Latest Articles
Paul in the Roman World, by Robert M. Grant
Robert Grant's Paul in the Roman World provides something of a first-century sociological tour of Corinth....
Stigma of otherness
Centuries after the end of slavery and decades after the civil rights movement, why is the United States, which proclaims its profound commitment to a democratic vision of life, still marked by rac...
The Undoing of Death, by Fleming Rutledge
This is a superb compilation of 25 years worth of Fleming Rutledge's sermons. Three-fourths of the book focuses on Holy Week, and the balance addresses Easter Sunday and Eastertide....
Life with moms
Hollywood used to be highly efficient at turning out enjoyable melodramas, but that hasn't been the case for such a long time that White Oleander feels like an anomaly....
Sins of the fathers
Through the decades filmmakers from assorted countries have attempted to probe the inner lives of the clergy....
White House Christians: Faulty assumptions about faith and party affiliation
I am not immune to the seduction of being invited to a White House briefing, nor of being called a “religious leader,” so I flew to Washington in mid-October (at my own expense) and showed up as i...
Liberal in a conservative age: In memory of Pall Wellstone
Though his opponents tagged him as “embarrassingly liberal” and outside mainstream politics, Paul Wellstone won two terms as a U.S....
Can we all agree? Governing the WCC by consensus: Governing the WCC by consensus
For years church leaders have been looking for ways of conducting church business other than by parliamentary procedure....
Survival guide: Memo from a church consultant
Dear Congregation of the St. Pachomius Byzantine Orthodox Church: Pursuant to our contractual agreement dated August 1 of this year, I have completed my evaluation of your church....
Chaos in Colombia: Can the drug-funded war be stopped?
Though it is hard to imagine the situation in Colombia getting much worse, church leaders and human rights groups are warning that the violence is in fact increasing, and that a “dirty war” like th...
Caution:Bible class in session: Falling toward a deeper life of faith
It is Columbus Day, and I am halfway through the Bible survey course that I teach every other year....
Prison of hope: On the ground in Palestine
On the ground in Jerusalem, one can see how much syndicated columnist Thomas Friedman overlooks. Friedman, the premier media commentator in the U.S....
Morphing Moses: Images of Santa
At George Washington’s home, the Mount Vernon Ladies Association is evidently taking lessons from TV advertisers, some megachurchers and others who act as if the whole citizenry were made up of 18-...
Good shepherds (Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24)
While Ezekiel’s shepherd is often on the move, any sheepherder will tell you that this is the exception rather than the rule.
Flesh becomes word: The incarnational poetry of Scott Cairns
From Baptist to Presbyterian to Orthodox—that’s hardly a conventional trajectory for an American Christian....
Slime-master
Long before Bill Clinton trashed his presidency by lying about his adulterous relationship with Monica Lewinsky, the po...
Theological tinkering
The Puritan as Yankee: A Life of Horace Bushnell. By Robert Bruce Mullin. Eerdmans, 296 pp., $21.00 paperback....
In the Image of God, by David Brion Davis
David Brion Davis is known for his scholarly The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution, 1770-1823 and The Problem of Slavery and Western Culture, both prizewinning texts....