Latest Articles

News that South Korean scientists have successfully cloned the first human embryo in order to extract stem cells for medical research has drawn sharp criticism from religious and ethical groups in ...

In Poland, where Catholicism prevails, religious law holds a firm grip on the civil realm....

Progressive Episcopalians have begun test-marketing a revamped version of the popular Alpha course that organizers say can harness publicity over an openly gay bishop to bring people into the churc...

John H....

The Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board will cease endorsing women for chaplain positions “where the role and function of the chaplain would be seen the same as that o...

What, precisely, is a good church? How would you know one when you see it? A popular answer these days is that a good church is a “purpose-driven” church....

While I respect the age-old wisdom about steering clear of politics, sex and religion in polite conversation, those seem to be the only things that anyone wants to talk about these days....

Senator John Kerry’s anti–Vietnam war activities have been ignored by his Democratic opponents during his march to an all-but-certain Democratic nomination....

Testimony, not advocacy, is my intent in this first foray into a subject about which church bodies argue: the “blessing of gay marriage/unions” and “ordination to clergy status” of men and women in...

Price of peace: When Kathleen Lee Turner witnessed a friend’s daughter being baptized, she was stunned at how quickly the baptism was over and how easily the service segued into announcement...

The Passion of Jesus, more than other parts of the gospel story, cries out for a theological commentary....

At an Alpha training conference in Detroit, a dozen people came forward to testify to the power of the Alpha program. One couple had been close to divorce when they encountered Alpha....

One of Mary Oliver's supreme gifts is her ability to find language for rapture as she responds to nature and our place within it....

God will forgive my sins,” quipped Heinrich Heine on his deathbed. “It’s his job.” How different are the viewpoints of Isaiah, Paul and Luke! They note an ongoing theological tension between the assurance of God’s kindness and the call to immediate repentance. Yes, God is merciful, not punishing as we deserve, not automatically correlating our misdeeds with disasters. But there is no room for complacency: if we think we’re standing, we should watch that we do not fall.

"A man had two sons . . .” was a common way to begin a parable, especially one comparing good and bad sons. Matthew uses it to contrast one son, who promises to work in the vineyard but never shows up, with another, who at first adamantly refuses to go to the vineyard but later repents and goes (21:28-32). Which one did the will of his father, asks Jesus? Not the one who talked a good game, but the one who actually followed through with obedient actions.

What do migrant strawberry pickers, marijuana growers and Internet pornography users have in common?...

There are some of us who read more than we pray. We know we should pray more. We mean to pray more....

Now, when the ecumenical movement seems to be at low tide, there appears a scintillating biography of one of the pr...

News of Raymond Brown’s death on August 8, 1998, swept through the scholarly community like a global blackout....

The places where Americans spend their time and treasure are where their hearts are, notes Lutheran theologian and re...