Latest Articles
Wednesday digest
New today from the Century: The editors on the idolatry of security, James Howell reviews Augustine Thompson, more.
Ministry with the Overnighters
One key challenge for churches in the North Dakota oil boom is how to respond to the needs of many new resid...
Francis of Assisi, by Augustine Thompson
When we think of the hagiography of Francis of Assisi, Qohelet’s wry musing comes to mind: “Of making many books there is no end.”...
The steeple dropout: Will Campbell, 1924–2013
When Will Campbell replied to my letter, I expected him to call me to fight “the Enemy.” Instead he encouraged me to love my enemies.
Sunday, July 7, 2013: 2 Kings 5:1-14; Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
You may be better organized than I am, but in my overscheduled life, every once in a while I miss an appointment....
"Local" is not just an eco-food brand
The more the food movement goes mainstream, the more you hear casual descriptors like "local or organic or eco-friendly." Local becomes one of several labels that can stand in for eco-ethical food ...
Goodbye for now, Facebook
Facebook, I wish I could quit you.
I might need to ditch you all together....
Tuesday digest
New today from the Century: Kyle Childress remembers Will Campbell, Martha-Lynn Corner on why she's quitting Facebook, more.
Becca Stevens: The art of healing and truth-telling
Thistle Farms is a social enterprise to create handmade products as good for the earth as for the body. They work with the community and graduates of Magdalene, a residential program of women who have survived sex work, trafficking and addiction.
Is yoga instruction religious? San Diego court case may decide
c. 2013 Religion News Service...
Being watched: Surveillance and the Christian community
We need a more developed theological ethics of what it means to live in an age when so much information about ourselves is so readily available.
NAACP figure leads Moral Monday protests
The throngs of demonstrators who flock to the grassy knoll outside the North Carolina Statehouse each Monday know the drill....
Eyes on the Spirit
Growing up, I watched Saturday morning television cartoons in which a character was making a decision. On one shoulder an angel hovered, saying, "Do the right thing!" But on the other shoulder perched a devil urging the character to do the wrong thing. You already know what happened: as the angel looked increasingly anxious, the cartoon character chose to do the wrong thing.
Paul's Galatians didn't watch TV cartoons, but they probably had a similar model of decision making.
Monday digest
New today from the Century: Daniel Schultz on government surveillance, Randall Balmer reviews Caitlin Carenen, more.
No faith in 42?
Eric Metaxas’s take on the absence of faith in the film 42 is curious. He is right that the film downplays the role of faith in Branch Rickey’s and Jackie Robinson’s lives. But faith is not absent, “a mysterious hole at the center of this otherwise worthy film.”
Israel’s Protestant friends
The Six-Day War, as Caitlin Carenen argues, represented a turning point in American Protestant views of Israel.
‘To the wonder’
Terrence Malick has become the psalmist of film. His characters continually ask the fundamental questions of theological pursuit.
Immigration flap over conscientious objection resolved peacefully
c. 2013 Religion News Service...
Old-timers and newcomers
When I was in Williston, ND, reporting for the Century about churches in the oil boom, I found that l...