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Tunisia’s Ennahda movement, the most successful Islamist party to emerge from the Arab Spring revolts early in this decade, has left political Islam and declared that its members will operate in th...

When I read this week’s passage from Luke, I take an aerial view. My perspective shifts from the disciples to Jesus, then to Simon the Pharisee, then to the bystanders, and finally to the woman who washes Jesus’ feet.

Populism is a predictable recurring feature of any society that is unwilling or unable to be as democratic as it claims to be.

My church goes off-lectionary frequently. Part of me is sympathetic: I, too, grow weary of the cycle at times, and I long for something different to ponder. Part of me mourns the fact that we're not in sync with the larger Christian world; when we're on-lectionary, I love knowing that Christians of all sorts throughout the world are reading the same texts. On Sunday my church heard about the Babylonian exile. 

Bob Dylan is 75 today. He’s not the only one who’s still making records after 50+ years, but it’s hard to think of anyone else with as many good ones. “Keep it religious,” the Century’s longtime editor liked to say. Many people find this hard to do when talking about Dylan.

United Church of Christ pastor and blogger Emily Heath is a self-described binary-smashing, trinitarian, gender-nonconforming Reformed theologian.

c. 2016 Religion News Service...

The National Day of Prayer has been challenged by a National Day of Reason. This duel of proclamations trades on the notion that the two stand in opposition.

Matt talks to David Bartlett, American Baptist pastor and coeditor of “Feasting on the Word,” about the necessity of his first call, balancing church and academy, and an approach to scripture that is seen as both dangerous and quaint. 

I trust that my wife knows that I love her even if I do not tell her that on a daily basis, but I tell her anyway because hearing and saying “I love you” does both of us a lot of good. When Elizabeth sprints through the day, running errands, transporting children, taking care of our house, and preparing our supper, I tell her how grateful I am for all that she does for our family. Even though she probably knows that I am appreciative of her efforts before I say a word, I say it anyway because some things cannot be said often enough. I hope that it goes without saying that everything we do as a church is all about Jesus, but I think that it is time for us to move beyond that assumption and begin to proclaim that Christ-centered focus clearly and boldly.

Confessions is not primarily about Augustine at all; it is about God’s activity in the particularity of Augustine’s life.

Congregations often cater to those who show up and pay the bills. But as Jesus said, we need new wineskins to hold new wine.

The Gospel of John addresses a community facing trouble because of its faith in Jesus. Its original readers needed to hear a message of affirmation. No wonder Jesus says "I will not leave you orphaned" and promises the disciples peace.

c. 2016 Religion News Service...

Kathryn Tanner, professor of systematic theology at Yale Divinity School, gave the prestigious Gifford Lectures May 2–12 at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland....

There’s the Pope Francis buzz. And then there’s reality.  Last week news outlets reported that Pope Francis would form a commission to study the issue of female deacons in the Catholic Church. The predictable reverberations began immediately.

Luther understood the “aesthetics of the book” but not the economics of the book. He never made a pfennig from his publications.

c. 2016 Religion News Service...

c. 2016 Religion News Service...

You knew about weakness before you were ordained. Yet something made you get out of the boat and try to walk.