Critical Essay
A prophetic ministry of relationship
Jesus in conversation with three women in the Gospels
Is the “final judgment” really final?
What the Bible doesn't say about hell
Why Orthodox Christians see triumph in the cross
Not just suffering
Jesus’ risen, mutilated body
In Luke’s postresurrection appearances, the disciples have to reckon with the traumatic somatic.
Rachel Held Evans, public theologian
She was the C. S. Lewis of her time.
A letter from Paul to Christians in the US
Let me cut to the chase, brothers and sisters. Is this what you think living in Christ looks like?
Howard Thurman’s contemplative nonviolence
The pastor and mentor to Martin Luther King formed a vision of resistance around prayer, not politics.
W. A. Visser ’t Hooft’s confrontation with nationalist idolatry among Christians
The Dutch ecumenist believed the church can—and must—challenge hateful ideologies.
We should celebrate the “death day” of our baptism each year
Baptism is about dying with Christ. Why don't more churches talk about this?
Being a pastor within the secular frame means teaching people how to pray
Prayer is ministry, and ministry is prayer.
Jesus wept. Why?
Maybe Jesus’ tears at Bethany come from more than grief.
Populism and who it’s for
What does it take for people to get mobilized for the common good?
What pastors get paid, and when it’s not enough
Financial stress is harming ministers—some more than others.
Immigration and the biblical law of the stranger
In Torah, the stranger appears as a guest to be welcomed, not a problem to be solved.
Abraham broke the law, crossing borders and trafficking his wife
Why do we forgive him so much more easily than migrants today?
Flannery O’Connor’s challenge to the Lost Cause myths of the Confederacy
A little-known O’Connor story explores the human cost of self-deception.
Becoming a neighborhood church
The separate spheres of our lives, and the imagination it takes to forge deeper community
The preacher is a chef who prepares a meal
Like good cooking, good preaching is local, idiosyncratic, and diverse.
The biblical Amalekites are the Israelites’ enemies—and their kin
Enemies are real. They are also closer to us than we may care to imagine.
My holy envy of other faith traditions
How my attraction to other religions deepened my love of my own