumultuous times, it’s unsurprising that they’re resurging now in Silicon Valley, which seems to be going through its own cycle of rebirth. Pride-themed trivia nights and Black History Month playlists have given way to tech moguls feting President Trump, decrying the snowflakery of their young workers and crusading for a return to a bygone era of higher birthrates.

This political flip has prompted some skepticism about the new religiosity in the tech community, with even some Christian thinkers questioning whether some of it might be more self-serving than sincere. “When you look at the Bible, it’s all about supporting the poor, helping the other, inviting the stranger in,” said Anne Foerst, a theologian and computer scientist at St. Bonaventure University in New York and the author of the book “God in the Machine.”

“There’s a certain attitude with some evangelicals that when you accept Jesus as your savior you are saved,” she continued. “Then you don’t have to worry — about drone building, rejecting foreigners, rejecting wokeness, all that sort of stuff.”

But many Bay Area clergy make the case that theology and Scripture offer something vital to people whose technological work touches on white-hot ethical and existential questions.

“We really feel a burden to help people consider how the model of Christ might help them think about how they change technology,” said Paul Taylor, an Oracle employee turned pastor who leads the Bay Area Center for Faith, Work & Tech, another group helping to bring religion to technologists. “How do they think about technology for the sake of the good of the world, for the sake of people who might not have a voice?”

With ACTS 17, Ms. Stephens’s mission seems more tactical, less pointed. Start-up and tech workers are used to kneeling before the powers of venture capital and Big Tech. Why not get them bowing also to God?

Token Christians

If an A.I. model were to conjure an image of a Silicon Valley power couple, it might resemble Mr. and Ms. Stephens. They live in a scenic corner of San Francisco where they enjoy gathering the “kings and queens” of local culture; both took topics that had consumed them and spun them into start-up endeavors, in Ms. Stephens’s case that being religious belief.

Mr. Stephens grew up as the grandson of a Southern Baptist pastor in a small Ohio town. Ms. Stephens was raised in a Roman Catholic family in the suburbs of Philadelphia, with a father who restored and renovated churches.

The two met at Georgetown University and bonded over the role that faith played in their lives. They took long walks during which they talked about the Bible and the differences in their religious practice — why Ms. Stephens prayed to the Virgin Mary, for instance, and Mr. Stephens directly to God.

After college, Mr. Stephens worked as a computational linguist for U.S. intelligence services and Ms. Stephens as a pediatric intensive care unit nurse. In 2008, Mr. Stephens got an offer to join Palantir, now a data analytics behemoth.

Trae and Michelle Stephens met at Georgetown University. In the San Francisco social scene, their Christian faith has sometimes set them apart. Credit: Aaron Wojack The New York Times

Mr. Stephens ascended into the ranks of the tech elite. In 2013, he was invited by Mr. Thiel, who financed Palantir, to become a principal at his venture firm, Founders Fund, and moved with his family to San Francisco. He helped start Anduril, which makes autonomous drones and underwater vessels and is set to receive a round of funding valuing it at $28 billion. (Founders Fund has backed Anduril since its start.) Ms. Stephens started a digital health care company. Along the way, they had two sons, “the munchkins,” as Mr. Stephens called them.

Throughout this period, they held on to their faith, which sometimes set them apart in the Bay Area social scene. It was their first time living somewhere where churchgoing wasn’t the norm, Ms. Stephens recalled, and where they sometimes felt like the token Christians in the room.

That desire to share their beliefs planted the seed for ACTS 17. Each event the nonprofit holds will feature a conversation with some high-profile person whom the audience might not know as a Christian. The talks so far have drawn devoted, lapsed and non-Christian audiences. Tickets go for $50, and attendees are recruited by word of mouth and on social media.

“After an ACTS 17 event, all we would like is for folks in attendance to take a next step in their faith journey,” Ms. Stephens said. “Maybe they’d never heard of Jesus, and a next step is reading the Bible.”

It is a gentle introduction to Jesus, without the Styrofoam coffee cups and humdrum sermons that some nonbelievers associate with church. In October, the talk with Dr. Collins was themed “Code & Cosmos,” and aptly named cocktails (Mango-Orange Cosmos) were provided. There were selfies. There were name tags. There was the echo of bygone buoyant tech happy hours, when the frosé was on tap and the cheese boards were bountiful. And for the 20-somethings and 30-somethings in attendance, the potential for advancement as well as enlightenment. As the ACTS 17 website promised in pitch deck-ese: “These intimate gatherings promote engaging discussions and valuable connections that can enhance your career.”

The idea that people go to ACTS 17 jostling for connection to its speakers and founders doesn’t worry Ms. Stephens. “Maybe they show up to initially hear from a speaker and network,” she said. “Then the surprise and delight is — ‘Oh, I also, in this environment, get to explore matters of faith.’”

