Miroslav Volf
An ultimate somebody: The bow that sets the arrow flying
When Toma and I became friends, he was somebody. I was 16, he was 22. He was a body builder, one of the best in the country, with aspirations and good prospects of becoming Mr. Universe. But then he embraced Christian faith and joined the church where my father was a pastor. He felt that God required him to abandon his athletic pursuits, which until then had been his god. He transposed the dreams of becoming Mr. Universe onto a religious plane: he wanted to be the apostle Paul of Yugoslavia, and maybe a new Billy Graham to the world.
Sharing wisdom: More than easily digested nuggets
We live in an age of great conflicts and petty hopes. Take first our hopes....
Leaving Jesus behind: Christians in politics
A few months ago a friend told me about a conversation he’d had with an atheist in Colorado Springs....
Love affair: Surprised by God
This past summer at our family home in Croatia, I was immersed in George Weigel’s long biography of the late John Paul II, Witness to Hope....
Not by sausage alone: An open Bible in a farmer's rough hand
When I was in Croatia this past May I went on a hunt for kulen, a specialty sausage found in a region of Northeast Croatia called Slavonia. You can’t buy kulen in any store, of course. To get it you’ve got to have friends in very high places—in backwater villages of Slavonia where people raise their own pigs and prepare kulen according to recipes passed on in families for generations.
The gift of infertility: From despair to celebration
Infertility—a gift!? Poison and a curse—that’s how this unexplained infertility of ours felt to me for what seemed like an eternity....
Changing and changeless: Benedict's challenge
The theology of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger played a major part in my book After Our Likeness (1998), which sought to develop a trinitarian, nonhierarchical understanding of the church....
You can't deal with God: God is a giver, not a negotiator
As I was writing this piece, Good Friday was in view, and I thought of the renowned Viennese composer Antonio Salieri as portrayed in the movie Amadeus....
I protest, therefore I believe: How can I believe in God when tsunamis strike?
At a dinner in honor of a prominent guest, I was seated next to a woman who works for CBS.The tsunami had just struck off the coast of Sumatra with all its destructive force, and we were talking ab...
Not optimistic: A theology of hope
Give yourself a treat and put Jürgen Moltmann’s Theology of Hope under your Christmas tree. Moltmann published the book in German 40 years ago....
Your scripture meets mine: Hospitable readings
A few months ago I participated in a Building Bridges Seminar, one of the annual encounters between Muslim and Christian theologians sponsored by Lambeth Palace....
Foolish gifts: For gifts to have meaning they must matter to both giver and receiver
My last column was on gift-giving, and I cannot refrain from writing another on the same subject. A recent “Reading File” in the New York Times (Jan....
One-way giving: The magi didn't give gifts to each other
If you are like me, you dread one essential part of Christmas celebrations: gift-giving. My problems start with shopping....
God's delight: "The Lord make his face shine upon you"
I have always been fascinated by the phrase “the Lord make his face shine upon you.” God’s blessing, God’s protection, God’s peace, God’s grace—all part of that same benediction—are great goods, an...
Dancing for God: As if God were the only audience
I wasn’t sure what to make of Frida, a movie about the sadness, courage and indomitability that characterized the life of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo....
Nothing but the truth: Honest remembrance
We often engage in disputes about how events from the past should be remembered....
Guns and crosses: A religion of violence or peace?
Many intellectuals associate religion—and Christianity in particular—with violence. Hence they argue that the less religion we have the better off we will be....
Can we be good without God? A central question of any moral crisis: A central question of any moral crisis
Some have suggested that recent scandals in the world of business, politics and the academy are practical consequences of a worldview that has pushed God out....
Be particular: Interfaith relations
This past May, at an interfaith conference in Skopje, Macedonia, I began a keynote address with a few remarks on what it means to speak in a Christian voice in an interfaith setting....
Way of life: Intentional reflection on the life of faith
From this theologian’s perspective, the central challenge for pastoral ministry today concerns the most important mark of good ministry: the ability effectively to mediate faith as an integral way ...