2024 is officially behind, and the new year has come. The beginning of a new year is an opportunity to reflect on the past year, and in accordance with tradition (see 23 Most Read Articles from 2023), below is an annotated list of the twenty four of Christ Over All’s most read articles published in 2024 in descending order (most read is first). I’ll follow the list with a few reflections.
Most Read Articles Published in 2024
1. Why AI Pornography is Far More Dangerous Than Yesterday’s Porn by Jake Valk • While AI pornography may not portray real people, it is no less sinful and destructive. In fact, it poses even greater danger.
2. Encore: A New Testament Scholar Explains What Should Be the Two Key Voting Concerns for Christians by Robert A. J. Gagnon • Why the recognition of the image of God and mankind as immutably male and female are the two voting concerns of the 2024 election.
3. What Is Missing from Our Constitutional Order?: Our Government Should Acknowledge Christianity by Albert Mohler • What was the presupposition for the American experiment? Protestant theism. And a acknowledgement of such is sorely needed today.
4. A Christians Perspective on Artificial Intelligence by Dustin Ryan • Artificial Intelligence is changing the world we live in. In fact, you likely use AI every day already. What does this new technology mean for Christians?
5. Encore: Voting for the Greater Good: A Biblical Perspective by Robert A. J. Gagnon • In the midst of two unappealing options, why not choose the one that brings about the greater good for society?
6. Praying for the Peace of Israel: A Theological Proposal and a Prayer by Trent Hunter • You’re at a prayer meeting. You’re asked to pray for the peace of Israel (Ps. 122). Who and what do you pray for as a new covenant Christian?
7. Slaying Feminism: Ending the Impossible Quest for Sexual Interchangeability by Doug Ponder • Striving for male and female equality in every way is destroying us—and there’s a better way.
8. The Extremist Track Record of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz on Promoting LGBTQ Immorality and Abortion by Robert A. J. Gagnon • A deep dive into the track record for Harris/Walz and Trump/Vance on LGBTQ+ and abortion.
9. How Will “All Israel Be Saved” in Romans 11:26? (Part 2) by Richard Lucas • Part 1 of this article discussed the future hope still awaiting ethnic Israel. Does this hope also apply to national Israel?
10. What Should Christians Think About the Nation of Israel Today? By Stephen Wellum • As Christians, how should we understand the modern nation of Israel? And how does this understanding shape our view of the current conflict between Israel and Hamas?
11. The World Turned Upside Down: George Ladd on the Kingdom by Thomas Schreiner • George Ladd’s understanding of the kingdom of God changed the landscape of evangelicalism. Come see what’s new.
12. How Will “All Israel Be Saved” in Romans 11:26? (Part 1) by Richard Lucas • Throughout almost all of church history, the church has been composed of a Gentile majority. Yet, Scripture says that all Israel will be saved. So, how should we understand this promise?
13. How Shall We Then Vote?: the Christian Conscience and the 2024 Presidential Election by Michael Carlino • How ought the Christian vote or not vote in the 2024 election, and what role does our conscience play?
14. Politics, Conscience, and the Church: the Why What and How of Political Disagreement and a Test Case by Andy Naselli • The reasons why we all can’t just get along . . . and a test case regarding abortion and voting.
15. Encore: Big Ed, Too Big To Fail by Benjamin R. Merkle • Propped up by state and federal grants—and beholden to whomever holds the strings—big education will one day face a reckoning.
16. Psalm 2: in Context, Interpreted by the Apostles, and in Contrast With Postmillenialism by Peter Gentry & Knox Brown • When we allow the apostles to interpret Psalm 2, what does it mean, and what are the implications for postmillennialism?
17. A Comparison of the 2024 Republican and Democratic Party Platforms by David Closson • How do the Republican and Democratic platforms stack up on the issues of life, religious freedom, and sexuality?
18. The Kingdom of God and Sphere Sovereignty by Joe Boot • What is Sphere Sovereignty, and how does it help Christians understand political authority in light of Christ’s lordship?
19. The Kingdom of God by Graeme Goldsworthy • What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall we compare it? This Essay is a primer on this biblical topic.
20. What Evangelicals Must Learn from the Last Decades of American Politics by Stephen Wellum • What has the evangelical church gotten wrong in the past decades, and where ought we go in light of where we are?
21. Muddying and Muddling Church and Kingdom by P. Andrew Sandlin • Why do some churches ignore politics and music and science and entertainment, while other churches take on the heavy load of overseeing hospitals and movie studios and businesses? The answer comes down to muddiness.
22. What is Christian Platonism? (Part 1): An Introduction in Three Steps by Robert Lyon • What is Christian Platonism and where did it come from? Answers to these questions and more lie ahead.
23. The Role of the Kingdom of God in Systematic Theology by Christina D. Gonet & Christopher W. Morgan • Find out how the kingdom of God reverberates throughout important systematic theology categories.
24. Why Did God the Son Become Human by Stephen Wellum • Why did Jesus need to take on flesh to save us? Here are four answers from the book of Hebrews.
A Reflection from 24 Essays
In life and ministry, numbers are not the main thing, but they are not nothing either. Scripture counts the tribes of Israel, the apostles of Christ, the 144,000 assembled in Revelation. In fact, of the sixty-six books of the Bible, there is even one called “Numbers,” because of the two censuses that open and close the book.
So, numbers matter. And as we look back on 2024, we are giving thanks to God for the authors and readers of these pieces, and we are taking stock to see some of the trendlines that these numbers reveal. Admittedly, the following assessments are offered with open hands. Maybe there are better reasons to see interest in on topic over another. But think with me as we consider what and why these articles were most popular in 2024.