In November, ACTS 17 hosted two events in the United Arab Emirates. Ms. Stephens explained that after her San Francisco events, she had received invitations to take ACTS 17 to other American cities, but she said entrepreneurs in the Emirates had been more persistent (and Mr. Stephens had a longstanding professional interest in the Middle East). So the couple flew to Abu Dhabi and Dubai and gave two talks: one on how Christian faith can steer career planning, another on how God shapes their views of artificial intelligence and defense.

In Abu Dhabi, a member of the audience asked Mr. Stephens after the event what he thought about the social stigma around working in defense technology. As recently as 2018, Google faced protests from thousands of employees over its efforts to use artificial intelligence to help the Pentagon target drone attacks.

“There are a lot of easier ways to build start-ups than what we’re doing at Anduril,” Mr. Stephens said during a Zoom follow-up conversation with people who had participated in the event. “We’re doing it because we believe it’s just and moral.”

He drew a parallel between his work and that of J. Robert Oppenheimer, who oversaw the creation of the atomic bomb and who famously recalled that after the first nuclear test, the words of scripture from the Bhagavad Gita came to him: “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.”

“That was accepting the fate of the divine in the execution of justice,” Mr. Stephens added. “There’s no love of violence.”

Mr. Stephens told the Zoom audience that entrepreneurs often came to him for career advice when they felt they were “wandering in the desert,” lonely and spiritually unfulfilled. He suggests they adopt a matrix he created, which puts jobs into four categories: bad and easy (making mindless iPhone games), bad and hard (creating a new e-cigarette), easy and good (building encrypted messaging services), hard and good (“Colony on Mars”).

Anduril, according to Mr. Stephens, falls into that latter category: work that is complex and good, situated where God is pointing him, he said. (The company is forming a consortium with other technology groups to bid for defense contracts, and Mr. Stephens was previously under consideration for a role in Mr. Trump’s Pentagon.)

Ms. Stephens is quick to say ACTS 17 has “no political affiliation.” “There’s no agenda,” she said. “There’s no specific movement happening here. We are just creating a space for people to explore those big questions that they just aren’t finding solutions to in the current world, in the current social and societal order.”

She added that the group didn’t intend to discuss political issues, though she realizes they can’t be entirely avoided. “There’s nothing we guide the moderator to ask or not ask — everything is fair game,” she said. “We ask God to guide the moderators and speakers.”

Still politics, or at least a whiff of it, cannot be ignored when Mr. Thiel is part of the group’s origin story. An outspoken libertarian, Mr. Thiel was an early supporter of Mr. Trump in 2016, and Vice President JD Vance is among his acolytes. He seems also to recognize the strength that comes from an alliance between political and religious conservatives.

“The Reagan coalition was somehow the free market libertarians, the defense hawks and the social conservatives,” he told the economist Tyler Cowen in a recent interview. “What does the millionaire, and the general and the priest — what do they actually have in common?”

He continued: “Yet the coalition worked incredibly well, and the answer I submit that they have in common is they’re anti-communist, and they have a common enemy.”

Imitation as a Form of Faith

For years, the Stephenses held a Faith and Work group at Epic Church, which they attend. Credit: Aaron Wojack The New York Times

It was the first Sunday of 2025 and Epic Church, in downtown San Francisco, was jammed. Mr. Stephens went downstairs to drop the couple’s 9- and 11-year-old sons at a children’s service. Ms. Stephens doled out hugs to other churchgoers. Then the two took their seats in the second row of the converted industrial space where Epic holds services.

Epic Church is nondenominational and got support from an evangelical Dallas-based network that places churches in “spiritually hard to reach” parts of the United States. Since it began weekly services in San Francisco in 2011, Epic has ballooned, drawing roughly 1,000 people — including some of the city’s poorest along with its tech wealth — every Sunday. It now has its own building: $12 million of office space.

Ben Pilgreen, Epic’s pastor, preaches a message that has resonated with San Francisco locals: He believes that any job someone does — ad sales, software engineering, H.R. — can be sacred. It’s not just clergy doing the Lord’s work. This is an appealing notion to those members of his congregation who want to believe the time they’re pouring into their careers has a higher purpose.

“If you’ve been called to be a graphic designer,” Mr. Pilgreen said, “that’s a sacred vocation.”

Epic Church, which is nondenominational, got support from an evangelical Dallas-based network that places churches in “spiritually hard to reach” parts of the United States. Credit: Aaron Wojack The New York Times

Mr. Stephens and Ms. Stephens became members of the church shortly after moving to San Francisco. It was in the Epic community that they sharpened their own thinking of how Christian faith should inform their Silicon Valley endeavors. For four years, until the end of 2021, they hosted a Faith and Work group, which met Tuesday mornings and discussed ways religion was relevant to their professional lives. Mr. Thiel and Mr. Tan were some of the high-profile guests who dropped in. (The group is starting up again this year.)

