Jason Byassee
Hardball tactics
When United Methodist Church bishops condemned the U.S. military presence in Iraq, a fax arrived almost immediately at the Century from the Institute on Religion and Democracy's top Methodist watchdog, Mark Tooley. Like some kind of Methodist pope perched over the bishops, Tooley dressed down the bishops: "How woefully absurd that church prelates condemn the United States for attempting to build democracy in Iraq."For three decades Tooley and others at the IRD have been monitoring mainline churches for political statements that are out of step with the views of their rank-and-file members. When there's a gap between the views of church leaders and people in the pews the IRD steps in to take advantage of the controversy.
Being Benedict: The pope's first year
Late in his life, Karl Barth invited a young Catholic theologian to join his theology seminar....
Purpose-driven in Brazil: Perspectives on church growth
Brazil offers a major example of the explosive growth of evangelical and Pentecostal churches taking place in the Southern Hemisphere....
The human specimen: Bodies on display
There is some uncertainty about what to do with the dead. Should we anoint them, embalm them, bury them, preserve them in vaults, or burn them up and keep their ashes on the shelf?...
Free of Charge
There are good books, there are great books, and then there are books that make you want to send copies to all...
Not a slam dunk
The myth that sports are racially redemptive makes for formulaic movies. Glory Road feels a lot like Remember the Titans....
Team players: What do associate pastors want?
When I asked my friend about his work as an associate pastor, he ripped into his senior minister: “He won’t communicate! He doesn’t even seem interested in what I do at his church!” When I spoke with a senior pastor, he sighed. “Sometimes with my staff I feel like my dad did during a long car trip. When we kids would get rambunctious, he’d take just so much before turning around to give us a good whack.”
The Lincoln experience: Up-to-date history
The opening earlier this year of the $90 million Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois, sparked a battle over the place of technology in museums....
Devil in the details: When faith is ruled by fear
People say ‘God is dead.’ But how can they say that when I show them the devil?”
...The new monastics: Alternative Christian communities
At a time when the church had grown cozy with the ruling authorities, and faith had become a means to power, some Christians determined to live out an alternative life grounded in an authentically biblical faith. They headed for desolate places, pooled their resources and dedicated themselves to a life of asceticism and prayer. No, these aren't fourth-century communities of monks, but present-day communities of Christians who are part of a new and radically different form of Christian practice.
Virgin territory: Sex and the single man
With all of its jokes about bestiality, sexual harassment and pimpin’ for drunk ho’s, The 40-Year-Old Virgin is not a film to show the youth group. The humor is vulgar enough to make the producers of South Park blush. But in its own way the movie makes a case for virginity, one likely to gain a wider hearing than a True Love Waits campaign. It’s not only genuinely (if crudely) funny, but surprisingly human.
Passionate disbelief: An ex-fundamentalist lashes out
Brian Flemming is that most dangerous of religious creatures: the former fundamentalist. He is also a gifted satirical filmmaker....
The Aquinas industry
A striking aspect of contemporary Protestant theology is the amount of interest shown in the great medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas, who was long regarded as the champion of rationalism and the “...
Beautiful words: The St. John's Bible project
Bibles are cheap. In their zeal to make scripture accessible to everyone, Protestants have manufactured Bibles in almost every language and made them available for startlingly small sums....
Fear factor
Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds churns up an emulsion of suspense and horror that engulfs you with the gray relentlessness of a low-grade fever....
Be happy: The health and wealth gospel
Osteen preaches "your best life ever" to 30,000 faithful at his church in Houston. He talks about his elegant home, his well-adjusted kids and his wife—his adoring "partner in ministry." "Be positive," says Osteen, "and you too can have all of these things."
Can a Jew be a Christian? The challenge of Messianic Judaism: The challenge of Messianic Judaism
Can you be a practicing Jew and also believe that Jesus is the messiah? The customary answer is no. Though Christianity began as a Jewish sect, it quickly became an all-gentile affair....
PCUSA cuts funding to Avodat: Support had been controversial
Officials of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) decided to cut off funding for congregation Avodat Yisrael as of July 1....
Video ventures: Two alternatives to 'Alpha'
Since Alpha appeared in 2001 in Great Britain, several efforts have been made to create alternative versions of that popular evangelistic video series....