Latest Articles
The preachers’ daughters
I wanted to hate Preachers' Daughters without reserve. But the reality of this reality show proves more complicated than the scripts.
Literally, schmliterally
Guys, it's okay: the new definition of "literally" is not actually new. It's also not even a little bit of a problem.
Friday digest
New today from the Century: Beth Felker Jones on The Preachers' Daughters, Carol Howard Merritt on Christian celebrities, more.
Other people saying things
“'Be safe and keep up the good work,' the city marshal wrote to [Office Barry] Washington, following a raft of complaints from out-of-town drivers who claimed that they had been ...
Calling Christian celebrities
I was reading Morgan Guyton’s blog post asking if Christians can transcend celebrity culture. I resonated with that weird feeling of being not-quite-famous. I’m usually at a conference center, where people are looking at my colored leader’s nametag, trying to figure out who I am, while looking over my shoulder, to see if there’s someone more important behind me. Sometimes people figure out who I am and say, “Tribal Church! You’re Tribal Church.” Then 5 seconds later, “You’re so much shorter in real life.”
And I wonder how I could be shorter than a one-inch avatar.
Boxed in
Benedict instructed that a novice's street clothes should be kept. Every morning for the rest of his life, the monk confronted two habits.
Lutherans elect female presiding bishop
What started as just another church assembly turned into a historic one for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, as members elected Elizabeth Eaton the denomination’s first female presiding ...
The Century invites reader submissions
The Century invites readers to contribute essays on the topic of “Mentors.” The topic can be approached from any angle, but we are interested primarily in narratives—first-perso...
When evangelicals change with the culture
The closing of the doors of Exodus International earlier this summer doesn’t just signal a sea change in evangelical thinking about homosexuality. It also highlights some evangelicals’ dubious claims of adherence to immutable convictions.
Faith, miracles and the "mystery priest"
By now many of you have read about the man in the black shirt and white collar (not a black collar, as some reported with a hint of eeriness) who showed up at a terrible accident in Missouri this m...
Thursday digest
New today from the Century: Craig Barnes on not feeling stuck in a call, Elizabeth Evans on the "mystery priest" in Missouri, more.
Amity and Sorrow, by Peggy Riley
Amaranth is the first of Zachariah’s 50 wives, who live together with their children in a compound hidden in the mountains. When she married Zachariah, she was adrift and he was irresistible.
Grace hurts: Conversion in Flannery O’Connor’s fiction
O'Connor's artistic signature involved a severity of image, dark-as-night humor, and a relentless preoccupation with sacramental violence.
Lutherans elect Elizabeth Eaton first female presiding bishop of ELCA
c. 2013 Religion News Service...
Why doesn’t anyone care about Generation X?
Many in Gen X are annoyed that we’ve spent a lifetime living under the looming Boomer shadow, and now we’re getting swallowed up by Millennials.
Corporate and anti-poverty interests in concert?
Ezra Klein’s work at the Washington Post is indispensable; he brings much insight to the task of making domestic policy accessible to those of us who only follow it part time. But I’m not buying this one:
There’s a tendency among some on the left and, with the “libertarian populists,” some on the right, to portray the interests of corporate American and the interests of low-income Americans as directly opposed to each other. That’s not true. They can conflict, of course — it’s easy enough to imagine a proposal to raise taxes on corporations in order to fund a low-income tax cut — but they’re not always in tension. Sometimes they’re even in concert.
Sometimes, sure.
Wednesday digest
New today from the Century: C. E. Morgan on Flannery O'Connor, Carol Howard Merritt on Gen X, more.
Stories for dinner
My wife I took our annual summer trip to Oklahoma, and as usual we visited a host of relatives. Among the deceased relatives I keenly miss on these trips are my grandparents....