Latest Articles
U.S. archbishop named as doctrinal guardian: Levada assumes Pope Benedict's former post
Pope Benedict XVI has named the archbishop of San Francisco, William Levada, to the pope’s old job as guardian of the Catholic faith, making Levada the highest-ranking American ever to serve at the...
Seminary enrollment trends upward: Fuller stops counting psychology students
Enrollment in theological schools in North America has continued on a gradual (2 to 3 percent) annual increase over the past five years, according to new data released this spring....
Lesbian reinstated; bishop to appeal case: Guilty verdict sustained; sentence thrown out
The United Methodist bishop of Philadelphia plans to appeal the case of a lesbian minister who was reinstated last month after she was initially defrocked for violating a church ban on “self-avowed...
Woman to succeed Perryas head of MCC: Nancy Wilson will be moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches
A longtime leader in the Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) has been nominated as the moderator to succeed Troy Perry, who founded the worldwide, predominantly gay Christian denomination 37 year...
Survey finds more megachurches (1,200+) than expected: Texas and California have the most
Protestant megachurches—those with weekly attendance exceeding 2,000—may be far more prevalent than originally thought....
Orthodox depose Holy Land patriarch: Conflict over transfer of church property
Anglican, Lutheran and Roman Catholic leaders have offered to mediate in a scandal in Jerusalem that has seen the Greek Orthodox patriarch for the Holy Land Irineos I deposed by his own bishops ove...
Briefly noted
Plans were announced this month for African-American men, women and children to travel to Washington for a massive October 15 rally on the National Mall....
Mine wars: Rearranging mountains in Appalachia
In the summers of 1920 and 1921 southern West Virginia was the scene of some of the most historically significant unrest in U.S. history. Yet today this history has been largely forgotten....
Symphonic truth: Von Balthasar and Christian humanism
Many people believe that Christian piety entails narrow-mindedness and that the more one affirms Christ in his particularity the more one rejects the world in its plurality....
Sabbath resistance: Sabbath and the status quo
Anyone engaging in the practice of Sabbath can expect a rough ride, at least at first. This is because Sabbath involves pleasure, rest, freedom and slowness, and most North Americans are sold on speed, productivity, multitasking. Stopping for one whole day can feel like a kind of death.
As good as dead: Romans 4:13-25; Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26
Aron Ralston knew he would die before the next morning’s sunrise. Five days earlier he’d been walking a trail in a narrow desert canyon in Utah and had climbed down from a large chockstone along his route. A chockstone is a huge boulder that’s wedged between other stones or canyon walls. This one may have been there for hundreds of years, but when Ralston came down, he somehow loosened the boulder, and it fell on him.
The gift of believing: Touching the words of God
A few months ago I was allowed to view a page or two from the Gospel According to Matthew in the famous Saint John’s Bible, which will be a priceless masterpiece when it is finished....
Are we there yet? Romans 5:1-8
I want to go from suffering to hope as quickly as possible.
Back Pages
Doink! A neighborhood kid kicked a ball that nearly punched out my kitchen window....
The God Gene:
Is spirituality genetically based? A behavior geneticist discusses the VMAT2 gene.
Deconstructing Evangelicalism
Hart paints a bleak picture of evangelicalism, a movement he believes is increasingly lacking in theological depth and substance.
Improvisation
Wells describes six improvisational practices that he says illuminate the way the Christian community discerns and acts.
