Latest Articles
Suspending disbelief: Marian visions
Ghost Ranch, a Presbyterian haven in New Mexico, in 1968 welcomed its first Catholic speaker, Father Anthony Wilhelm, with whom I was to hold a public conversation....
Schooled in religion: Bible verses in the classroom
The day always began at the Fairview Elementary School with the teacher reading ten verses from the Bible, alternating one from the Old with one from the New Testament....
No small talk: A plea for civil discourse
After last November’s election, a frustrated member of a Mennonite congregation near South Bend, Indiana, wrote an article for his congregation’s newsletter....
Century Marks
“America is simultaneously the most professedly Christian of the developed nations and the least Christian in its behavior,” argues Bill McKibben (Harper’s Magazine, August). Americans have hijacked the teachings of Jesus that call for "a radical, voluntary, and effective reordering of power relationships, based on the principle of love.” The dominant American theologies of end-times obsession and consumer-oriented religiosity “undercut Jesus, . . . deaden his call, and . . . silence him.”
Disciples latest to critique Israeli tactics: A resolution against the security barrier
Despite lobbying pleas from a noted Jewish organization, delegates to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) General Assembly have passed a resolution calling on Israel to stop construction of ...
Vatican suggests Israel breaks law in some responses to terrorism: Holy See will not oppose only Palestinian acts
The Vatican, in a sharp retort to Israeli criticism of Pope Benedict XVI, said it could not protest every act of Palestinian terrorism because Israel’s responses are “not always compatible with the...
Frist splits with Bush on stem-cell research: Majority leader supports expanded federal funding
The Senate’s majority leader, citing his expertise as a physician, has announced that he would support an expansion of federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research....
Bush endorses teaching of 'intelligent design' President supports exposure to different ideas: President supports exposure to different ideas
President Bush has endorsed the teaching of “intelligent design” along with natural selection in a roundtable interview with reporters from Texas newspapers....
Christian Reformed executive forced to quit: Relationship "crossed professional boundaries"
A pastor who hosted the Back to God Hour radio program for the Christian Reformed Church was forced to resign only weeks before he would have started an indefinite term as top executive of t...
Antiochian Orthodox Christians leave NCC: Gay rights at issue
The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America plans to leave the National Council of Churches, saying it is unhappy with policies and statements some member denominations have made...
Court nominee aided gay rights case: Roberts helped gay-rights group win in 1996
John Roberts, President Bush’s nominee to the Supreme Court, donated legal work on behalf of gay-rights groups that helped them win a landmark 1996 case before that panel, according to the Los A...
World Baptists show grit in Britain: Alliance vigorous after SBC pullout
The World Baptist Alliance, holding its 100th anniversary congress in Great Britain amid public anxiety over suicide bombings, failed bombing attempts and manhunts, topped its own attendance predic...
Sudan church leaders stunned by death of John Garang: Key figure in peace deal dies in helicopter crash
Church and political leaders are urging Sudanese to stay on the peace path after the death in a helicopter crash of John Garang de Mabior, the guerrilla leader who steered the Sudan People’s Libera...
The joy of yes: Ricoeur: Philosopher of hope
Discussions about hermeneutics—the theories and practices of interpretation—are ubiquitous....
Think big: Our dreams are too small
"Make no little plans,” wrote 19th-century architect Daniel Burnham. “They have no magic to stir humanity’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized.”...
Texts of terror: Warlike passages
CREDO: I am a Christian for the reasons stated in the Letter to the Ephesians, especially wherein “Christ is our peace.” I believe that the Bible as a whole (see Second Isaiah) and the New Testamen...
Religious progressives launch new network: Network of Spiritual Progressives
More than 1,200 spiritual progressives gathered in Berkeley, California, in July for a national conference to build an organization for the spiritual and religious left....
Breathing together: Community as a way of life
The absence of community surrounds us in a daily way—in our neighborhoods, our work lives and the anguish of our own souls. The scarcity of community wreaks havoc below the surface of outwardly busy lives. From the ethos of economic life to the chatter of talk radio, our society is busy promoting the appetites and fantasies of the individual more than it encourages investment in the larger aspirations of a community.