Latest Articles
Tuesday digest
New today from the Century: Steve Thorngate on defining the middle class, Gail Irwin on the importance of stuff, more.
Stump sermons
When the church has nothing more to say than what could be said in a political speech, the church has surely lost its voice.
Jesus' obedience and ours
Opening the book of Hebrews is a bit like stepping into Transporter Room on the starship Enterprise. A few verses are all it takes to beam us suddenly down into an alien world filled with angels, sacrificial purification rites and Melchizedek. There’s very little about Hebrews that looks, sounds or feels familiar to 21st-century people, all of which makes dealing with this letter a challenge (and explains why so many of us avoid it).
A teenager, an old dog and their lesbian mom walk into the...
A colleague asked a few months ago, “Why did you stop writing for the local paper?”...
Monday digest
New today from the Century: The editors on Pulpit Freedom Sunday, Jason Byassee reviews Fleming Rutledge, more.
And God Spoke to Abraham, by Fleming Rutledge
Fleming Rutledge is the most interesting preacher today working the fault line between the mainline churches and evangelicalism. Throughout this remarkable collection of Old Testament sermons she calls for mainliners and evangelicals to realize their common identity in Christ for the sake of our mutual mission in the world.
Majority of Protestant pastors back Romney, but many still undecided
c. 2012 Religion News Service (RNS)...
Taliban unrepentant after attack on Pakistani teen, vow to kill her
c. 2012 USA Today KARACHI, Pakistan (RNS)...
How the vice-presidential debate emphasized 'single-issue' Catholicism
c. 2012 Religion News Service (RNS)...
Catholic bishops rebuke Biden over contraception mandate claims
c. 2012 Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS)...
Billy Graham offers to 'help' Romney during meeting at N.C. home
Billy Graham offered to "do all I can to help" GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney in a Thursday (Oct. 11) meeting at the evangelist's North Carolina home....
ADL pulls out of interfaith talks over Israel
JERUSALEM (RNS) The Anti-Defamation League said Thursday (Oct. 11) it has withdrawn from an Oct. 22 U.S....
Are ministers and musicians allies or rivals?
Eileen Guenther, the national president of the American Guild of Organists, reveals behind-the-scenes church struggles in her new book, Rivals or a Team?...
Fall books: Reviews
Our fall books issue's reviews include Sam Wells on Jürgen Moltmann, William H. Willimon on Lamin Sanneh, Shirley Showalter on Rhoda Janzen and others.
Luther’s legacy
The Reformation led to a full embrace of the radical political implications of a humanity created in the image of God.
Liberty "a shield, not a sword"
A federal judge in Eastern Missouri has upheld the government mandate that insurance policies cover birth control. Judge Carol E. Jackson ruled that the mandate is not a violation of religious liberty. Religious freedom is “a shield, not a sword,” she said, and religious liberty claims cannot be used as a “means to force one’s religious practices upon others.” Her argument closely aligns with points that the Century made some months ago in an editorial and that I tried to make in a blog post.
The VP debate, blow by interrupting blow
Once again, no live-tweeting for me. Just note-taking on the laptop while watching, followed by some cleanup and link-adding this morning.
Friday digest
New today from the Century: John Buchanan on Luther's legacy, Trudy Bush reviews Richard Ford, more.
This is a little bit news I think
Today's top story: a debate that won't matter, between two guys vying for a job with no official duties....
Canada, by Richard Ford
To help us understand ourselves, every age needs its Huckleberry Finn, a naive boy on the lam, harmed or abandoned by his parents and left to confront evil and to figure out life for himself....