Latest Articles
The Sounds of Slavery: Discovering African American History Through Songs, Sermons, and Speech
I was daydreaming at a stoplight recently when the sound of thunder shook me from m...
Radical Wisdom: A Feminist Mystical Theology
Feminism and mysticism have always held a wary view of each other: feminists borrowed from Marx the belief that spirituality funct...
Crusading spirit
Like many John Le Carré novels, The Constant Gardener boasts a gripping, intricately plotted narrative that makes it ideal for the movies....
Sound alternatives
Everything In BetweenSelf-released, Christian rockDanny OertliBalancing all-American rock with ballads, Danny Oertli is a Christian musician with a difference. When he sings "Thank You, Jesus, for keeping hope alive" on "Mommy Paints the Sky," he know what he's singing about—the song is inspired by the death of his high-school sweetheart, who had become his wife. In the same album, Oertli proves he can rock in "Fight for Me" (with its dirty Wurlitzer electric piano) and in the breathless, pulsing "Nothing."
Tiger mothers: Holding the president accountable
Despite a growing protest movement against the Iraq war, President Bush remains determined to “stay the course.” He offers sympathy to grieving parents, but his attention seems to be elsewhere....
Beginnings: Schools represent a community's deepest values
I read over the articles in this issue on teenage spirituality while traveling to my high school reunion in western Pennsylvania....
Cosmic design: Leaving God in the gaps
Controversies over the teaching of evolution are back in the news....
Century Marks
Not bread alone: While most media sources are reporting the famine in Niger, few of them mention the issue of population growth, says John F. Rohe. Niger has 12 million people, but its population is projected to grow to 53 million by 2050 despite widespread loss of life. Niger's fertility rate—8 children per woman—is the highest in the world. While food aid is urgently needed, it must be accompanied by funding for family planning (www.caglecartoons.com). To our readers: When you access amazon.com from the Century's Web site, the Century earns a percentage of each sale. Thank you!
ELCA says no to gay pastors, blessings: Delegates decline to authorize existing practices
On the face of it, the nation’s largest Lutheran church didn’t budge on issues of homosexuality....
ELCA adopts accord with Methodists, stance on Israel, new hymnal: Lutherans and Methodists to share communion
In what one official called the “penultimate” step toward full communion with the United Methodist Church, delegates at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s biennial assembly overwhelmingly...
Religious right rails at high court rulings: The second Justice Sunday event
Speakers at a rally designed to support socially conservative nominees to federal courts decried several decades of Supreme Court rulings on social issues, but made little direct mention of the cu...
Methodist mother joins war protest in Texas: Celeste Zappala with Cindy Sheehan
Celeste Zappala, a United Methodist from Philadelphia, went to Texas last month to join friend Cindy Sheehan—also a mother who lost a son in Iraq. Their roadside antiwar protest near George W....
Kansas school board approves plan to downgrade teaching of evolution: Teachers would explore variety of theories about origins of life
The state education board in Kansas has tentatively approved new guidelines supported by some Christians that encourage public schools to teach a variety of theories about the origins of life, dow...
Founder of Taizé is murdered: Brother Roger "one of the best-loved Christian leaders of our time"
The death of the 90-year-old founder of the Taizé Community in France at the hands of a woman wielding a knife shocked world Christian leaders. ...
PCUSA lists five firms for possible divestment: The start of "progressive engagement"
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has announced plans to target five public companies that it says “contribute to the ongoing violence that plagues Israel and Palestine.” Church officials said they ...
Jesus-era Siloam pool found in Jerusalem: Evidence of ancient, rock-hewn water systems
In separate excavations in and near Jerusalem, archaeologists have found evidence of ancient, rock-hewn water systems, including a large, stepped basin that one group of scholars is calling the Poo...
Black Baptists, college form partnership: Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky
Officials from four leading African-American Baptist conventions gathered at a historically white Baptist college in Kentucky and launched a new partnership....
Taking care of business: Administrators show ecumenical spirit
It was meant as a compliment when preacher-author Leonard Sweet praised his audience as “a kind of homeland security of the church.” Sweet, evangelism professor at Drew University Theological Schoo...
Passionate disbelief: An ex-fundamentalist lashes out
Brian Flemming is that most dangerous of religious creatures: the former fundamentalist. He is also a gifted satirical filmmaker....