Latest Articles
Rest not in peace: The death and possible rebirth of Christian colleges
By James Tunstead Burtchaell, The Dying of the Light: The Disengagement of Colleges and Universities from Their Christian Churches. (C.S.C. Eerdmans, 880 pp.)...
Checkbook revelations
Would you come and lead a series of classes on sexuality, drawing particularly on our denomination's statement on sexuality?" Such was the request from the leader of a congregation's adult Sunday s...
Deaths and resurrections
Wonderfully restored, 138-year-old Holy Communion Church beckons visitors and worshipers....
The journey begins: Matthew 4:1-11
Neither the journey nor the wilderness comes naturally to Americans anymore.
Caring for families
Edited by Herbert Anderson, Don S. Browning, Ian S. Evison and Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen, The Family Handbook. (Westminster John Knox, 345 pp.)...
The Implied Spider, by Wendy Doniger
By Wendy Doniger, The Implied Spider: Politics and Theology in Myth. (Columbia University Press, 200 pp.)...
Baptism and the Unity of the Church, edited by Michael Root and Risto Saarine, and Mother Church, by Carl E. Braaten.
Edited by Michael Root and Risto Saarinen, Baptism and the Unity of the Church. (Eerdmans, 290 pp.)...
Naked Before God, by Bill Williams, with Martha Williams.
By Bill Williams, with Martha Williams, Naked Before God: The Return of a Broken disciple. (Morehouse, 327 pp.)...
Wild children
Hard to believe that a year has passed since first we heard about Monica. It feels more like a decade that we've been in this Slough of Despond....
Faith’s benefits
It seems that every few weeks we read another report touting the health benefits of being religious....
An exercise in civility: To speak and be heard
Here is a nightmare for those who hate conflict: take a not very large or airy room in Washington, D.C., and jam it full of tables and microphones, chairs and cameras...
God on the brain: The neurobiology of faith
By James B. Ashbrook and Carol Rausch Albright, The Humanizing Brain. (Pilgrim, 233 pp.)...
Difficult, very difficult
The most amazing thing about the surrender of the two top officials of the Khmer Rouge regime--which was responsible for the deaths of about 1 million people--never made it to the headlines....
He can’t be tied down
Many of us columnists have files stuffed with Christmas items that came to our attention too late to be used during the season but are sure to be misplaced before the next year....
Apostle at my door (Matthew 5:13-20)
You are salt to the world. And if salt becomes tasteless, how is its saltiness to be restored? It is good for nothing but to be thrown away and trodden underfoot....
Millennial task force
The purported last year of the old millennium started with a vivid reminder that eschatological hopes and fears will be flourishing in the months of 1999....
Marriage as public policy: The labor government takes an interest
Marriage as a public issue has been growing in visibility in the U.S., but it has never moved to the center of public discourse....
Legislative opportunities: Religion and congress
At no time is the legislative process more frustrating than during the congressional "silly season," the last six months of the legislative cycle when members are up for election....
Pursuing the elusive van Gogh
By Kathleen Powers Erickson, At Eternity's Gate: The Spiritual Vision of Vincent van Gogh. (Eerdmans, 192 pp.)...
Remote control: The ethics of watching
A century ago the bone weary must have come home from their labors and relaxed by watching the flames dancing in the hearth....