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What basic Christian tenet, doctrine or word have you struggled to “translate” into plain speech?...

New today from the Century: Associate minister Katherine Willis Pershey on preaching less, Nelson Kraybill reviews Elaine Pagels, more.

Elaine Pagels's book repeats a winning formula: contrast the canon's controversial parts with more appealing Gnostic selections.

In readable fashion Levy-Achtemeier explores what it means for humans to flourish....

Predatory lenders often exact fees at a rate equivalent to an annual rate of 300 to 800 percent. Grace Period offers an alternative.

In the languid days of midsummer, when church financial income is at low ebb, it is a comfort to remember that Paul too had stewardship issues in his churches. It’s not a new phenomenon....

c. 2012 Religion News Service LOS ANGELES (RNS) Abdel was born into a Muslim family in Egypt but embraced Christianity about 15 years ago. The decision eventually landed him in prison. ...

c. 2012 USA Today (RNS) A growing number of cities across the United States are making it harder to be homeless. ...

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The latest in can-you-believe-this-guy campaign-trail videos: Senate candidate Eric Hovde, who—like Montgomery Burns with a Wisconsin accent—reduces media coverage of low-income people facing service cuts to "sob stories."

It's the "unforgivable" part that gets me. How can there be an unforgivable sin? 

New today from the Century: Breaking the cycle of payday loans, blaspheming the holy spirit, more.

The “Jesus asleep in the boat during a terrible storm” story has always seemed unfair to me. I feel for the disciples when they wake him; they are understandably angry that he doesn’t seem to care that they are about to die. I’d be just as angry at Jesus for appearing so calm in the midst of real danger. The disciples are uncomfortable that Jesus is not acting according to the category of “concerned friend,” much less “messiah”—so they kind of yell at him. And when it comes down to it, who hasn’t yelled at God during the storms of life?

A reliquary (stone box containing sacred relics) was discovered back in 2010 on the Black Sea island of Sveti Ivan (which means "St. John") off the coast of Bulgaria....

New today from the Century: A hopeful universalism, review of Steven Pinker, more.

God's "consuming fire" is the fire of holy love. It doesn't await sinners in the future; it burns up sin itself.

Steven Pinker says human beings are becoming less violent. But his larger point seems to be that everyone should think like he does.

c. 2012 Religion News Service PHILADELPHIA (RNS) T.J. Foltz has a recipe to help the world's poor: Take one part entrepreneurship, one part social media savvy and one part faith-based motivation....

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