This Stephens-led small group sometimes studied the work of René Girard, a literary theorist who has become Silicon Valley’s favorite theologian. Mr. Girard’s name is invoked by Mr. Thiel in podcast interviews, by Mr. Stephens at ACTS 17 events and by Mr. Vance.

Mr. Girard, who died in 2015, was also a mentor to Mr. Thiel at Stanford. Mr. Girard’s books offer a view of religion that fits tidily into the belief systems of Silicon Valley. He theorized that all desire is mimetic — we want what other people want — and one person who broke that cycle of rivalry was Jesus Christ. Interpreting his work, readers conclude that a way to transcend petty desires is to convert to Christianity and try to imitate Christ.

Some of his readers and critics, like the historian John Ganz, say Mr. Girard frames religion as an antidote to the sorts of vices that are now exacerbated by social media: Is Instagram making you jealous of other people? No problem; keep scrolling, but remember you should only want to be like Christ.

Another explanation for Mr. Girard’s growing influence is mimesis itself. People want to mimic Mr. Thiel. As Augustus Doricko, a Christian start-up founder, put it: “Peter Thiel could crown a circus clown his favorite philosopher and everyone would trip over themselves trying to get face time with the circus clown.”

After the first ACTS 17 event, an attendee approached Ms. Stephens and said he was shaken by the profession of faith from Mr. Thiel, whom he called a professional “idol”: If Mr. Thiel was worshiping Jesus, perhaps he should be doing the same.

Emma Goldberg is a business reporter covering workplace culture and the ways work is evolving in a time of social and technological change.

Vancouver – ARK – The Faith Driven Marketplace and Christian tech startup, continues to experience accelerated new registered retailer growth around the globe pre-launch with unique and beautiful Christian gifts and product listings from some of the most anointed and successful Christian retailers and sellers worldwide.

ARK is expected to launch in Q1 2026.

ARK has several hundred Faith Driven retailers and sellers on 6 continents and 59 nations to date to serve a global US$15B Christian retail market. The Faith Driven Marketplace will launch with Christian gifts and products in multiple industry verticals which includes but is not limited to:

• • Christian Retailers & Sellers
  • Mainstream Retailers & Sellers
  • Food & Drink Retailers & Sellers
  • Media & Magazine Retailers & Sellers
  • Christian Music Singers & Bands
  • Christian Book Authors
  • Christian Service Providers
  • Amazon Retailers & Sellers
  • eBay Retailers & Sellers
  • Etsy Retailers & Sellers
  • Shopify Retailers & Sellers
  • Largest Christian Retailer in the UK

Christian Gifts & Products: US

In North America, the United States is the largest country of registered retailers for ARK which trends exactly the same as Amazon, eBay and Etsy. Here is a beginning selection from sixteen different American Faith Driven Retailers registered on ARK covering the categories of:

• Christian Apparel 
• Christian Wall Décor 
• Skin Care
• Food & Drink
• Christmas Home Décor
• Smartphone Accessories
• Christian Pillow Décor
• Christmas Apparel
• Pet Supplies & Accessories
• Christian Holiday Décor
• Custom Wall & Sconce Décor
• Christian Vinyl Pack
• Wedding Décor
• Christian Media

Christian Gifts & Products: UK

In Europe, the United Kingdom is the second largest country of registered retailers for ARK which trends exactly the same as Amazon, eBay and Etsy. Here is a beginning selection from eight different British Faith Driven Retailers registered on ARK covering the categories of:

• Bibles Hardcover & Paperback
• Bible Chapter Tabs
• Christian Digital Art
• Christian Greeting Cards
• Christian Fixtures
• Christian Drinkware
• Christian Acrylic Gifts
• Christian Pillow Décor

Christian Gifts & Products: Canada

In North America, Canada is the second largest country of registered retailers and fourth largest country of registered retailers overall for ARK. Here is a beginning selection from eight different Canadian Faith Driven Retailers registered on ARK covering the categories of:

• Christian Apparel 
• Christian Children’s Books
• Christian Music
• Handmade Wooden Photo Frames
• Network Hardware Equipment

Christian Gifts & Products: Israel & Palestine

From The Middle East, here is a beginning selection from three different Israeli and Palestinian Faith Driven Retailers registered on ARK. The sellers from Palestine represent Palestinian Christians from Jesus’ birthplace in the West Bank of Bethlehem. The challenges Palestinian Christians face are numerous. ARK is strategically serving Palestinian Christians to bring their products to market worldwide so they may raise their families in peace and prosperity and be blessed according to John 10:10 to live a life of victory. The categories covered here are of:

• Christian Toys
• Christian Toys Crochet
• Christian Wood Nativity
• Kitchen Dinnerware Décor

Christian Gifts & Products: Australia & New Zealand

In Oceania, the countries of Australian and New Zealanders are registered retailers on ARK. Here is a beginning selection from three different Australia and New Zealand Faith Driven Retailers registered on ARK covering the categories of:

