Latest Articles
Vatican official talks about papal retirement: The ailing pontiff
In a startling break with Vatican protocol, a high Vatican official has addressed the issue of whether the ailing Pope John Paul II should retire....
Presbyterians differ on divestment: Survey reveals disagreement
Some five months after its General Assembly decided to “begin a process of phased, selective divestment” of companies profiting from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian areas, a recently released...
El Salvador Lutherans report intimidation: Church is outspoken on politics
The Lutheran Church in El Salvador and officials at the Salvadoran Lutheran University contend that a robbery and brutal murder on their campus in late January was an act of intimidation aimed at t...
Swedish preacher who called gays 'cancerous' is acquitted on appeal: Sermon ruled personal interpretation of the Bible
A Swedish preacher sentenced to a month in prison for referring to homosexuals as a “cancerous tumor” in society has been acquitted by an appeals court....
U.S. jails some seekers of asylum, says report: Procedures to protect asylum seekers applied inconsistently
A commission set up by Congress has found some foreigners seeking a haven from persecution or torture are being unfairly held by the U.S. government in jails and jail-like facilities....
Briefly noted
The Fox television network has aired a public service announcement during its popular drama 24, urging Americans not to stereotype Muslims....
Good work: Learning about ministry from Wendell Berry
Recently I celebrated 15 years as pastor of a congregation in East Texas of under 200 members with about half of them present for Sunday worship....
Life together: A passion for reconciliation
Racial reconciliation has been the central theme of Chris Rice’s life and ministry....
There's always room: Costly practices of Christian living
The Christians gathered at Duke for the weekend had come from places marked by destructive ethnic and tribal violence and conflict: South Africa, Sudan, the United States, India and Rwanda....
Millisecond thoughts: Neuroscience and free will
Two portraits graced my study walls for many years: Holbein’s Erasmus and Cranach’s Luther....
Ready or not: Matthew 27:55-61
I once lived in a village in Germany that lay at the foot of a mountain covered in deep forest. A narrow farm separated the houses from the forest, and a cemetery occupied a piece of land part way up the mountain. Sometimes on my daily walks I stopped at the cemetery. It was the busiest place in town.
Back to life: John 11:1-45
How far had Lazarus traveled along the way of clarity, truth, and reality in those four days?
Soul food: Why fasting makes sense
My first encounter with Christian fasting was in a Russian kitchen in the provincial city of Krasnodar in 1991....
Testimony: Talking Ourselves into Being Christian
Evangelical Christianity is generally loquacious; Minnesota Swedes seldom are....
Spirit and Resistance: Political Theology and American Indian Liberation
George Tinker brings a distinctive voice to the conversation on American Indians and Christianity and spe...
Free spirit
Spanish director Alejandro Amenábar’s The Sea Inside is a triumph-of-the-spirit picture with an unconventional premise: the hero, Ramón Sampedro (played by Javier Bardem), a quadriplegic f...
Said the cowboy to his people: Changed by the journey
If I close my eyes and become quiet, I can almost remember how I used to think of preachers long ago, when I sat in the pew myself....