Latest Articles
Islam: Past, Present and Future
Shortly after the attacks of September 11, President Bush declared that the perpetrators had “violated the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith...
Speaking Conflict: Stories of a Controversial Jesus
In 2000 David Buttrick began a project that focused on the language of Jesus and the ways in which attention to Jesus’ languag...
Faith to fire back
I struggle with the story of Jesus encountering the Canaanite woman....
A preacher's pep talk
When I am in the locker room of my study, feeling dejected, downcast, weary and defeated from the preaching effort, I read:...
Something Christlike: A life-giving strategy
The version of Christianity that appears in the media often embarrasses me: it’s narrow, sectarian, exclusive and sometimes mean-spirited....
Degree of tolerance: A balanced interpretation
A recent survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that Americans are quite accepting of religions other than their own....
Century Marks
Giving up stuff: In an effort to combat consumerism, Dave Bruno is taking a “100 thing challenge”: he aims by November 12 to have whittled his personal possessions down to 100 items. By personal items he means things that are totally his, not items shared with family members. And some things, like books, he groups together as a category (though he is considering trying to get his own library down to 100 titles). Bruno, owner of a Christian audio book company, is blogging about his efforts at a guynameddave.com.
Inland drilling: A debate over mining in Upper Michigan
On the southern shore of Lake Superior, rugged edges of deep green forest merge with cliffs of sandstone and million-year-old granite to mark a remote corner of the Upper Peninsula that economists often call America’s “second Appalachia.” For those who live here, it has become a battleground between an international mining company and a patchwork coalition of residents, fisherfolk, church leaders, environmentalists and an Indian tribe.
Briefly noted
Unitarian Universalists ended their annual General Assembly in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, last month with a call to oppose ballot measures in Florida and California that would outlaw same-sex...
Jewish groups pleased by PCUSA stand on Mideast: An "important step forward"
Jewish groups said the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s recent call for peace in the Middle East is an “important step forward” in repairing relations between the two sides after several years of acr...
Tanzania bishop tells Lutheran World Federation gay relations unacceptable: Says relationships "against principles of nature"
The host bishop at a global Lutheran conference in Tanzania raised the thorny issue of homosexuality in his sermon opening the meeting of the main governing body of the 68-million-strong Lutheran W...
McCain, Grahams have 'excellent conversation' but no endorsement: Private meeting at McCain's request
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain visited evangelists Billy and Franklin Graham for “a very excellent conversation” at the elder preacher’s North Carolina home June 29...
Episcopal court finds bishop guilty of hiding abuse by brother: Victim says Bennison walked in on encounters
An Episcopal Church court has unanimously found Bishop Charles E....
Virginia judge sides with breakaway churches: Upholds Civil War–era law
A Civil War–era law that lets Virginia churches keep their property when leaving a denomination where a “division” has occurred is constitutional, a county judge has ruled, siding with 11 for...
Anglican leader rebuffs challenge to his authority: Rowan Williams and GAFCON
The archbishop of Canterbury has declared that conservatives’ plans to usurp his leadership in the Anglican Communion are “problematic in all sorts of ways,” saying Anglicans must renew— not dismis...
Obama pledges to expand Bush's faith-based works: "A real partnership, not a photo op"
Adopting a federal program criticized strongly by some liberals, Senator Barack Obama says he would expand and improve President Bush’s initiative to fund religious charities and community ministri...
Presbyterians push again for gay clergy: Regional presbyteries must follow suit
The nation’s largest Presbyterian denomination has again pushed open the door to ordaining noncelibate gay and lesbian clergy, though the decades-old fight is far from over....