• Christian Women’s T-Shirts
• Christian Thanksgiving Décor
• Christian Smartphone Wallpapers
• Christian Scripture Cards

Christian Gifts & Products: South Africa

In Africa, South Africa is the largest country of registered retailers and fifth largest country of registered retailers overall for ARK. Here is a beginning selection from three different South African Faith Driven Retailers and one South African Faith Driven Service Provider registered on ARK covering the categories of:

• Christian Real Estate Services  
• Christian Drinkware
• Christian Apparel
• Christian Jewelry

ARK Retail Strengths & Social Impact

Ministry Partner FAITHx

ARK is a socially responsible marketplace and will donate 10% of all annual net-profit to it’s official ministry arm at FAITHx. You can learn more about FAITHx and it’s strategic outreaches here. FAITHx first ministry event, FAITHx Vancouver 2026, is tentatively scheduled for late December 19, 2026.

Follow FAITHx on X (Twitter).

Connect with ARK on Social Media

Connect, subscribe and follow ARK on all their social profiles via Linktree.

ARK’s New Branding Trailer

ARK uploaded their newest branding trailer for their World Premier videos and Digital Parables on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and X.

Breaking News

Fr Calvin Robinson, an Anglican Deacon in the Free Church of England, has accepted an invitation to speak and give a FAITHx Talk at the inaugural FAITHx Vancouver 2026 ministry event this coming December 19, 2026. Final venue to be announced soon.

FAITHx is the official ministry arm of ARK – The Faith Driven Marketplace.

The expectations are high that Robinson will deliver an outstanding FAITHx Talk, inspire attendees and drive Faith Driven impact for Christ. With Robinson’s prolific brand name growing worldwide via the UK media, (formerly of) GBN and YouTube, FAITHx leadership believes he will attract, engage and educate attendees with his level of knowledge and expertise in the Word of God. He is known for his willingness to be outspoken and is clearly set for the defense of the Gospel amidst the culture wars.

Calvin Robinson Bio

The Reverend Calvin Robinson, a rising star and thought leader within the Body of Christ, is a political adviser, TV/radio presenter, and conservative commentator. He is a regular contributor to The Daily Telegraph and the leading voice in England and the UK for upholding the values of God in Christ Jesus against the backdrop of several culture wars, including within the Anglican Church. Robinson formerly held a weekly TV show called Calvin’s Common Sense Crusade which enabled the gentlemanly preacher the opportunity to strengthen the UK Body of Christ and inject biblical values into the national conversation on a myriad of subjects and culture war issues.

YouTube Prominence

Robinson was catapulted into greater international prominence for his sterling debate performance as a Christian apologist at the Oxford Society Debate holding the line for the Kingdom of God advocating against the Church offering blessings of any kind on same-sex civil unions and/or marriages. The video has been watched by over 3.5 million YouTubers around the world. He rightfully noted that, “God sets the terms” for marriage and that they cannot be changed. He admonished the clergy who were involved in the sin of affirming same-sex unions to repent!

Recent Church Positions

Calvin Robinson, like the late Pastor John MacArthur, has rejected the ordination of women in the church and upholds the biblical view of men only in places of pastoral leadership as written by the Apostle Paul in the first epistle to the disciple Timothy.

ARK Digital Parables

ARK which has produced Digital Parables on Calvin Robinson, President Trump, John MacArthur, Joel Osteen, Noah and Jordan Peterson, is the parent company of FAITHx and is currently in development and is projected to launch in late Q1 of 2026. ARK will donate 10% of all annual net-profit to FAITHx to host FAITHx events worldwide. You can learn more about FAITHx ministry focus here. Christian retailers, sellers, bible bookstores and shoppers can register here to be notified of ARK‘s launch. ARK has registered retailers on 6 continents and 59 countries to date pre-launch. and continues to grow with unique Christian gifts and retailers worldwide.

Sponsors FAITHx Vancouver 2026

Interested Christian companies, brands, educational institutions, ministries and sponsors for FAITHx Vancouver 2026 can contact FAITHx on their site here and learn more about FAITHx sponsorship opportunities here.

FAITHx Vancouver 2026 Tickets

Tickets to FAITHx Vancouver 2026 will go on sale as soon as the choice of venue is formally announced. Follow FAITHx, ARK and Calvin Robinson on X (formerly known as Twitter) to keep up with all venue and ticket sales announcements and new speakers added to FAITHx Vancouver 2026 lineup.

Calvin Robinson on Wikipedia

Political Views

Robinson opposes the teaching of critical race theory in British education and argues that the teaching of black history and lessons concerning black people should be taught within the context of British history and not taught separately. He has also defended colonialism and the British Empire, and has opposed reparations for slavery.

