Features
Three United Methodist pastors and their delight in ministry
Jesus the (Second Temple-era) Jew
Immigration and the biblical law of the stranger
Abraham broke the law, crossing borders and trafficking his wife
Books
A DNA test and its aftermath
Even as a child, Dani Shapiro wondered whether she belonged in her family.
The “Christian century” and the people who lived it
Brian Stanley pulls off a readable, one-volume history of 20th-century Christianity.
Ethical hacks for managing our adolescent technologies
Kate Ott looks at the moral implications of digital language.
The spirit of Madeleine L’Engle
Sarah Arthur captures the beloved Christian author’s appeal.
Departments
Decline and revival in the Church of England
Loving the spiritual-but-not-religious neighbors I am given
Refugees: La Sagrada Familia, by Kelly Latimore
The extinction of whales, birds, and other creatures that once praised God
A faith that looks to the future
News
Cairo university renews its claim as arbiter in Islam
The 1,044-year-old Al-Azhar University seeks to reach Muslims globally through its website and social media, combating extremist ideology.
Tangle of church and state splits Ukrainian Orthodox
Across Ukraine congregations are debating whether to join the recently created, independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine—or remain affiliated with the Moscow patriarch.
Ancient neighborhoods in Hindu pilgrimage city flattened by renovations
Varanasi has been defined by its maze of narrow alleyways, palaces, homes, and centuries-old temples.
Burkina Faso churches attacked as violence spikes
Until the past two years, Burkina Faso had long been known for interreligious peaceful co-existence.
Jean Vanier, author who shaped theology of disability, dies at age 90
Through the L’Arche network of communities and his books, he lifted up the brokenness of people with and without developmental disabilities—and their potential for transformation.
The doors that Rachel Held Evans wedged open
She pointed toward a God who loves us in ways we can’t yet comprehend.
Jean Vanier and the gift of L’Arche
Vanier found fullness of life in those snatched from despair and placed in homes based on mutuality, respect, and care.
Rachel Held Evans, Christian writer and speaker, dies at age 37
Evans’s books A Year of Biblical Womanhood, Searching for Sunday, and Inspired traced the evolution of her faith.