Features
Religion sells: The publishing business
By a number of measures, sales of religion books are booming. The Association of American Publishers reports that religious publishing grew by 37 percent in 2003. The Book Industry Study Group predicts that religious book publishing will expand by 6 percent this year; it calls this sector of publishing “a growth business.” The trade magazine Publishers Weekly reports that 18 percent of book buyers said in a survey that they had purchased a religious or spiritual book within the past 12 months.
Winning ways
The primary appeal of sports movies is in the way they combine the drama of competition with other genres—the triumph-of-the-spirit movie, for example, or the coming-of-age story, or the romantic comedy. Even a conventional picture like Miracle (which came out early this year and is now available on DVD) or Mr. 3000 can be immensely satisfying because of the way the filmmakers (Gavin O’Connor and Charles Stone III respectively) connect sports to other themes.
Books
Noted texts
While...
Plain truths
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Flannery O'Connor and the Christ-Haunted South
The homogeneity of modernity—with its Wal-Marts, Lowe’s stores and Advance Auto Parts—is marking the South....
Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation
Allen Guelzo’s book leads us into contested territory....
The Unexpected Way
Anyone who teaches at a secular university knows that today’s students are far more likely to know the name of a Hi...
Mystery women
In the shadowy world of the mystery novel, nothing is ever quite what it appears to be...
Take and read
Meyer is among the most respected New Testament scholars of the past half-century, and this collection will ...
Take and read
In one of the most important studies now available for exploring the modern world expansion of Christianity, J. D. Y....
Take and Read
This volume collects prayers with which, over 42 years, famed Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann began his cl...
Departments
Read all about it: A door to the intellect and heart
This issue’s emphasis on books exemplifies one of the things I have most liked about the Christian Century over the years: it has helped me to decide what books to purchase and read. I’m still relying on it to do that....
Meanwhile in Darfur: The U.S. does little and the rest of the world does less
What happened to the United Nations?” asked Haruun Ruun, executive secretary of the New Sudan Council of Churches....
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. I was not quite sure what to expect going in....
Media malfunctions: We are co-conspirators in culture's corruption
CBS television has had a bad year. Dan Rather was snookered into broadcasting a story about a fake document and the network was fined $550,000 for baring an intimate part of Janet Jackson during the Super Bowl half time....
Multiple Martys: Namesakes
On September 19, 1896, Martin Marty (no relation), brother of Martin Marty (no relation), died. His remains were reburied on September 19 of this year. The first burial took place in St. Cloud, Minnesota, and the second both in St....
News
People
In the face of public backlash throughout North America, Louis-iana-based televangelist Jimmy Swaggart said he regrets telling his congregation at a televised worship service that if a gay man ever looks at him romantically, “I’m goi...
Century Marks
Down to earth: Writer-teacher-activist Parker Palmer was leading a retreat for government officials in Washington, D.C., all of whom were motivated by an ethic of public service....
Sunni clerics back anti-U.S. violence: Other Sunni clerics call violence unjustified
For Sheik Mohammad Ali Mohammad al-Ghereri, a Sunni Muslim cleric in Baghdad, the question is no longer whether to tell his followers to fight the Americans, but how to assure that they wage war properly....
Terror not sole issue, bishop tells nominees: ELCA's Hanson urges attention to environment, health care and poverty
Although terrorism looms large for White House candidates, the presiding bishop of the nation’s largestLutheran denomination has urged President George W. Bush and Democratic challenger Senator John F....
Spirituality pervades new American Indian museum in Washington: Opening celebrated in service at Washington National Cathedral
Just as earth tones form an underlying decorative element in the new National Museum of the American Indian, spirituality is an undercurrent within the 254,000-square-foot edifice built on Washington’s National Mall....
Baptist advocacy group changes its name: Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty
The Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs is renaming itself the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, following a decision by the agency’s directors at their annual meeting in Washington, D.C....
IRD says mainline is picking on Israel: Mainline groups challenge methodology of study
A conservative gadfly group has released a report asserting that mainline U.S. Protestant organizations criticize Israel for human rights practices more than they criticize any other foreign country....
Jews, PCUSA still at odds on Israel policy: Divestment plan challenged
A high-level summit between Jewish and Presbyterian leaders covered little new ground in a sharp, ongoing dispute over Middle East policy, but both sides promised to stay in close contact as the church considers selectively divesting from Israel.<...
Muslims rap decision on former pop singer: Yusuf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens, denied entry to U.S.
British and American Muslims say they remain bewildered by U.S. authorities’ decision to refuse entry to the former singer Cat Stevens, a British citizen who became a Muslim in 1977 and is now known as Yusuf Islam....
Episcopal bishops hope Anglican tent is wide: Waiting for the shoe to drop
The Episcopal Church bishops, waiting for the shoe to drop in London, ended their fall meeting expressing confidence that “our household of faith is large enough to embrace us all” despite acknowledged divisions over the majority’s approval of a g...
Thousands of fearful Christians flee Iraq: Future uncertain in the new Iraq
On a recent Sunday Iraqi Christians flocked to the Latin Catholic church in the Hashmi district of Amman, a drab working-class area in the Jordanian capital, where they joined in a mass in the ancient Chaldean language....
Briefly noted
The National Council of Churches has applauded an agreement unionizing foreign farmworkers who pick cucumbers sold by the Mt. Olive Pickle Company, which the NCC had boycotted in protest of previous worker treatment....
Lectionary
Sin of scorn: Luke 18:9-14
The first time I heard the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector was as a small child attending vacation Bible school at Pond Fork Baptist Church. I remember the end of the little curtained balcony where our class was held, sunlight coming into our room rejoicing through a dusty window, the buzzing of insects in the July fields outside, a flannel board with figures stuck on it, and best of all, the anticipation of a story, followed by Kool-Aid and cookies.
The short one: Luke 19:1-10
I knew the tale of Zacchaeus as we’ve all heard it—a short bad man climbs a sycamore tree to get a glimpse of Jesus—until I heard Charlie Cook preach on it one Sunday in the mid-’70s. Charlie was a short good man, and one of the most extraordinary pastors I have ever known.