Of the twelve themes that we published last year, our theme of “Voting to the Glory of God” had eight of the top twenty-four most read articles published this year. This may reflect a thirst for more popular-level writings that address political theology. In past decades, many evangelical leaders have shied away from giving counsel regarding the voting booth (with the occasional exception for abortion). Some chose to largely ignore election seasons, some gave general counsel to vote one’s conscience, and others advocated a kind of third-wayism that actually leaned to the political left. But as the Democratic party’s policies have become more radical and overtly anti-Christian, many evangelicals have come to see the moral significance of voting for the greater good. Some of the articles in this month grappled with how one could in good conscience vote for Donald Trump, while other articles explained how our conscience should work in voting, especially in light of abortion. Perhaps the next four years will bring something of an evangelical awakening to the public aspect of our theology and practice. And perhaps evangelicals will learn from the past decade and make wise choices for the future. And we pray that as those discussions continue this month on voting might serve as a helpful resource for that conversation.
In second place—with six out of the top twenty four articles—was our theme on the Kingdom of God. With Christian Nationalism in the news and postmillennialism on the rise, many are eager to consider how exactly the kingdom of God relates to earthly kingdoms of man. From near-comprehensive introductions to the kingdom of God to the historical re-introduction and appraisal of George Eldon Ladd, this month sought to untangle bad notions of the church and kingdom while positively identifying different spheres of sovereignty. We considered how Psalm 2 relates to arguments for postmillennialism, and an especially illuminating piece on how the kingdom of God relates to systematic theology. One thing is clear: the kingdom is not the church, and the church is not the kingdom, even if there is overlap. Nor is God’s kingdom to be confused with any modern nation-state, which brings us to our next theme.
In third place for most read monthly articles was the theme on a Biblical View of Israel. The October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack and Israel’s response had many people talking about Israel at the beginning of 2024, including us. Long before debates about the Jews swirled in late 2024—a topic we did not address—we sought to understand ethnic Israel across redemptive history. As the people of God who received the Law at Sinai stands at the center of the Bible, knowing God’s plans for Israel informs how we read the whole Bible and how we obey the command of Psalm 122:6 to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” Anchoring this month were two exegetical pieces (part one and part two) that address the controversial phrase of Romans 11:26 that “all Israel will be saved.” These pieces and the rest of the month may help you in 2025, as the conversation about Israel and the Jews continues.
Our most read article published in 2024 was Jake Valk’s “Why AI Pornography is Far More Dangerous Than Yesterday’s Porn”—a commentary on the meaning of sex and how Artificial Intelligence (AI) perverts this gift with new avenues of carnality. Situated in a whole month on AI, this article reminds us of the deadly power of pornography, and the ways that AI looks to take a demonic tool in Satan’s hands and make it all the more enslaving. If you are in ministry, you know the damage of pornography, and this article, if you haven’t read it, will help you stay one step ahead.
More broadly, as all technology can be used for good or ill, we must recognize all the ways AI amplifies that axiom. Today, Artificial Intelligence is unleashing a new chapter in information processing, generative content, and productivity, but the unintended side-effect is an information overload and lessened human interaction. Time will tell whether AI will make humans better or worse, and how it will change us, but this article is a start for that consideration.
Rounding out the list was our month called “Christ over All the Isms: Totalitarianism, Globalism, Feminism, etc.” There are many worldviews that seek to set themselves up against Christ and his rule, and two in particular broke the twenty-four most read barrier: feminism and Big Ed (big educationalism). In our article on feminism, Doug Ponder considered how we got to where we are today in the various waves of feminism, and how the desire to make man and woman interchangeable is doomed to failure and misery. Instead, a thick appreciation and application of maleness and femaleness brings about both flourishing and beauty. In our article on Big Ed, Dr. Benjamin Merkle, president of New Saint Andrews College, told us to find the purse strings, and to know that whoever owns the funding (in this case, to a school) controls the school’s ideology. Teachers and educational leaders take note!
Beyond these themes, we had one article introducing the technical discussion of “Christian Platonism”—a topic in the academy that will likely filter to the church within a decade if not sooner. While some authors say that we cannot understand our Bible without Plato, we pushed back and countered that a Greek metaphysic—or view of reality—is not necessary to understand the Bible’s metaphysic. The Bible has its own consistent metaphysic. To round out the list, in our month on the book of Hebrews, we had an excellent article on why Jesus’s humanity was necessary to save mankind. The Son of Man had to assume the very humanity that he saved, and this article explains why with wonder.
Taking a Larger View of 2024
Surveying the whole year, ten of our twenty four most read articles were longforms. These longforms come in around 3,000–5,000 words. This suggests that even in a day of soundbites, memes, and X posts, people are willing to read longer articles to learn what the Bible says about a given topic.
At the same time, many of our themes had no most read articles. This reminds us that popularity is not a reliable metric for what is best. Some of our best articles (in my estimation) are “vegetables” on the dinner plate; they relate to the nature of theology, exegesis that sings, guarding against emotional manipulation, and even a delightful article on an overlooked antidote to busy souls.
In our day of online polemics, controversial topics will inevitably get more clicks, but from the beginning, Christ Over All has not joined the fray for clicks. We’re here for Christ. That is, we are here to proclaim the fact that Christ reigns over everything: from dead theologians to very live problems, from biblical texts to theological topics, from nation-states to particular bad teachings that have yet to filter much to the church.
To that end, we will continue to publish on topics that are hot and cold, biblical and cultural, theological and philosophical. It all belongs to Christ, and we will gladly proclaim this while the Lord sustains our faithfulness and labors (through the means of happy givers!). With the wind of God’s kindness in our sails, we have launched into 2025.
We are grateful for what great things God has done, and we look to him to empower us for more kindness. In the new year, come join us for the journey. And as the Lord allows, we’ll look to see what the top 25 articles are in 2025.