In July 2021, Robinson appeared in an interview on Channel 4 News with the singer and left-wing political activist Billy Bragg on the decision of England’s football team players to “take the knee” in a protest against racism. He said the action was “disgusting” and argued that, in taking the knee, the team was promoting “Black Lives Matter“, which he described as “a neo-Marxist, anti-British, anti-family organization”.

Robinson is a eurosceptic, having stood previously for election as a candidate for the Brexit Party, now Reform UK.

Theological and Moral Views

In an interview with Premier Christianity, Robinson described himself as an Evangelical Catholic. The Catholic Herald described Robinson as an Evangelical Anglican, but also noted that he shares some high church positions, such as the use of the title “Father”, holding a “high” understanding of the Eucharist and of the institution of the church by Christ. According to the Catholic Herald, Robinson considers Michael Nazir-Ali, a former bishop of the Church of England who later converted to the Catholic Church, to be a mentor. Robinson later became a founding member of the Anglo-Catholic Brotherhood of the Holy Trinity and currently describes himself as an “Anglo-Catholic deacon” on his Instagram profile.

He has spoken in favor of disestablishing the Church of England in order to free it from political influence and allow alternative Anglican churches to thrive. Robinson himself is a deacon in the Free Church of England, a conservative Anglican church separated of the Church of England. Robinson is strongly critical of the leadership of the Church of England, accusing it of liberal political bias. Following his failure to obtain a Church of England curacy, Robinson alleged that Sarah Mullally, the Bishop of London, had personally told him off because of his rejection of critical race theory.

Robinson opposes the ordination of women. He is also opposed to the facilitation of same-sex marriage in the Church of England and has argued that the Bible only allows marriage between a man and a woman. He argues that premarital sex is a sin. He also opposes abortion and holds anti-abortion positions.

Hello @X! We hope to see you in #Vancouver in Dec 2025 for our first-ever #ministry event. Our goal is to build you up into everything #God has created you to be through conversation, connection & fellowship! Get tickets on eventbrite!

Register at https://t.co/vbWX1Cap78 pic.twitter.com/86FORtXnSj

May 17, 2025

For the uninitiated, Tim Keller is the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, a successful confessional church in a place many Christians regard as the heart of darkness. Keller is also a best-selling author who does not shrink from dipping his toes into political waters as so many ministers do. He is something of an unofficial pope to a large segment of the evangelical Christian population. His influence on this demographic is vast, and he leverages it in books, interviews, and a robust social media presence. For our purposes, the question is this: is it a good influence?

Over the course of his career, Tim Keller has been a light for the Christian faith in the pulpit. He has also written several helpful books. Yet, bizarrely, he has recently embraced the so-called social justice movement. In a series of articles and tweets this year, Keller, confusing Christianity with the Democrat presidential platform, pronounced authoritatively on issues ranging from “systemic racism” to the “corporate guilt” of white America. All of this, of course, was simply a precursor to his inevitable conclusion:

When it comes to taking political positions, voting, determining alliances and political involvement, the Christian has liberty of conscience. Christians cannot say to other Christians “no Christian can vote for … ” or “every Christian must vote for … ” unless you can find a biblical command to that effect.

Such a position would seem reasonable in, say, the 1916 presidential election between incumbent Democrat Woodrow Wilson and Republican Charles Evans Hughes. But in 2020, a year when Democrats represent all that is unholy? I can think of several biblical commands that made the choice for any Bible-believing Christian absolutely clear in this election. I mean, would Jesus endorse a radical pro-abortion and pro-infanticide policy; every sordid sexual agenda, even the sexualization of small children; a complete disregard for the rule of law; and open hostility toward His followers? I don’t think so.

Unfortunately, Keller is not an evangelical anomaly. While he was giving theological justification to those who would betray their faith and defect to the opposition with their votes, popular Baptist pastor John Piper was encouraging Christians not to vote at all. In a recent blog post, he maintained that Republicans aren’t morally rigid enough. Whipping out the ultimate tool in the pastor’s mystification toolbox, he employed biblical Greek to add authority to his case against President Trump. (Some pastors love to do this. It is their way of saying, “Don’t try this at home.”) Piper says the president is guilty of “unrepentant sexual immorality (porneia), unrepentant boastfulness (alazoneia), unrepentant vulgarity (aischrologia), [and] unrepentant factiousness (dichostasiai).”

One wonders how he knows Trump is unrepentant and why he is the one to blame for factiousness. Did the president concoct a Russia collusion narrative? Did he spy on Hillary Clinton’s campaign? Did he illegally use the FBI to push false evidence? Did he do anything justifying impeachment? Did he support the looting, burning, and rioting in our streets? Did he take money from China through a family member serving as a proxy? No. As for his vulgarity and boastfulness, I suggest Piper get out more. Trump is fairly typical of the chest-beating, plain-speaking businessmen one finds in places like New York, New Jersey, Boston, and Philadelphia.

