Martin E. Marty
Holy and digital: Mass frenzy
I believe in one, holy, catholic, digitized Christian church. That’s a credible postmodern paraphrase of the ancient creed. Why digitized instead of apostolic?
...Citing Reinhold: Niebuhr's legacy
Now and then we play a game: “Which four figures would you nominate to be included in a Mount Rushmore of American religionists?” Jonathan Edwards and Martin Luther King Jr....
Target market: The New Yorker's mistake
On the lecture circuit I once met a man who was one of the hierarchs in the advertising division of the New Yorker....
Keep it to yourself: Is there an upside to gossip?
Like W. C. Fields and most Christians, I spend a good deal of time reading the Bible, looking for loopholes. Recently, I focused on getting off the hook with respect to the sin of gossip....
In over my head: Learning from Lance Armstrong
Here is Lance Armstrong, reflecting on the day he learned he had testicular cancer: “Athletes don’t tend to think of themselves as human....
Suspending disbelief: Marian visions
Ghost Ranch, a Presbyterian haven in New Mexico, in 1968 welcomed its first Catholic speaker, Father Anthony Wilhelm, with whom I was to hold a public conversation....
Texts of terror: Warlike passages
CREDO: I am a Christian for the reasons stated in the Letter to the Ephesians, especially wherein “Christ is our peace.” I believe that the Bible as a whole (see Second Isaiah) and the New Testamen...
Guns
"Want to see my AK-47?"What?! I thought. "Are those things even legal Bob?" He had multiple and seemingly contradictory answers ready. "Oh yeah. It's only got a 10-bullet clip. It's made in China. Plus I got it at a gun show."
Lost rites: Godless funerals
Having read Selwa Roosevelt’s review in the Washington Post weekly edition (June 20-26), I intend to read Being Dead Is No Excuse: The Official Southern Ladies Guide to Hosting the...
Taking risks: In memory of Theodore Gill, Century editor
Theodore A. Gill, onetime managing editor of this magazine, died last month. Mine is the only name remaining on the masthead from his time at the magazine 47 years ago....
Fighting words: Christian smite songs
Since I always played in the band, I never learned the words of my schools’ fight songs. That’s just as well, if Warren St....
Bellow and Jesus: Moved and horrified
Stephen Mitchell sent his 1993 book The Gospel According to Jesus to Nobel Prize–winning novelist Saul Bellow, and to his surprise received a passionate response....
Open season: Surviving church conferences
Here is a recommended summer reading list: Robert’s Rules of Disorder, Extreme Boxing, No-Rules Gladiatorial Games, Cockfighting, The Laws of Rugby Football...
The pope and me: Claiming acquaintance
It’s easy to find weird epitaphs in old graveyards, in books of quotations or via the Internet....
Teen slanguage: Issues in Bible translation
Pity Bible translators who try to keep up with changes in language....
Virtual spirituality: A programmable friend
Because I have on occasion spoken critically of current fashions in spirituality, I am asked: “What have you got against ‘being spiritual’ and ‘spirituality’?” This is a good moment to respond.
...Characters: English soles, psychic powers and doll houses
Trapped on a plane on a runway in Atlanta the other evening, I had three hours to catch up on back issues of the Times Literary Supplement. Instinctively, I looked for M.E.M.O material....
Millisecond thoughts: Neuroscience and free will
Two portraits graced my study walls for many years: Holbein’s Erasmus and Cranach’s Luther....
Holy franchise: Franchise churches
The dictionaries of saints leap alphabetically from St. Frances of Rome to St. Fremund, with stops along the way to a half dozen St. Francises....