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Reading the Bible with the Damned. By Bob Eckblad. Westminster John Knox, 2005. ...
A Woman’s Place: House Churches in Earliest Christianity
This book takes us back to the house church meetings of early Christians, meetings that “must have been noisy and bustlin...
Encyclopedia of Christianity
Ten years in the making, the new Encyclopedia of Christianity, edited by John Bowden, is a major scholarly achievement....
How to Cook Your Daughter
If I had not read Father Joe, by Tony Hendra, I might never have read How to Cook Your Daughter....
Century Marks
A billion here, a billion there: Every two years or so the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi issues this claim: he could eliminate global terrorism by creating a “spiritual force field” with donations from billionaires (Chicago Sun-Times, August 29).
Religious aftershock: Earthquake relief in Pakistan
New fault lines are complicating the already daunting challenge of recovering from last October’s killer earthquake in the Himalayan foothills of northern Pakistan....
Under siege: Letter from Jerusalem
I am among those Israelis who are ready, in principle, for almost any concession that would end our conflict with the Palestinians....
Taking God to the mat: The biblical world of pro wrestling
The lurid and violent world of World Wrestling Entertainment, with an audience of 50 million worldwide, includes microphone-grabbing diatribes by rival wrestlers, “candid” camera shots from the locker rooms, and the ringside connivance of wrestlers’ girlfriends. This blue-collar opera also draws on biblical images and themes. Hugh S. Pyper, senior lecturer in biblical studies, says the Bible provides “a ready set of imagery . . . of power, destruction, revenge and judgment. . . . I cannot now read the book of Judges without casting the characters in a WWE extravaganza.”
A pioneer figure in church-state rulings: Woman who filed landmark lawsuit in 1945 dies
When Justice Hugo Black wrote in 1948 for the majority on the U.S....
Florida’s Harris: Church-state separation is ‘lie’ Remarks termed "contemptible, arrogant, and wicked"
Representative Katherine Harris (R., Fla.) has caused a major stir with comments, published in a Southern Baptist state newspaper, suggesting that the separation of church and state is a lie and th...
Will new method of stem cell extraction solve ethical concerns? Procedure derives cells without destroying embryos: Procedure derives cells without destroying embryos
Scientists unveiled last month a new way to derive potentially life-saving stem cells from an embryo without destroying it, but some abortion opponents said they regard the proposed method as uneth...
FDA makes ‘Plan B’ pill more available: Action angers some groups opposed to abortion rights
After a three-year debate, the federal Food and Drug Administration has approved wider distribution of a “morning-after” contraceptive, angering some religious conservatives....
Red Cross got half of Katrina donations: Reputation and Web use noted as factors in donor preference
A year ago, Americans started signing checks and clicking on Web links to raise an estimated $4.2 billion in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the most they have ever donated in response to a natural ...
Canadian church alters Israel investment plan: Decides to back "ethically responsible business" in Holy Land
The United Church of Canada has dropped a proposal to sell off stock in companies that contribute to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and has decided to back “ethically responsible...
Church drops woman Sunday school teacher: Cites biblical passage prohibiting women from teaching men
An American Baptist church in Watertown, New York, has dismissed an 81-year-old female adult Sunday school teacher, citing a biblical passage that prohibits women from teaching men....