I am reminded of a quotation attributed (perhaps inaccurately) to George Orwell: “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”

Orwell or not, the sentiment is true. Like many of those who do violence on our behalf for the sake of our freedom, Trump is a rough man. That’s too much for Piper. Oddly, Piper represents a segment of the evangelical population that demands his president bear the characteristics of a Mother Teresa. Does he make the same demands of his barber, his mechanic, his accountant, or his surgeon? One suspects not.

In July 2012, I was speaking at a youth retreat in the mountains of Tennessee when I received a call from CNN. It seemed that Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy had publicly commented on the issue of same-sex marriage, and now the gay mafia was lining up to do both him and his restaurant chain as much harm as possible. Would I, asked CNN, be willing to offer the orthodox Christian perspective on homosexuality and defend Chick-fil-A in this controversy? After reviewing Cathy’s remarks and concluding that they were neither outrageous nor biblically incorrect, I agreed to the interview, and later that day I defended the Christian position on the network as vigorously as possible.

Shortly thereafter, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee called for Christians to mobilize and show their support for the embattled fast food restaurant with “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day.” They did. Lines at the restaurant stretched for blocks. This event marked the first time in modern memory that Christians fought back rather than meekly submitting to the media and special interest bullies.

But not all evangelical Christians were supportive of the Home of the Chicken Sandwich. In an article for WORLD magazine, Barnabas Piper, son of John Piper, wrote that he was against Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day because, he said, it “clearly promote[s] an ‘us versus them’ mentality.” Thus, taking a stand was too divisive.

At the time, I was stupefied by these remarks and wondered how the elder Piper, whom I respected, felt about his son’s views. Now I know the apple does not fall far from the tree. Perhaps it had escaped the young Piper’s notice, but it is us versus them. Besides, Huckabee wasn’t asking Piper or other Christians to die for their faith. He wasn’t asking them to take to the streets and destroy property as protesters on the left so often do. He was asking them to do nothing more than eat a chicken sandwich and some waffle fries for Jesus. Has any protest in history been easier or tastier?

A generation ago, pop star Bonnie Tyler famously asked the question, “Where have all the good men gone?” Since then, the situation has only gotten worse, Bonnie. As C.S. Lewis noted, men in the Western world have largely been emasculated, and men in the Church are seldom an exception to this decades-long trend. To stand strong for one’s faith in Jesus Christ and push back at a culture that, in the words of Isaiah 5:20, “call[s] evil good and good evil” is today seen to be “divisive,” “unloving,” “bigoted,” and “intolerant.”

This is because evangelicals in the English-speaking world have confused Christ’s command to love others with being civil as if that were an attribute of God. (It isn’t.) As a consequence, a superficial, self-righteous, good-for-nothing pietism that prefers tone to truth and style to substance has displaced authentic Christianity in many of the roughly four hundred thousand churches in America. This doctrinal malpractice has given us a generation of men, Christian and otherwise, who are what Lewis called “men without chests.”

Don’t know the sort of Christians I am talking about? I’ll give you a hint. They are the sort who will, upon reading this article, take great offense at what I have written here and waste no time in letting me know it, but are not particularly offended by the sixty-one million children murdered in the holocaust of abortion since 1973, by universities that are incubators of radicalism, by Democrats who are compiling a “hit list” of Trump supporters, or by the godlessness of the Marxism they openly advocate, which has killed no less than 125 million people in the twentieth century alone.

Too many Christians today are risk-averse. They prefer the safety of the family life center to engaging the culture in any way that might cost them something. God forbid they might sacrifice their wealth or comfort, endure the social media mob, or be excluded from the neighborhood barbeque. To such Christians, the “woke” messages of pastors like Tim Keller and John Piper et al. are a justification to do what they were inclined to do anyway: nothing.

But that doesn’t strike me as Christian at all. C. S. Lewis called Christianity a “fighting religion.” Think on that. These days, such a statement strikes a somewhat absurd note with a generation that has never known war, privation, or suffering in defense of anything, much less of noble ideals. For them, Jesus has been reinterpreted to meet a lifestyle preference. One might wonder if they truly know him. Because when Jesus said to turn the other cheek, he did not mean to turn a blind eye. And the highest calling of a Christian is not to be civil; it is to be salt and light.

The shroud is located in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy. It depicts the image of a crucified man, and scientists and experts have studied it for a long time in an attempt to determine if it could have been the burial cloth of Jesus Christ.

More Accurate Than Carbon Dating

The recent findings by De Caro contradict a well-known 1988 carbon-dating study which suggested that the cloth is around 700 years old.

He said the carbon-dating method isn’t great for fabric, explaining there are several possible reasons why the 1988 carbon-14 study may have been mistaken in its conclusions.

“Fabric samples are usually subject to all kinds of contamination, which cannot always be controlled and completely removed from the dated specimen,” De Caro explained to NCR.

