Latest Articles
Notions of purity: An interview with Mary Gordon
One of America’s most admired writers, Mary Gordon writes about women’s choices and about moral and spiritual struggles in the context of strong family connections....
You can't deal with God: God is a giver, not a negotiator
As I was writing this piece, Good Friday was in view, and I thought of the renowned Viennese composer Antonio Salieri as portrayed in the movie Amadeus....
Jerusalem sprawl: West Bank settlement policy
It was appropriate that the final U.S. blessing for the city of Ma’aleh Adumim was delivered to the Israeli government by Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams....
Teen slanguage: Issues in Bible translation
Pity Bible translators who try to keep up with changes in language....
Idol behavior: Acts 17:22-31
I've seen the Athenians' approach in southern California.
Precious stones: Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16
On a recent visit to Washington, D.C., I saw the Hope diamond at the National Museum of Natural History. It’s odd to think that a large piece of carbon, refined by millions of years of compression and cut by human hands, could draw such crowds. Yet people are continually huddled around the display case, which is wired with numerous sensors for security.
Hunger Strike
In one of the most ambitious works of fiction to appear in recent years, Mary Gordon wrestles with large questions: What is worth living for?...
Ethics for this world
When Dietrich Bonhoeffer died on April 9, 1945, few would have predicted his influence on theology at the beginning of the 21st centur...
Collected Poems, 1943-2004
The dates in the title tell of Richard Wilbur’s remarkable longevity. Once a youthful prodigy, he became part of poetry anthologies 30 years ago....
On the Take
Your relationship with your doctor might be more complicated than you ever imagined....
Bunkered down
Guilt and remorse over Nazi atrocities and the horrors of World War II have consumed Germany for decades, influencing politics, culture and the arts, including cinema....
Recreational sex
Tom Wolfe may deny that his novel is about Duke, but having spent 20 years there I know a few things about the school....
Going down with the ship: In for the long haul
I will go down with this ship. And I won't put my hands up and surrender. There will be no white flag above my door. (Dido)...
Slow to answer: The reticence of Jesus
One of the paradoxes of Jesus as he is portrayed in the Gospels is his way of combining candor with reticence....
Graceful presence: Funeral hospitality
Those of us who work in the church know how trivial, vain and self-serving the “institutional” church (as we used to call it in seminary—as if there were any other kind) can be....
Good Sports: Integrity of baseball
Perhaps only in the U.S. would the “integrity of baseball” or any sport be the focus of political speeches and front-page newspaper articles....
Century Marks
Mind over matter: Once an outspoken critic of popular psychology, Paul C....