Features
What Genesis doesn’t say: Rethinking the creation story
We labor under the illusion that if the clock stopped between creation and Fall or between Fall and redemption, they would make sense on their own. But nothing could be more misleading.
Stand up for Jesus: Susan Sparks, pastor and comedian
"I was doing my material about being a southerner in New York—about regional differences in shopping, food, clothing. People were laughing. Then I made the mistake of saying I was a minister. The room went silent."
Buckle up: Congregational change isn’t easy
Change sets off a burst of emotional energy. In working with
congregations, I'm occasionally surprised by the vehemence or the source
of the emotionality, but never by its presence.
Losing ground: Less money for AIDS work
Funding for global AIDS work is declining—even though current programs are working, and antiretroviral drugs are keeping people healthier.
The Social Network
David Fincher's The Social Network, with a script by the monarch of machine-gun banter, Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing), is a smart, funny film that tells the story of how Facebook came into being. It's a comedy of manners about a desperately uncool Harvard undergrad who creates the most popular club in the world and declares himself president.
Diverse and devout
The U.S. would seem to be prime ground for deep and chronic social conflict. Yet the evidence indicates that Americans get along fairly well in spite of having many different religions, including the growing number who subscribe to "no religion."
Books
A review of Good Value
Stephen Green would be the first to tell you that he has led a
privileged life. Indeed, he acknowledges his privilege throughout his...
A review of Mother of God Similar to Fire
This book is a series of icons painted by Catholic priest William Hart McNichols, accompanied by prayers written by acclaimed translator and self-described "Jewish Sufi Buddhist who loves Chri...
Ways of peace
There isn't a tidy way to write about forgiveness. It's the whole gospel, for sure....
A review of The Melody of Faith
Guroian thinks that theology is more analogous to music than it is to architecture....
A review of Liberalism Without Illusions
While I was writing this review, I came across a statement from the managing editor of Christianity Today, who wrote that his magazine offers "independent journalism about an important nic...
Departments
Closing hymns
She is foggy, struggling to find the old gifts of conversation. But she knows me, I think. I
tell her all of the reassuring things that pastors say in such a
setting. "The Creator who has watched over you all of the days of your
life is now holding you in those sacred hands." She smiles and
struggles to respond with words I barely understand.
Loss of Context
I don't know what I'm going to do without Context: Martin E. Marty on Religion and Culture. Earlier this year Marty and the Claretians, who have published Context 12 times a year, announced that it was closing down. I've been in a mild depression ever since.
Reactive mood
The glory of American politics is that voters get to "throw the rascals
out"—whether or not they understand who the rascals are or the nature
of the crisis the nation is in. Very little could have done by any
government during this worldwide economic slowdown to address the high
unemployment, except more government stimulus, which is what voters say
they don't want.
Why do we call it 9/11?
Despite all the attention given to remembering the al-Qaeda attacks of
September 11, 2001, little attention has been given to one conspicuous
aspect--the event has no name.
Megiddo and Hazor
Sandra Bowden's art is a meditation on time and eternity based on biblical and archaeological sources....
News
Mideast Catholic bishops urge Israel not to use the Bible ‘to justify injustices’
Bishops from the Middle East, summoned by the pope to the Vatican, ended their two-week meeting with a statement that called on Israel to end its "occupation" of Arab lands and to stop using the Bible to defend injustices....
Chilean bishop removed from top Anglican panel
Chile's leading Anglican bishop has become collateral damage in the border wars between the U.S.-based Episcopal Church and conservatives overseas....
Some religious charities buck lower giving trends
Several of the nation's largest religious charities reported increases in private support as nonprofits overall saw decreases in donations last year, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported....
Gays tell bullied teens ‘It gets better’; clergy decry ‘religious’ attacks
A Catholic writer in upstate New York, a Muslim college student from Connecticut and an ex-Mormon attorney in the San Francisco Bay Area have joined a chorus of testimonials on YouTube aimed at preventing teen suicides....
Poll links religion to gay enmity, suicides
Most Americans believe that messages about homosexuality coming from
religious institutions contribute to negative views of gays and
lesbians as well as to higher rates of suicide among gay youths, a new
poll reports....
Last Episcopal diocese holdout ordains female
Women have been ordained as priests in all dioceses of the Episcopal
Church, now that the last holdout—Quincy, Illinois—has ordained its
first woman....
Are more Bible versions bad for the Good Book?
If you stacked all the Bibles sitting in American homes, the tower
would rise 29 million feet, nearly 1,000 times the height of Mount
Everest....
Crystal Cathedral files for bankruptcy protection
Unable to satisfy creditors owed millions of dollars, the ailing
Crystal Cathedral ministry in Southern California has filed for
bankruptcy protection....
U.S. disputes claim that Islam is invalid faith
Islam is a valid religion that is entitled to constitutional
protection, says a U.S. attorney who stepped into a debate about a
proposed mosque and Islamic center in Tennessee....
Quiet faith lies behind satirist’s blowhard facade
When comedian Stephen Colbert brought his act to Capitol Hill in
September and stole the spotlight with his satirical shtick, no one was
more surprised than lawmakers. "You run your show," scolded House...
Lectionary
Sunday, November 21, 2010
For the healing we need, we cannot do better than to rely on the ancient assurances of Zechariah's hymn. Written in a time of occupation and economic disarray that eclipses our own in its uncertainty, the hymn proclaims that we are indeed free, whatever our brokenness, to worship God without fear.