Features
A day with no agenda: Time to enjoy the world
I've spent the last few months in guilty inactivity. I've discovered that the world doesn't seem to need me to improve it.
Mission in spite of empire: The story of Bartholomus Ziegenbalg
In mainline churches, "mission" is both buzzword and expletive. Into this circle of American anxiety comes a gentle rebuke from the Tamils.
From survival to love: Evolution and the problem of suffering
For Andrew Elphinstone, human selfishness and violence are not evidence of a world gone wrong. They show a person ripe for transformation.
Militarized policing: The history of the warrior cop
In the 19th century, the U.S. adopted a "social peacekeeper" model of policing. Then the Civil War left behind a surplus of firearms.
Books
Simply Merton, by Linus Mundy
Thomas Merton poured out his restless, searching, and wondering soul in his journals, which add up to more than a million words. Another monk once asked him why he wrote everything down....
With malice toward Lincoln
John McKee Barr constructs a persuasive narrative of Lincoln loathing—by Lost Causers, neo-Confederates, libertarians, and even some liberals.
Following Martin
What happened to the civil rights movement? David Chappell offers a carefully wrought study of a nation's fitful waking from a beautiful dream.
Questions for Christians, by John Morreall
John Morreall's book is modeled after Peter Abelard's Sic et Non. Morreall wants Christians to ask questions of their beliefs and practices.
The Quotable Kierkegaard, edited by Gordon Marino
Marino, professor of philosophy and director of the Hong Kierkegaard Library at St....
The New Arabs, by Juan Cole
Juan Cole tells the backstory of the revolutions in North Africa, exploring events in the context of their cultural setting. His conclusions are optimistic yet grounded in realism.
Departments
Joyful to the end
It appears that my friend Steve Hayner doesn't have long to live. It is breathtaking to watch him prepare to die as he lived.
Experiments in time
Every story is a story about time. Boyhood's power is not the perimeters of its story as much as the immersion into it.
Revived by the arts
"Revival" usually implies a preacher with great oratory skills. Nashville's Downtown Presbyterian stokes something different.
Priest under threat
Calvary is a masterpiece of religious filmmaking. Its greatest achievement is to convey the impact of a community's near-collapse of faith.
A reader-supported journal
The Century exists because Christians who care deeply about theology, ministry, and the life of congregations are willing to support it.
Containing Ebola
Behind the Ebola epidemic are issues of basic health care. Combating it involves fairly basic public health measures and education.
News
Ferguson-area churches offer aid after police killing
In the weeks since the fatal shooting by police of Michael Brown, an unarmed African-American teenager, in Ferguson, Missouri, F. Willis Johnson has led prayer vigils, met with community leaders, and comforted protesters....
National clergy issue interracial call for justice
As Barbara Williams-Skinner collected signatures for a statement by leaders of African-American church groups about the Ferguson, Missouri, police shooting of Michael Brown, she found more people wanted to join in....
Congress creates envoy for religious minorities persecuted in Asia
As Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria send religious minorities fleeing for their lives, Congress has created a new job at the State Department: Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Ce...
Nuns honor Elizabeth Johnson, theologian criticized by U.S. bishops
Sister Elizabeth Johnson, who drew U.S. Catholic bishops’ ire with what they consider to be radical feminist writings, received the top award of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious August 15 at its assembly in Nashville, Tennessee....
Black churches address suicide, mental illness
The death of comedian Robin Williams has heightened awareness of suicide and mental health. But many African-American churches quietly began educating members on the issue well before....
Researchers tell faith communities to let trauma survivors forgive in their own time
The women came seeking healing. Many of these survivors of the Rwandan genocide had lost family members, and some had been raped and infected with HIV....
Lectionary
Sunday, September 28, 2014: Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32; Matthew 21:23-32
Ezekiel steps right into the middle of a group of people busy at that most ancient of activities, going back to Eden: the blame game.
Sunday, September 21, 2014: Philippians 1:21-30
The Philippians would have read "striving side by side" and thought of a phalanx of infantrymen.