“If the cleaning procedure of the sample is not thoroughly performed, carbon-14 dating is not reliable,” he explained. “This may have been the case in 1988, as confirmed by experimental evidence showing that when moving from the periphery towards the center of the sheet, along the longest side, there is a significant increase in carbon-14 (radiocarbon dating).”

A website called Aleteia reports that De Caro further explained there’s greater accuracy when data is obtained by using the WAXS method. He said the technique was used on various samples of historical fabrics that date from 3000 BC to 2000 AD.

The new X-ray analysis is said to be more accurate and less destructive than radiocarbon dating. https://t.co/y20d1eav6l

— Aleteia (@AleteiaEN) April 22, 2022

The scientist compared the Shroud of Turin with those samples and discovered that it best matched a piece of fabric from the siege of Masada, Israel, in 55-74 AD.

“The technique of dating linen by X-ray is non-destructive,” De Caro noted. “Therefore, it can be repeated several times on the same sample. It would be more than desirable to have a collection of X-ray measurements carried out by several laboratories, on several samples, at most millimetric in size, taken from the Shroud.”

The Shroud Also Contains Mideast Pollen 

Lastly, De Caro pointed to factors that could trace the shroud’s migration from the Middle East to Europe. He said analysis of the shroud showed samples of pollen from the ancient region of Palestine, which could not have developed in Europe, according to Aleteia.

That discovery implies that the Shroud of Turin spent extensive time in the Middle East.

Religious faith in America is going the way of the Yellow Pages and travel maps, we keep hearing. It’s just a matter of time until Christianity’s total and happy extinction, chortle our cultural elites. Is this true? Is churchgoing and religious adherence really in “widespread decline” so much so that conservative believers should suffer “growing anxiety”?

Two words: Absolutely not.

New research published late last year by scholars at Harvard University and Indiana University Bloomington is just the latest to reveal the myth. This research questioned the “secularization thesis,” which holds that the United States is following most advanced industrial nations in the death of their once vibrant faith culture. Churches becoming mere landmarks, dance halls, boutique hotels, museums, and all that.

Not only did their examination find no support for this secularization in terms of actual practice and belief, the researchers proclaim that religion continues to enjoy “persistent and exceptional intensity” in America. These researchers hold our nation “remains an exceptional outlier and potential counter example to the secularization thesis.”

What Accounts for the Difference in Perceptions?

How can their findings appear so contrary to what we have been hearing from so many seemingly informed voices? It comes down primarily to what kind of faith one is talking about. Not the belief system itself, per se, but the intensity and seriousness with which people hold and practice that faith.

Mainline churches are tanking as if they have super-sized millstones around their necks. Yes, these churches are hemorrhaging members in startling numbers, but many of those folks are not leaving Christianity. They are simply going elsewhere. Because of this shifting, other very different kinds of churches are holding strong in crowds and have been for as long as such data has been collected. In some ways, they are even growing. This is what this new research has found.

The percentage of Americans who attend church more than once a week, pray daily, and accept the Bible as wholly reliable and deeply instructive to their lives has remained absolutely, steel-bar constant for the last 50 years or more, right up to today. These authors describe this continuity as “patently persistent.”

The percentage of such people is also not small. One in three Americans prays multiple times a day, while one in 15 do so in other countries on average. Attending services more than once a week continues to be twice as high among Americans compared to the next highest-attending industrial country, and three times higher than the average comparable nation.

One-third of Americans hold that the Bible is the actual word of God. Fewer than 10 percent believe so in similar countries. The United States “clearly stands out as exceptional,” and this exceptionalism has not been decreasing over time. In fact, these scholars determine that the percentages of Americans who are the most vibrant and serious in their faith is actually increasing a bit, “which is making the United States even more exceptional over time.”

This also means, of course, that those who take their faith seriously are becoming a markedly larger proportion of all religious people. In 1989, 39 percent of those who belonged to a religion held strong beliefs and practices. Today, these are 47 percent of all the religiously affiliated. This all has important implications for politics, indicating that the voting bloc of religious conservatives is not shrinking, but actually growing among the faithful. The declining influence of liberal believers at the polls has been demonstrated in many important elections recently.

These Are Not Isolated Findings

The findings of these scholars are not outliers. There has been a growing gulf between the faithful and the dabblers for quite some time, with the first group growing more numerous. Think about the church you attend, relative to its belief system. It is extremely likely that if your church teaches the Bible with seriousness, calls its people to real discipleship, and encourages daily intimacy with God, it has multiple services to handle the coming crowds.

Most decent-size American cities have a treasure trove of such churches for believers to choose from. This shows no sign of changing. If, however, your church is theologically liberal or merely lukewarm, it’s likely laying off staff and wondering how to pay this month’s light bill. People are navigating toward substantive Christianity.

