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February 24, 2021

Volume 138, Issue #4
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Features

Interviews

Teaching theology in anxious times

“In God’s world, there are always new possibilities—some of which reside in things we find threatening.”

Stephen Healey interviews Douglas F. Ottati

First Person

The undergrads in my Bible class taught me a few lessons

Teaching online made me realize my goal is to teach them to think, not to teach them to think like me.

by Arthur E. Farnsley II

What does a seminary education prepare you to do?

Six of my Duke Divinity students, ten years later

by Jason Byassee

Imagining the future of theological education

Conversations with Rowan Williams, Justo González, Emilie Townes, and Sam Wells

by Benjamin D. Wayman

Books

Imagine how Christian teaching could transform our lives

Mark Jordan’s gentle, urgent invitation

by Elizabeth Palmer

Will all American cities soon look like Houston?

Its residents are the most diverse in the US. For decades, sociologist Stephen Klineberg has tracked their views.

by Mindy Roll

Live not by a false sense of persecution

Rod Dreher’s Live Not By Lies is a damning testament to a religion without vision.

by Benjamin J. Dueholm

Departments

Faith Matters

This Lent, I want to learn to see the world like a poet

Why I’ve chosen Michele Madigan Somerville's Glamourous Life as my Lenten companion.

by Stephanie Paulsell

First Words

Politics, the pulpit, and my pastoral calling

It’s not easy to avoid the perception of a political motive.

by Peter W. Marty

From the Editors

The 2017 tax law is getting even worse

The law’s assistance to lower-income Americans was modest—and temporary.
On Art

Ten Commandments and a Question, by Joel Silverstein

Joel Silverstein’s paintings can be deadly serious and deeply funny, often at the same time....

art selection and comment by Aaron Rosen

Screen Time

The dilemma of Black art in a White-supremacist culture

Set 40 years apart, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and One Night in Miami ask similar questions.

by Kathryn Reklis

News

Plans for new Tolkien center draw praise, concerns 
about proselytization 

Fantasy novel enthusiasts want to turn the Oxford house of J. R. R....

by Claire Giangravé

People

G. Sujin Pak named dean of Boston University's School of Theology

G. Sujin Pak has been named dean of Boston University’s School of Theology....

by Dawn Araujo-Hawkins

People

Renowned ethicist James M. Gustafson dies at 95

Christian ethicist James M. Gustafson died on January 15 at the age of 95....

by Dawn Araujo-Hawkins

People

Hymnist Patrick Matsikenyiri dies at 83

Patrick Matsikenyiri, a United Meth­odist hymn writer and teacher, died on January 15 from complications related to COVID-19. He was 83....

by Dawn Araujo-Hawkins

How executive orders work and why they don’t always last

President Joe Biden arrived at the White House ready to wield his pen to dismantle Donald Trump’s legacy and begin pushing his own priorities....

by Aamer Madhani

Half of Protestant pastors say they’re hearing 
conspiracy theories in their churches

They’re not just on friends’ and family members’ Facebook pages or in weird corners of the internet....

by Emily McFarlan Miller

World's first nuclear weapons ban goes into effect

The United Nations’ Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons went into effect on January 22, making nuclear weapons illegal under international law for the first time....

by Dawn Araujo-Hawkins

For many schools, the MDiv is moving online for good

Logan Lawrence had already been accepted to Duke Divinity School when she heard that the school would also be offering a mostly online version of the three-year master of divinity program beginning this fall....

by Yonat Shimron

Lectionary

March 14, Lent 4B (John 3:14-21)

I have a complicated relationship with John 3:16.

by Kerry Hasler-Brooks

March 7, Lent 3B (John 2:13-22)

As Jesus overturns the tables, I imagine John in the corner, watching and taking it all down.

by Kerry Hasler-Brooks

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