Features
Why I need Advent
Come to the river, wash away your sins, start a new life. Now—because something is coming.
My True Story, by Aaron Neville
Now in his seventies, Aaron Neville can still locate the incredibly sweet spot between full voice and falsetto. The R&B legend’s singing remains mellow but quietly forceful—as if he could let loose at any moment but chooses not to.
The Invisible Girl, by Parov Stelar Trio
The best hyphenated genres don’t combine disparate worlds; they embrace commonality.
One God, one Lord
How can Paul navigate the choppy waters of a pagan environment, with its idols and temples? The obvious place to start is the Shema.
The Ash & Clay, by the Milk Carton Kids
Most Americana duos don’t sound as much like Gillian Welch and David Rawlings as people say they do. But the Milk Carton Kids’ resemblance is uncanny.
Jewish and pacifist: Jesus and the Old Testament
The Old Testament displays an ongoing conversation between conflicting views of God's character. In light of this, Jesus' story becomes very important.
This Side of Jordan, by Mandolin Orange
Another day, another talented Americana songwriter immersed in the language of a faith he doesn’t profess.
Beautiful Africa, by Rokia Traoré
Malian singer, songwriter, and guitarist Rokia Traoré has long blended West African music with occidental influences. Her fifth album, produced by P. J. Harvey collaborator John Parish, features the strongest rock element yet.
Hallowed ground: My civil religion vacation
Battery Park's carnival atmosphere was just what my family was looking for. We needed to be somewhere with fresh, crass air—far from our parsonage home.
Books
How we got here
Were liberal democracies ill equipped to manage the crises of the 1930s? It was a genuine question, as Ira Katznelson underscores in this engrossing book.
Blush, by Shirley Hershey Showalter
Showalter grew up with a love of the land and an appreciation for the Mennonite faith in which she was reared, but there was no way she could be kept down on the farm....
Inexhaustible Lewis
"You'll never get to the bottom" of C. S. Lewis, said Tolkien. The books published for the 50th anniversary of Lewis's death reveal the truth of this statement.
Darling, by Richard Rodriguez
After 9/11 Rodriguez was determined to learn more about the religion that purportedly inspired the terrorists who engineered the attacks....
Sober Mercies, by Heather Kopp
One in four American children—seven of my third-grader's classmates—experience something akin to what Heather Kopp describes in her recovery memoir.
Departments
Beauty and thanksgiving
The proximity of Thanksgiving and Advent evokes in me an awareness and celebration of the ways God comes into the world.
Baptism of Xenia, by Jennifer J. Wilson
Jennifer J. Wilson, a Boston photographer, worked on a documentary project centered on parish life at the city’s Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral.
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Crippling fantasies
Don Jon is not about a porn addict saved by a good woman. It's about the unhealthy collision of two people who are ready only for broken relationships.
The view from above
Captain Phillips emphasizes the larger story: long before they meet, the lives of the pirates and the captain are already bound together.
Reformation in Ethiopia
Since the 1970s, Ethiopia has seen something like what Europe saw around 1520: a movement based largely on growing access to the vernacular Bible.
Entitled to eat
Food stamps are efficient, effective and good for the economy. So should we cut them a lot, or just a little?
News
A rare holiday convergence
It happened last in 1888 and, according to one calculation, won’t happen again for another 77,798 years—the convergence of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah....
Bishop challenges ban on gay nuptials
Retired bishop Melvin Talbert of the United Methodist Church, who shared a jail cell with Martin Luther King Jr....
Baptist pastor resigns amid abuse allegations
An independent Baptist pastor has resigned his church in Georgia after allegations about sexual abuse 18 years ago in Michigan resurfaced on the Internet....
Fewer homeschool parents cite faith as main motive
When Jennifer Pedersen-Giles started to homeschool her son Westen six years ago, it was because he needed a more hands-on environment than what public schools could offer....
Oath to God dropped at Air Force Academy
Air Force Academy cadets will no longer be required to say the words “so help me God” when taking their annual honor oath....
Libertarian numbers small but they have clout
The Public Religion Research Institute’s annual American Values Survey, released October 29, examines libertarians to try to “pin down a group that doesn’t fit on the traditional liberal-to-conservative spectrum,” said Robert Jones, CEO of PR...
Woman sues InterVarsity over firing after divorce
A Michigan woman has filed a wrongful-termination lawsuit against InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, saying she was fired because of her divorce while two male colleagues kept their jobs as they went through divorce and remarriage....