The folks at Pew have been reporting for years that while the mainline churches are in drastic free fall, the group that “shows the most significant growth is the nondenominational family.” Of course, these nondenominational churches are 99.9 percent thorough-blooded evangelical. Pew also notes that “evangelical Protestantism and the historically black Protestant tradition have been more stable” over the years, with even a slight uptick in the last decade because many congregants leaving the mainline churches are migrating to evangelical churches that hold fast to the fundamentals of the Christian faith.

When the so-called “progressive” churches question the historicity of Jesus, deny the reality of sin, support abortion, ordain clergy in same-sex relationships and perform their marriages, people desiring real Christianity head elsewhere. Fact: evangelical churches gain five new congregants exiled from the liberal churches for every one they lose for any reason. They also do a better job of retaining believers from childhood to adulthood than do mainline churches.

The Other Key Factor: Faithful People Grow More Children

There is another factor at work here beyond orthodox belief. The University of London’s Eric Kaufmann explains in his important book “Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?” (he says yes) that the sustaining vitality, and even significant per capita growth, of serious Christian belief is as firmly rooted in fertility as it is in faithful teaching and evangelism. Globally, he says that the more robust baby-making practices of orthodox Jews and Christians, as opposed to the baby-limiting practices of liberals, create many more seriously religious people than a secular agenda can keep up with.

The growth of serious Christian belief is as firmly rooted in fertility as it is in faithful teaching and evangelism.

Fertility determines who influences the future in many important ways. He puts it bluntly, “The secular West and East Asia are aging and their share of the world population declining. This means the world is getting more religious even as people in the rich world shed their faith.”

Fertility is as important as fidelity for Christianity and Judaism’s triumph from generation to generation. Kaufmann contends, “Put high fertility and [faith] retention rates together with general population decline and you have a potent formula for change.”

It comes down to this: God laughs at the social Darwinists. Their theory is absolutely true, but just not in the way they think. Those who have the babies and raise and educate them well tend to direct the future of humanity. Serious Christians are doing this. Those redefining the faith and reality itself are not.

This why Orthodox theologian David Bentley Hart proclaimed in First Things, long before the proposal of the Benedict Option, that the most “subversive and effective strategy we might undertake [to counter the culture] would be one of militant fecundity: abundant, relentless, exuberant, and defiant childbearing.” The future rests in the hands of the fertile.

What About All the Millennial Ex-Christians?

But what about our young people? We are constantly hearing that young people are “leaving the church in droves,” followed by wildly disturbing statistics. This also requires a closer look at who is actually leaving and from where. Pew reports that of young adults who left their faith, only 11 percent said they had a strong faith in childhood while 89 percent said they came from a home that had a very weak faith in belief and practice.

It’s not a news flash that kids don’t tend to hang onto what they never had in the first place. Leading sociologist of religion Christopher Smith has found through his work that most emerging adults “report little change in how religious they have been in the previous five years.” He surprisingly also found that those who do report a change say they have been more religious, not less. This certainly does not mean there is a major revival going on among young adults, but nor does it mean the sky is falling.

Add to this Rodney Stark’s warning that we should not confuse leaving the faith with attending less often. He and other scholars report that young adults begin to attend church less often in their “independent years” and have always done so for as long back as such data has been collected. It’s part of the nature of emerging adulthood. Just as sure as these young people do other things on Sunday morning, the leading sociologists of religion find they return to church when they get married, have children, and start to live a real adult life. It’s like clockwork and always has been. However, the increasing delay among young adults in entering marriage and family is likely lengthening this gap today.

More Americans Attend Church Now Than At the Founding

What is really counter-intuitive is what Stark and his colleagues at the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion found when looking at U.S. church attendance numbers going back to the days of our nation’s founding. They found that the percentage of church-attending Americans relative to overall population is more than four times greater today than it was in 1776. The number of attendees has continued to rise each and every decade over our nation’s history right up until the present day.

The number of church attendees has continued to rise each and every decade over our nation’s history right up until the present day.

People are making theological statements with their feet, shuffling to certain churches because they offer what people come seeking: clear, faithful, practical teaching of the scriptures, help in living intimately with and obediently to God, and making friends with people who will challenge and encourage them in their faith. To paraphrase the great Southern novelist Flannery O’Connor, if your church isn’t going to believe and practice actual Christianity, then “to hell with it.” This is what people are saying with their choices.

Or as Eric Kaufmann asserts, “Once secularism rears its head and fundamentalism responds with a clear alternative, moderate religion strikes many as redundant. Either you believe the stuff or you don’t. If you do, it makes sense to go for the real thing, which takes a firm stand against godlessness.”

If your Christianity is reconstituted to the day’s fashion, don’t be surprised if people lose interest in it. Few are seeking 2 Percent Christianity. They want the genuine deal, and the demographics on religion of the last few decades unmistakably support the fact.