Latest Articles
Puddle hopping: A labyrinth alternative
Some friends of mine are avid labyrinth walkers and have recommended the practice to me. But though I’ve long admired the floor of Chartres Cathedral—and once had the pleasure of seeing my children race around it at top speed before they climbed the tower and searched the high vaults for bats—I’ve never been on a formal retreat involving labyrinths. Perhaps that’s because I’m more familiar with informal collapses than with formal retreats. Fortunately an economic alternative has suggested itself: puddle hopping.
Bagged for Jesus: The economy of salvation
"The economy of salvation” is an ancient phrase used by everyone from the Eastern Orthodox theologians of old to pioneer Pentecostal preacher Phoebe Palmer to thinkers across the Christian spectrum...
One-upmanship: Luke 18:9-14
"I’m bigger than you are!” Here comes the playground taunt and its implied claim for absolute superiority....
Maryland high court nixes gay marriage: A close decision
Maryland’s highest court has delivered the latest blow to supporters of same-sex marriage rights, narrowly ruling that the Maryland Constitution does not confer upon gays the right to marry each ot...
House calls: Luke 19:1-10
Not long ago the local newspaper carried a story about a young couple traveling to visit relatives in a neighboring state....
Take and read
Laments over the current state of academic biblical study abound, but Bockmuehl moves beyond his penetrating critique of the disci...
Take and read
The splendid Cambridge History of Christianity rolls on with this wide-ranging and authoritative treatment o...
Books to argue with
Sometimes it’s the books we disagree with that make the biggest impact on us: we find ourselves locked in argument with the author or continually returning to the book because its flaws h...
The Children of Húrin
In his iconoclastic Autobiography (1883), Anthony Trollope recalled speculating, during a sea voyage to Australia, about the fate of his unpub...
The Maytrees: A Novel
In the final installment (For the Time Being, 1999) of her wide-ranging trilogy that started in 1974 with Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie Dilla...
Be Near Me
This is a book I should not have liked. It’s a story of a lonely Catholic priest trapped in a bleak little parish in a nowhere Scottish town....
Raging with Compassion
When I talk with Christians about their struggles in faith, the question of evil invariably surfaces early on....
The Mystery of the Child
Just a few years ago, people accused religion scholars of ignoring children....
Blogging toward Sunday
Last year I attended a prayer vigil in downtown Jackson on the night of a scheduled execution. A hard rain was falling....
You better not shop around
Members of our church were studying the Hebrew word shalom one night when someone asked: “Where are the places in our community that seemed to be governed by fear, division, doubt and deat...
Graham's gift: The pure milk of the gospel
I was not prepared to enjoy as much as I did The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House, by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy....