Features
Violence interrupted: A video course on Jesus as forgiving victim
The theme of James Alison’s video Bible study is the main theme he sees in scripture: that the creation of scapegoats must end.
Something old, something new: Innovation in theological education
Why is theological education necessary? What are the conditions of its fruitfulness? Such questions are both basic and perplexing.
A fool’s awakening
I said something cutting and sneering, and my mother slowly put down her tea. Odd that I would remember that detail.
What reaches children? The Sunday school challenge
Churches need to take time to discern their particular Christian formation mission. Only then can they choose curricular resources to support this.
Theologians in place: Thinking about God together
Designating a person “in residence” to think about theology may seem like a luxury. But for the church, making room for such work may be a necessity.
Books
Daily Feast, edited by Kathleen Long Bostrom, Elizabeth F. Caldwell, and Jana K. Riess
A spin-off from the 12-volume lectionary commentary Feasting on the Word, this work offers readings, reflections and prayers for each day of the church year....
Reading a Different Story, by Susan VanZanten
VanZanten grew up in a Dutch Reformed context, and much of her life has been steeped in the Reformed tradition, though some of the schools where she’s taught English are more evangelical than Refor...
Earthy vocation
U.S. society has shorn food production of its spiritual dimension. Fred Bahnson and Ragan Sutterfield explore this issue from different directions.
Things I’ve Learned from Dying, by David R. Dow
Dow is a law professor and founder and director of the Texas Innocence Network....
Tombstone, by Yang Jisheng, and Three Famines, by Thomas Keneally
Yang Jisheng argues that totalitarian states tend to develop policies in a vacuum and find it difficult to change course. Thomas Keneally would agree.
Fire and Light, by James MacGregor Burns
James MacGregor Burns has authored an eminently readable history of that elusive historical movement we call the Enlightenment.
Reading for Preaching, by Cornelius Plantinga Jr.
Cornelius Plantinga Jr. contends that to be fully prepared to share a word from God with a congregation, a preacher should attend to storytellers, biographers, poets and journalists.
Departments
The full picture of 1517
As we remember the Reformation over the next couple of years, we should also recall its global context.
Innovative moment
It would be a shame if the crisis in seminary education didn’t lead to fresh thinking about how the church calls, trains and places leaders.
Faithmarks, Sweet T Studios in conjunction with St. Marks Church, Chattanooga
Tattoos, according to tattoo artist Danny Siviter, represent some of the most permanent statements a person can make....
What girls want
Girls gets attention as a boundary-breaking comedy focused explicitly on gender. But Hannah and friends are not navigating adult life well.
Figuring out faith
In divinity school, professors engaged my heart and mind—and began the process of helping me figure out what I believed and whether it was important enough to give my life to it.
Rhymes and reasons
Dante’s Divine Comedy, if we are willing to read it whole, has a deep unity. The tradition of its interpretation does not.
News
Sex-abuse files impugn Chicago’s cardinals
Thousands of pages of chancery files were released on January 21 as part of a court settlement with the Chicago Catholic archdiocese, which for decades failed to protect children from priestly predators....
Abuse verdict goes against Baptist state convention
The attorney for a man awarded $12.5 million by a Florida jury for sexual abuse suffered at the hands of a Baptist minister says the verdict could transform how Southern Baptists handle accusations of clergy misconduct....
Evangelical group calls for wide respect, not acrimony
A circle of evangelical Christian leaders has set up a new campaign to emphasize that all people—gay, liberal, unbeliever, undocumented or otherwise— reflect the image of God....
Green burials reflect care for earth, family finances
Growing up in small-town Georgia, John B....
Cremation is popular, but is it eco-friendly?
Cremation is forbidden in traditional Islam and Judaism but accepted by most other religions. It is also the fastest-growing way Americans choose to deal with their bodies after death....
Divorce rate high in conservative areas
Conservative Protestants residing in red states have high divorce rates, surveys have shown, but a newly published study finds that not-so-religious couples in their communities are splitting up nearly as fast....
Federal judge strikes down Oklahoma same-sex marriage ban
A federal judge recently ruled that Oklahoma’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage violates the U.S. Constitution. Same-sex marriages were put on hold in the state, however, because U.S....
Pastor stunts make a point and garner headlines
A California pastor made headlines in January when he announced that he will live like an atheist for a year to see what it’s like on the other side of belief....
Tony Campolo to shutter his 40-year-old ministry
Tony Campolo, a progressive evangelical leader who counseled President Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, has announced that the organization he founded nearly 40 years ago will close on June 30....
Lectionary
Sunday, March 2, 2014: Exodus 24:12-18; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9
I grew up in Southern Baptist congregations. By the time I left high school I knew the four steps to salvation and the meaning of Jesus’ sacrificial death as a substitutionary atonement for my sins. I could articulate this understanding of salvation in clear and simple terms. Within the metanarrative of evangelical Christianity it made perfect sense and was logically coherent.
Then my fundamentalism began to unravel.
Sunday, February 23, 2014: Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18; Matthew 5:38-48
What does God require of us? We tend to like Jesus’ most famous answer, what Scot McKnight calls the Jesus Creed: to love God with our entire being and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
But what about the answer we find in the holiness code of Leviticus and the Sermon on the Mount? Are we really ready to sign up for a program of holiness and perfection? Sure, it’s simple and to the point. But what chance do we have of living up to these radical standards?