Books
Philip Kolin’s poems for the holy, violent earth
Yearning for the impossible, glimpsing the unimaginable
Why I'm reading Deborah Lipstadt
I never thought that in 2019 a book on antisemitism in America would be vital reading.
A black pastor writes to the white church about its complicity in oppression
Lenny Duncan’s letter is full of hope and fury, love and lament—like Paul’s epistles.
Thinking musically about God
One note fills the whole space. Then we add another—and a third.
This novel about ridiculously rich people offers no simple lessons
Patrick deWitt is far too smart a writer to offer a sentimental narrative of redemption.
Does God command genocide in the book of Joshua?
Daniel Hawk avoids easy responses to violence in the Bible—but then enters some troubling territory.
When Jane Tompkins couldn’t move, she read
Confined by illness, the feminist literary scholar dove into the complete works of V.S. Naipaul and Paul Theroux.
Toni Morrison writes about race, religion, and her own fiction
Our language isn’t neutral. It has history embedded within it.
Steven Waldman has something new to say about religious freedom in the US
His narrative includes heroes and villains on both sides of the political divide.
Literary faith from Dostoevsky to Marilynne Robinson
Poetry and fiction grant us glimpses of God.
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s short stories reveal the insanity and violence of our society
Evoking the murders of unarmed black men, this collection is meant to appall us.
What greed looks like
The roots of our desire for money, pleasure, and power reach back to the Enlightenment.
Elaine Pagels’s lifelong search for the sacred
Pagels vividly recounts her spiritual experiences. But she won’t let herself be bound by any tradition.
Tracing the racist history of the death penalty in Georgia
R.J. Maratea argues that lynching declined when white people began to realize that the courtroom would work just as well.
A physicist explores mystical experience
Alan Lightman asks great questions about science and religion. His answers are sometimes frustrating.
Kathryn Tanner’s anti-work ethic
The theologian doesn’t want finance capitalism to determine what we’re worth.
An Israeli writer’s final word to his fellow citizens
Amos Oz feared that fanaticism was rising in Israel as well as in the West.
Learning to love Iran
Delphine Minoui planned a weeklong visit to explore her heritage. She stayed for 10 years.
How Crusades-era literature shaped the idea of the Christian West
Jay Rubinstein places himself in the apocalyptic mindset of authors like Joachim of Fiore.
Robert Alter’s Hebrew Bible translation is at once accurate and eloquent
Precision and beauty have kissed.