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Since 1900, the Christian Century has published reporting, commentary, poetry, and essays on the role of faith in a pluralistic society.
© 2023 The Christian Century.
An ambitious queer reading of John of the Cross
Miguel Díaz takes the medieval mystic’s sexual metaphors for spirituality seriously—along with the lived experience of LGBTQ people.
A 21st-century Polish epic
Based on historical events, Olga Tokarczuk’s massive novel is simultaneously heartbreaking and comic.
Luke Timothy Johnson’s scholarly life
The prolific biblical scholar offers an engaging account of his career—and of the spiritual journey that helped shape it.
by David Heim
Leila Chatti writes intensely physical poems about faith, illness, and sex
The poetic vision of Deluge reconciles Muslim and Christian themes.
David Tracy and the absolute infinite
Essays spanning four decades offer a fitting entree into the work of a distinguished scholar.
Philip Kolin’s poems for the holy, violent earth
Yearning for the impossible, glimpsing the unimaginable
“Truth is in constant transit. The difference between a liberal and a conservative, I think, is the stomach you have for the journey.”
by Amy Frykholm
The Catholics and the Southern Baptists have joined others in calling for a compassionate response to the unaccompanied minors from Central America. Russell Moore of the SBC has even signed a letter (pdf) explicitly opposing changes to the 2008 law that currently prevents such children from being summarily deported. Most Americans agree, including majorities of both Republicans and white evangelicals.
Yet Congress went on recess without doing anything about this.
Jeffrey Gros, one of the liveliest and most penetrating ecumenical thinkers I ever encountered, died earlier this month. A conversation with Jeff was always illuminating as well as a bit disorienting, for he had the many voices of global Christianity freshly cataloged in his brain.
For centuries Ireland was synonymous with staunch Catholic piety. Now it seems to be undergoing a process of secularization as rapid as any in history.
U.S. religious communities' responses to the Vietnam War have been amply documented. What about the religious battles within Vietnam itself?
My first thought upon learning that Chris Haw had written a memoir about his journey to Catholicism was, Oh no—not another one.
reviewed by LaVonne Neff
The Reformation led to a full embrace of the radical political implications of a humanity created in the image of God.
The great newish online journal Religion & Politics alerted me to the fact that today is the anniversary of JFK's speech to the Houston ministers.
Is there an anti-birth control shift taking place among evangelicals? If so, do their arguments mirror Catholic thought?
by Amy Frykholm
The broken communion evident at any eucharistic service is an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible state of affairs.
In Bosnia, I was reminded that the God who shows up at communion is a God who brazenly seeks us out of the crowd.
Last week, Faith in Public
Life asked Rick Santorum if he agrees with the Catholic teaching that public
policy should include a "preferential option for the poor." He appeared to be
unfamiliar with the concept.