Features
Songs of exile and faith: Dinka Christians in South Sudan
Before the Sudanese civil war, Dinka song was mostly nonreligious. The mass conversion of the people brought with it an explosion of Christian song.
Sex, love and commerce: The debate over prostitution
There's a growing consensus that we should stop treating people who sell sex as criminals. But that's about where the consensus ends.
Necessary songs: The case for singing the entire Psalter
In the Nazi-occupied Netherlands, my dad couldn't sing national songs. The Nazis saw the church's Psalter, however, as innocuous. Little did they know.
Books
Small-Town America, by Robert Wuthnow
Robert Wuthnow's stories occasionally confound his data. But he lets the contradictions sit—producing a rich tapestry of small-town life.
An Illustrated Guide to the Holy Land for Tour Groups, Students, and Pilgrims, by Lamontte M. Luker
This pocket-size book is a good aid for anyone visiting the sites in Israel and the West Bank with biblical significance....
David and Goliath, by Malcolm Gladwell
I'm delighted that Malcolm Gladwell has rediscovered his Christian faith. But I worry that David and Goliath is like the Bob Dylan album Saved.
The Antidote, by Oliver Burkeman
If positive thinking leaves you cold, Oliver Burkeman's The Antidote will be just what the title promises.
The executioner’s return
The U.S. is the only Western democracy that retains the death penalty. Evan Mandery tells the story of the long legal campaign against it.
Sacred Pauses, by April Yamasaki
Yamasaki writes out of her experience as a pastor who practices the spiritual disciplines....
Departments
The young and the generous
We've been told that millennials are selfish, greedy and narcissistic. But the young adults I know don't fit this stereotype.
Capitol spectacle
I was prepared to enjoy the theological heart of Catching Fire. But my moviegoing experience was bizarrely affected by all the ads.
Presentation in the Temple, by Ambrogio Lorenzetti (fl. ca. 1311–1348)
Ambrogio Lorenzetti created a profound visual interpretation of Jesus’ presentation in the temple....
Thanks for what?
After two years, I visited my ailing friend. Eventually, he asked for the Eucharist—and suddenly every word mattered.
Boehner’s move
The budget deal was no grand bargain, but there was one grand outcome: the House Speaker stood up to the insurgent right. Is this the new normal?
News
Norman Rockwell favorite sells for $46 million
Norman Rockwell, long America’s favorite mass-market painter, now has auction records to match his popularity....
Methodist-shaped, Mandela praised roles of religion
Nelson Mandela, the widely mourned South African leader lauded by religious figures as a colossus of unimpeachable moral character and integrity, had a deep connection with faith institutions....
Laws against polygamy flawed, rules federal judge
A judge has struck down parts of Utah’s laws criminalizing polygamy as unconstitutional in a case involving the Brown family, featured on the television reality series Sister Wives....
‘World’s end’ preacher Camping dead at 92
Harold Camping, the radio preacher who convinced thousands of followers that Jesus would return on May 21, 2011, to usher in the end of the world died December 15, according to his Family Radio network. He was 92....
Son of Obama faith adviser dies in apparent suicide
Isaac Hunter, the son of megachurch pastor and Obama spiritual counselor Joel Hunter, was found dead December 10 in an apparent suicide, police say....
As Mandela is mourned, abortion foes protest
As world leaders and ordinary citizens gathered in a South African sports stadium on December 10 to remember Nelson Mandela, abortion foes pushed a message that went against the global outpouring of praise: the antiapartheid leader, they argued, b...
Ban on black priests had racist roots, say Mormons
In the past, the Mormon Church has said history isn’t clear on why blacks were banned from its all-male priesthood for more than a century. Now it is....
Pope plans panel to tackle sexual abuse
Pope Francis is creating a special commission to deal with the clergy sexual abuse crisis on a global scale, a step that comes amid growing criticism that Francis had not given sufficient attention to the scandal....
Activists end immigration fast; others take up cause
Sapped by three weeks of a water-only diet, three activists for immigration reform ended their fasts on December 3 with a morsel of bread blessed by a priest and “passed the fast on” to others who hope to keep attention focused on the issue....