Features
The ministry of the risen Lord
The one who puts all things under his feet is doing something in the world.
Unnecessary roughness: The moral hazards of football
A sociologist might see in football a society's need to control and ritualize violence. The church fathers, however, weren't much for sociologists.
Disagreeing in love: A congregation discusses same-sex marriage
I knew I had to talk to him. This longtime church elder would soon see my newsletter article, and he wasn't going to like it.
The end of AIDS? Gains and challenges in fighting HIV: Gains and challenges in fighting HIV
At the International AIDS Conference, one thing was clear: even if a cure is found, the struggle against the virus will continue.
Books
Can medicine be cured?
Jeffrey Bishop is both a physician and a philosopher. Here he turns his clinical and analytical gaze on medicine, and his diagnosis is bleak.
Seeking the Straight and Narrow, by Lynne Gerber
Lynne Gerber's interaction with the discourses of evangelical weight loss and sexual reorientation is engaging, surprising and admirably charitable.
A Door in the Ocean, by David McGlynn
In his sparkling new collection of essays, David McGlynn wrestles with some of the same fierce angels that haunt his short stories.
Grand theory
Kitty Ferguson's biography of Stephen Hawking is an important book for anyone interested in who and what we are—and where we're going.
Font of Life, by Garry Wills
Garry Wills presents Ambrose as a forerunner of Desmond Tutu, who also opposed a government that intruded upon the church's claims.
Departments
Dangerous vows
The newlyweds stood in worship surrounded by examples of the options for how their marriage will end. And 100 percent of marriages do end.
John After Delacroix
In the foreground of Eugène Delacroix’s classic The Entombment of Christ is a poignant image of the disciple John sitting, bent forward, contemplating the crown of thorns....
Speaking of money
My files are full of stewardship sermons. So it came as a shock when people would say, “We know you don’t like to talk about money.”
Once Upon a Time; Mirror, Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman
Several current tales of Snow White nod at feminist critique—while leaving the old paradigms for female power and beauty intact.
Lament for small places
If agriculture survives at all on the Great Plains, it will be very limited. What will take its place? Not many people, that's for sure.
Racial politics
Race lies behind the widespread belief that Obama is a Muslim, was born outside the U.S. and is something other than a genuine American.
News
GOP ticket signals religious shift
By naming devout, conservative Catholic Paul Ryan to be his running mate, former governor Mitt Romney, once a Mormon bishop, did more than ensure that the U.S. will have a Catholic vice president in 2013....
Romney: Releasing tax returns would publicize his church tithe
Mitt Romney said recently that one of the reasons he’s distressed about disclosing his tax returns is that everyone would see how much money he and his wife Ann have donated to the Mormon church, and that’s a number he wants to keep private....
Disputed sources underlie Rep. Akin’s rape remarks
“The question of rape always stirs the emotions whenever it is introduced into the abortion debate,” wrote Dr. Fred Mecklenburg in 1972. “Unfortunately, the emotional impact of rape often clouds the real issues and the real facts.”...
Obama, Romney quizzed on religious perspectives
President Obama says it’s not his job to defend his Christian faith against doubters who suspect he’s Muslim. His GOP challenger, Mitt Romney, says religion is “integral” to his life, but he often avoids mentioning his Mormon faith by name....
Multisite churches are outpacing growth of megachurches
The number of congregations that host worship services at more than one physical location has grown to more than 5,000 in the last decade, according to a new report....
Megachurch worship offers a spiritual ‘high’
Maybe religion really is the opiate of the masses—just not the way Karl Marx imagined....
Russian band punished for ‘religious hatred’
A Moscow court has found three members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot guilty of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” after a guerrilla performance in Moscow’s main cathedral in February....
Amish communities on a growth spurt
The Amish are one of the fastest-growing religious groups in North America, according to a new census by researchers at Ohio State University....
Lectionary
Sunday, September 30, 2012: Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29; Mark 9:38-50
If Moses is any example, the pastor’s yoke was never light. He wasn’t very far into his 40-year pastorate when he learned that his flock did not feel called to provide him with constant affirmation.
Sunday, September 23, 2012: Proverbs 31:10-31
Enough water has passed under the bridge to allow us to take a second look at the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31.