Authors /
Debbie Blue
Debbie Blue is a pastor at House of Mercy Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her most recent book is Consider the Women (Eerdmans).
What book gives you a powerful glimpse of the Christian life?
10 writers respond.
A Deuteronomist redactor meets a recorder of Islamic texts
Who I'd invite to my writers' dinner party
Unsettled in the beginning
I love Genesis for some of the same reasons the church fathers were wary of it.
Biblical farce
Esther's story would be infuriating if it wasn't so over-the-top ridiculous.
Debbie Blue's Christmas picks
I’ve been engrossed in The Story of the Lost Child, the fourth in Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels (Europa Editions)....
The other woman
Hagar’s story has often been read as if it explains some inevitable animosity among the Abrahamic faiths. We should try reading it differently.
The Circle, by Dave Eggers
Eggers’s novel is about a mega social network corporation that takes over the world—seemingly benevolently. Its characters have no depth or soul; their personhood is defined by electronic connectedness.
5 books for ministry
Brother to a Dragonfly, by Will D. Campbell (Continuum). Will Campbell distrusts institutions, the religious enterprise, and faith that is too settled....
Free Newsletters
From theological reflections to breaking religion news to the latest books, the Christian Century's newsletters have you covered.
The light of Epiphany: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
The ancient church fathers struggled with the physical implications of the incarnation—the mother’s womb, the birth and afterbirth....
Good wine: Isaiah 62:1-5; John 2:1-11
On the darkest day of the year, the Incas tried to tie the sun down....
A miracle of excess
I have a recurring bad dream. It is similar to the one where you realize it’s time for the final exam and you haven’t been to class all semester. I used to have that dream....
The breath of life: Acts 2:14a, 22-32; Psalm 16; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31
The psalmist has a body, and it figures prominently in his poetry. His kidneys lash him, his heart rejoices, his pulse (or liver) beats with joy....
Scandalous forgiveness: Luke 24:13-35
Appearing to two nobodies going nowhere is an interesting choice.
Blogging toward Sunday
The disciples are dense and forgetful. They bumble along after Jesus, barely able to keep up....