Latest Articles
Beautiful theology
Amy Plantinga Pauw, who teaches theology at Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, has written a sophisticated but quite accessible book about Jonathan Edwards's surprisingly rich musings on the Christi...
Why Angels Fall, by Victoria Clark
Victoria Clark takes her readers not so much on a geographical trek as on a journey from the past to the present, with stopovers in several European countries in which Orthodoxy is the dominan...
God Moments, by Jeremy Langford
Theology-on-Tap" is a young-adult ministry that originated in the Archdiocese of Chicago over 20 years ago....
Dime-store redemption
Denzel Washington makes his directorial debut in Antwone Fisher and also plays a navy psychiatrist who becomes emotionally involved in the struggles of a young patient....
Class notes: A gift that keeps on giving
Those of us who have had some experience of theological education in a sense live out of that experience for the rest of our lives. Each experience is unique, of course....
Tree mugger: Bush has quietly undercut environmental policy
White House senior political adviser Karl Rove says that Theodore Roosevelt would be “standing up and applauding” President George Bush’s environmental policies. Let’s check the record on that....
A tree grows in Haiti: Harvesting 15 years of mission work
"Haiti is a nation of contrasts,” says Rodney Babe, who meets our church’s team of mission workers at the airport. We soon understand what he means....
Is it worth it? The value of a theological education
Daniel Aleshire has been executive director of the Association of Theological Schools since 1998....
Ten things I didn’t learn in seminary: Politics of the pastorate
1. Church members want pastors to succeed. Yes, there will always be resistance to change, and we pastors tend to fall into thinking that the church and its members are against us....
Foolish prayer: “Pray as you can, not as you can’t”
Six years before he died, American philosopher William James filled out a questionnaire about religious experience....
Two for one? Spousal conpensation: Spousal conpensation
That the spouse of a college or university president almost always acts as a co-professional with the partner (especially when the spouse is a woman) is a situation that has for decades inspired qu...
Altar call: Psalm 51:1-17
Ash Wednesday begins the Lenten journey to Jerusalem. It is best not to journey alone.
Test run (Mark 1:9-15)
In an account in which only Satan, wild animals, and angels are with Jesus, the reader is also present.
If I had $1 billion: Presidents' wish list
What would seminary leaders do if suddenly money were no obstacle—if a generous donor left them, say, $1 billion? ...
What I wish I’d known: Six students on the seminary experience
What have I learned that I wish I knew before I came to seminary?...
Spread too thin
Reading this long book on theological literacy has left me mightily discouraged....
Secrets, by Daniel Ellsberg
The founder of Buddhism, born Prince Gautama Siddharta in India in 563 b.c., began his journey toward becoming a Buddha, an Enlightened One, when he ventured out of his palace and witnessed the suf...
One World, by Peter Singer
Recent events have underlined the need for fresh ethical reflection on international issues. The likelihood that the United States will go to war against Iraq has suddenly and urgently placed U.S....
Family Matters, by Rohinton Mistry
Canadian writer Rohinton Mistry's novel is as straightforward and unpretentious as its title. No pyrotechnics, no metafictional irony, no attempts to draw attention to itself....