Features
Exchanging letters with people in hell
My state has the same number of churches as prisoners. This fact haunts me.
The blinding horror of Abraham’s faith
It’s dangerous to trust God in the face of suffering. It’s more dangerous not to.
A church for the kids: Why I still care about denominational politics
Denominational meetings can be difficult. My Sunday school class reminds me what's at stake.
Books
Political religion, sanctified politics
It's odd the way this volume deals with Barack Obama. It's a shame it has to deal with David Barton at all.
A Sense of Wonder, edited by Brian Doyle
This “best of” volume contains an impressive array of spiritual writing....
A tough age for girls
Teenage girls navigate a tough landscape. There are tools the church can offer them.
The mystery of the beautiful
How can God speak through what is soft and breakable? How can we?
The Gardener and the Carpenter, by Alison Gopnik
Caregiving is a form of love rooted in relationship, not a form of work....
Can Americans get past the past?
Trump isn’t the only one who says things used to be better.
Puzzles with a purpose
Joy Williams’s stories disarm, bewilder, and awaken us.
Departments
Make today great again
Instead of glorifying the past, what if we treated the present as precious?
Harry Potter, holy writ
People read J. K. Rowling’s books as if they were scripture. What if they were?
Are the Maori separate and equal?
Integration is one solution to a history of oppression. New Zealand's churches tried another.
Angels Speaking Hebrew, by Mark Podwal
Mark Podwal is known for his drawings on the New York Times op-ed page, as well as his illustrations for books inspired by Jewish legend, history, and tradition....
The story that swallows the news
Political journalism may need to do more, but it also needs to do less.
The next monster
Stranger Things reassures us that the stories of the past can give us the courage to face whatever danger looms.
News
Michelle Alexander wins award, takes job at Union seminary
Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow, won a prestigious award and became a visiting professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City as she focuses more on partnership with religious groups....
Pierbattista Pizzaballa appointed to Jerusalem Catholic post
Pierbattista Pizzaballa, an Italian Franciscan known for being friendly toward Jewish people and Israel, now heads the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem....
Amanda Tyler to head Baptist religious liberty organization
Amanda R. Tyler will be the next executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, an organization committed to defending religious free exercise and separation of church and state....
Christian writer’s murder in Jordan reveals conflict on free speech, religion
(The Christian Science Monitor) The assassination of a Jordanian writer facing charges of blasphemy placed a spotlight on Jordan’s careful balance between respect for religion and ...
City of peace, division, or both? Art show celebrates Jerusalem
Four years ago, the cocurators of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new show, Jerusalem 1000–1400: Every People Under Heaven, visited Theophilos III, the city’s Orthodox patriarch, and solicited his community’s cooperation....
Most of the unaffiliated just “stopped believing,” according to study
A majority of the religiously unaffiliated—the so-called nones—say they fell away from faith not because of any negative experience, but because they “stopped believing,” usually before the age of 30....
Christians, Muslims stump together in Jordan
(The Christian Science Monitor) Akef Smeirat did something no other Christian candidate in Jordan is known to have done: he ran for office with an Islamist party....
Lectionary
November 20, Reign of Christ: Luke 23:33-43
Luke's text for Reign of Christ Sunday is a searing critique of leaders who are powerful but not vulnerable.
November 13, 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Luke 21:5-19
I'd left the practice of testimony in my childhood church. Then I learned why Luke suggests it when your world is falling apart.
November 6, All Saints: Luke 6:20-31
A retired colonel taught me about the courage it takes to love our enemies.