Books
Why scientific thinking matters for society
Andrew Shtulman's book isn't just about understanding data. It's about moral concern.
The Bible's place in the American imagination
Scripture shapes culture—but always through what we bring to it.
Tracing the traditions of English church music
Andrew Gant's lively book tells a history of sacred song.
Philosophy and parody in a murder mystery
Laurent Binet's latest novel is at once a lecture, a detective story, and an exploration of the limits of fiction.
Marilynne Robinson's vision for democracy
Critics are correct that Robinson doesn't offer an alternative to the Christian Right. But she never claimed to.
The personal is political—and universal—for Carter Heyward
Heyward was one of the first women priests. But her particular experiences aren't the heart of her memoir.
Who was Joseph Oppenheimer, and why was he killed?
Yair Mintzker doesn't know. He's more interested in why other historians keep trying to write a 19th-century novel about the 18th-century case.
Is popularity the goal?
Jesus wants us to be likable—but more importantly, he wants us to love.
Are Wendell Berry's Port William stories about racism?
According to Joseph Wiebe, Berry's vision of rural life starts with his reckoning with Kentucky, the Shawnee, and black slavery.
Kapka Kassabova returns to Bulgaria
A travel writer's visit to the borderlands of her childhood
How new is the new Christian Zionism?
There have been many Zionisms over the years. Only one has imagined an eventual end of Judaism.
In the face of violent white supremacy, how should I respond?
I was invited to an interfaith solidarity service. Instead I spent the day reading Congressman John Lewis's graphic novel trilogy about the civil rights movement.
The values and moral quandaries of cyber war
Ethicist George Lucas argues that new forms of warfare are "mired in epistemological crisis."
Where are the dead?
Leonard DeLorenzo helps us envision where our loved ones have gone and how we relate to them.
Let there be invisible light
The universe is filled with light that we cannot see.
The emotional wisdom of irrational Christians
Ken Evers-Hood applies behavioral economic theories to Jesus—and the people who follow him.
The role of county prosecutors in mass incarceration
John Pfaff's Locked In adds to what we've learned from Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow.
Paradox at the heart of poetry
The Still Pilgrim—seemingly Angela Alaimo O'Donnell's alter ego—reflects joy and longing.
The art of (Jewish) pastoral counseling
This book taught me about phylacteries. More importantly, it taught me about myself.
Creating a feminist world
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie captures the complexity of gender—and suggests simple ways to negotiate it.