Features
God’s covenant: What it means to be church
The idea of “covenant” comes up frequently in proposed solutions to mainline crises. Before writing its final report, the PCUSA Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church drew up a covenant of prayer, worship and careful listening.
Bearing witness: A challenge to Christian Zionism
While visiting friends in east Texas my wife saw a message on the sign of the Assemblies of God church in which she had grown up. It declared, “The Bible Says the Land Belongs to Israel.” This was during the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in August 2005.
What if? The missed opportunity of 9/11: The missed opportunity of 9/11
What if, after the September 11 attacks, things had been done differently? What if President Bush had addressed the nation by saying, "My fellow Americans: Everything in us cries out for revenge. It would be easy to give in to this cry, and I'm sure you would support me if I mobilized our troops to hunt down the terrorists and those who helped them. But I propose another route, one that links us in our vulnerability to the other peoples of this world."
Barely making it
Soulful and tough in equal measure, The Pursuit of Happyness is the ideal movie for the Christmas season. It’s a triumph-of-the-spirit film in which the protagonist’s journey from poverty and occasional homelessness to solvency and the promise of a future is so thorny and obstacle-laden that you can’t imagine how he’s going to get there. And the moment of triumph, coming after so much heartbreak, is understated.
Books
Squeezed out
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Religion and rights
John Witte has written a book that is profoundly in touch with the intractable issues in U.S....
Faith and Politics: How the "Moral Values" Debate Divides America and How to Move Forward Together
This is not a ghostwritten book signed by yet another famous politician hoping ...
BookMarks
Huebner’s book is a challenge to both his fellow Mennonites and the broader church....
Departments
Grand parenting: Grandchildren and the holy hope of Christmas
The excerpt from Wendell Berry’s latest book was for me a Christmas gift to savor. It stirred memories and reflections about grandfathers. As Berry suggests, the grandparents of people my age lived in a different world from ours....
Critical and faithful: Magnanimity rooted in the gospel
When asked where the new members of liberal churches will come from, David Jenkins, former Anglican bishop of Durham, replied: “Where they have always come from—the evangelicals.” This is only partly true, of course....
Secret passage: "The craziest thing you've done here yet"
In the minutes before the wedding ceremony, I wait downstairs in Pilgrim Hall with the groom and the groomsmen....
Hymn sing: A secular liturgy for hymnal transition times
New hymnals, a.k.a. “Worship Books,” are forthcoming from numerous church bodies, including two Lutheran groups (among them my own ELCA). Having studied none of these books, I write with vincible ignorance about the details. Having studied church history, however, I write with invincible knowledge of how all of them will be greeted in some sectors of each church group. Those old enough to have savaged the books being replaced will now mourn their loss, just as they will—if they live long enough—grieve over the shelving of the ones they are now trashing.
News
Century Marks
Wages of war: No one can predict the long-term consequences of war, but not until last summer did the U.S. stop collecting a 3 percent tax on long-distance telephone calls that was begun in 1898 to help pay for the Spanish-American War—a war that lasted only several months (Vital Speeches of the Day, December).
Religious newcomers on Capitol Hill: First Muslims and Buddhists in Congress
When it reconvenes, Congress will for the first time include a Muslim, two Buddhists, more Jews than Episcopalians, and the highest-ranking Mormon in congressional history....
Episcopal division widens in Virginia: Historic parishes vote to leave
Conservative Episcopalians’ steady exodus from the Episcopal Church accelerated before Christmas as eight Virginia congregations—including two large, historic parishes—voted to leave the national body....
Graham family in dispute over burial site: Billy Graham Library or The Cove are considered
Evangelist Franklin Graham said last month that the decision about where his parents will be buried is “personal” and he does not intend to enter a public debate about it. The word was out, however, that not all is settled....
Christmas wars enrich some advocacy groups: Merchandise sales support conservative organizations
For conservative Christan groups, the hot gift last month was a weapon for fighting back in the “War on Christmas”—be it a button, a bumper sticker or a legal memo with information on the topic....
Is bottled water a moral issue? Religious groups launch campaign: Religious groups launch campaign
Thou shalt not murder. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife. Thou shalt not . . . drink bottled water?...
New Jersey lawmakers OK gay civil unions: Follow state Supreme Court ruling
State lawmakers voted in mid-December to make New Jersey the third state in the nation to allow gay couples to form civil unions with all the rights and responsibilities of married couples....
United Nations court jails Rwandan priest, frees Adventist pastor: Roman Catholic convicted of role in genocide
The United Nations war-crimes court for Rwanda has convicted a Roman Catholic priest of genocide and sentenced him to 15 years for his role in the 1994 mass killings in the central African country....
High court to hear faith-based case: Bush's attempts to expand government role at issue
For the first time, the Supreme Court will hear a case directly related to President Bush’s faith-based initiative, his attempt to expand the government’s ability to fund social services through churches and other religious charities....
Briefly noted
The Amish community, which inspired the world with acts of forgiveness after a Pennsylvania schoolhouse shooting, has been named the newsmaker of the year by the Religion Newswriters Association (RNA) and Beliefnet....
Lectionary
Expect a call: Jeremiah 1:4-10; Luke 4:21-30
When I run across texts like these from Jeremiah and Luke, I’m always asking, “What kind of community does it take to raise prophets like Jeremiah and even Jesus?” Being a Baptist, I have few doubts about God calling prophets, preachers, missionaries and everyday Christians. The call of God tends to be very personal, but it is not private and does not come in a vacuum.
Wedding gifts: John 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
What do you get for the bride who has everything? It’s unusual these days for a couple not to have all they need before they marry. They don’t need dishes or kitchenware—unless they hope to upgrade. Their grandparents may have started out in a small apartment with a used stove and an icebox, but the 21st-century couple already owns a Viking stove and Sub-Zero refrigerator.
Acceptable words: Psalm 19; Luke 4:14-21
He was not the young man they had known before. They were sizing him up, as people in small towns will do, when he stood up in the synagogue to read from the prophet Isaiah. He read a fantastic and otherworldly passage, plainly not about Nazareth, but about some other place. And then he startled them all: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Was he talking about them? Or himself? And what did he mean by proclaiming right there, in his hometown, “the acceptable year of the Lord”?