Latest Articles
Pious pulp Da Vinci on screen: Da Vinci on screen
That a mosh pit of reviewers would fall over each other to pan the The Da Vinci Code is puzzling. It’s not a great film, but then it isn’t a great book....
Mission in Missouri: Churches and immigrants
In 1994, things began to look up for Milan, Missouri, a remote, rural community of 2,000 that had been struggling for years with a declining farm economy and weak job market....
Liturgical evangelism: The Finnish experiment
"The trouble with the church in Finland,” a Finnish Lutheran pastor told me, “is that everybody loves it and nobody goes there.” Some 85 percent of the 5.2 million Finns are disengaged from the chu...
Can 'spiritual progressives' gain momentum? Developing a grassroots network: Developing a grassroots network
After wandering in the political desert for years, the religious left is taking tentative steps toward the Promised Land, according to organizers of a recent “Spiritual Activism” conference in Wash...
Ohio's governor race spotlights role of Arlington Group: The new litmus test
In June 2003, a group of evangelical Christian leaders met in Arlington, Virginia, to map strategy for a clash they viewed as the political equivalent of Gettysburg, the most significant battle eve...
Poll: Canadians prefer private spirituality: Church attendance declining
Canadians shun houses of worship and formal religious exercise in favor of private spiritual practice such as prayer, meditation or reading religious books, a new federal study suggests....
The Da Vinci Code opens strongly: Film panned by critics
One didn’t need a Harvard symbologist to decode this one....
Movie displays more of a "critical perspective" Langdon's skepticism: Langdon's skepticism
Did the movie version of The Da Vinci Code introduce some skepticism to the part of the Harvard professor played by Tom Hanks so as to soften the novel’s bald claims about church cover-ups c...
Politics seen in bill to ban gay nuptials: Timing of vote questioned
The U.S. Senate takes up this month a proposed federal ban on same-sex marriage that was moved forward after a heated debate last month by the Senate Judiciary Committee....
Nevaeh, a name out of heaven: Christian rocker starts a trend
Spell heaven backward and what do you get? The 70th most popular name for American baby girls....
Conservative college faces faculty exodus: Academic freedom at issue
A small evangelical Christian college focused on shaping home-schooled students for careers in public service will lose about one-third of its faculty after several professors at the young school c...
Rome restricts founder of priestly order who was accused of abuses: Controversial priest to refrain from ministry
The controversial founder of a powerful traditional Catholic order was a favorite of the late Pope John Paul II, but the Vatican under a new pope has disciplined Marcial Maciel Degollado, who faced...
Briefly noted
Six Episcopal priests from Connecticut have criticized Anglican leaders for refusing to hear their petition against a liberal U.S....
Faithful and effective: A working doctrine of grace
It’s been a good season for scandal. Bribery sent a California congressman to prison. Fraud charges provided courtroom drama in Houston....
Unilateral proposal: Isolating Palestine
Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert traveled to Washington in late May to tell President Bush about his plans for Israel’s future....
Professor Pelikan: A keen sense of what matters
Church historian Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, who died May 13, felt like a relative, thanks to consanguinity among our Slovak friends....
Storm system: Mark 4:35-41; 2 Corinthians 6:1-13
I struggle to make peace with Jesus ordering the sea into peace. If we were to stumble across a time traveler’s videotape and find that it all happened just as Mark reports, I’d still be troubled. Because this isn’t the way the world works. People don’t go around saying, “Peace! Be still!” to the wind and the waves, and find that the wind and the waves obey. And I don’t like the “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” business. Of course Jesus’ disciples are afraid!
Arguing with Paul: 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, 14-17
I don’t want to leave my body or its loves. I wouldn’t rather be at home with the Lord; I want to be right here.
Paul and the law: E. P. Sanders's retrieval of Judaism
The Jews of Jesus’ time, the preacher intoned, were slavishly devoted to the practices of their ancestors. They studied scripture but did not apply it....