Latest Articles
Fox apologizes for comments on Wiccans at University of Missouri
COLUMBIA, Mo. (RNS) Fox News contributor Tucker Carlson has apologized for comments he made about Wiccans, saying he "should have left them alone."...
For aging religious leaders, is it still 'till death us do part'?
When aging religious leaders reach the top echelons of temporal and spiritual power, their followers have a certain expectation: Till death us do part....
Scottish cardinal resigns after sex accusations
Cardinal Keith O’Brien of Scotland resigned on February 25 in the wake of explosive charges that he had made “inappropriate” sexual advances to four men, three of them priests and one now a former ...
Sunday, March 10, 2013: Joshua 5:9-12
The television show Parenthood begins each episode with a snippet of a Dylan melody and the lyrics, “May God bless and keep you. . . ....
A Lenten treasure hunt
My Lenten practice has almost involved some kind of endurance. As a child I usually gave up something like chocolate or sweets. My practice evolved into committing to walk to the grocery store or buy nothing but food or, one year, give up plastic.
But regardless of what I took on or gave up, I have always intended for this to last through all of Lent. The practice ends—or finds a new form—at Holy Week, and the endurance test ends with it.
This year, Lent has an entirely different rhythm for me—because of a book by writer and Benedictine oblate Paula Huston.
Tuesday digest
New today from the Century: James Howell reviews Lillian Daniel, Evan Garner on the downside of winning, more.
In defense of church
Lillian Daniel's book is a feast of words—funny, ribald, tiptoeing to the edge of sarcasm, yet full of love and unflinching hope.
R-rated: How to read the Bible with children
Much of the Bible is not fit for children—it's a book to ease little ones into, not drop them in cold. So what's the best way to go about this?
Grace or judgment?
In this week’s Gospel lesson, Jesus says to the people,
Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No... Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No.
No.
Monday digest
New today from the Century: Reading our R-rated Bible with children, Brian Walsh's Bruce Cockburn book, more.
Kicking at the Darkness, by Brian J. Walsh
Some of us owe a large part of whatever prophetic imagination we have to the creative powers of Bruce Cockburn....
It's not all about me
Right now, there are a lot of pastors who ought to be looking in the mirror and chanting, “It’s not all about me.”
Facebook tsunami
Social commentators warn that if you don't manage your social media identity, someone else will. I recently learned this the hard way.
"And Jesus had killed them all."
I'll join the chorus maintaining that this SNL sketch is aimed at Quentin Tarantino, not Jesus, and/or at bizarre distortions of Christianity, not Christianity itself.
Why are you kind?
We played “Stump the Pastor” at my church recently. Everyone wrote down a question about the bible, the church or theology, and I drew them out of two baskets—one for kids and one for adults—and tried to answer them on the spot.
Of course, we only got a few answered in the 15-minute sermon slot. The rest of the questions were left on my desk to rummage through on Tuesday morning. Some were designed to trick me (How many animals did Moses take on the ark?); some were skeptical (How many mistakes has God made?) and some were sad (If we are spirits in heaven, how will I recognize my loved ones?). And then, one question made my heart skip a beat.
Friday digest
New today from the Century: Craig Barnes on joining Facebook, Gail Irwin on being kind, more.
Straphanger, by Taras Grescoe
Taras Grescoe is not hesitant to use a car occasionally, but he’d rather be on a train, bicycle or just on foot....
Controversy over Cardinal Mahony's conclave vote reaches Vatican
VATICAN CITY (RNS) The controversy over Cardinal Roger Mahony's vote in the conclave that will elect a new pope has now reached the Vatican, with at least one cardinal musing aloud that the former ...
Megachurches are thriving in hard times, survey says
Despite the tough economy, many of the nation’s largest churches are thriving, with increased offerings and plans to hire more staff, a new survey shows....