Features
Con artists at the door: The ministry of being lied to
My old office was above a soup kitchen, and its clients regularly came in to ask for money. Eventually I began interrupting each visitor's story by sliding a 20-dollar bill across my desk—a toll I paid so I could return to my work.
Obama and the Arab Spring: Historian Juan Cole
"Most Americans would like to see people take care of their own business.
On the other hand, most Americans
don't like to see tanks crush unarmed crowds."
My wandering mind: A pastor goes to yoga
Among the thoughts that course through my brain when I'm supposed to be
focusing on my breathing are thoughts about worship. Being a newcomer to
yoga has prompted me to reflect on what it is like to be new to
one of our services.
Is yoga religious? Spiritual roots of a physical practice: Spiritual roots of a physical practice
Who owns yoga? That unexpected question arose last year when the Hindu
American Foundation identified what it views as two serious
misconceptions about yoga that are widespread in the West.
Incendies: Directed by Denis Villeneuve
Incendies is a
disturbing layover at the crossroads of forgiveness and revenge. It's a
challenging film on several levels. Not only is there a hearty helping
of violence to be digested over the film's 130 minutes, but audiences
must also wrestle with a complex narrative structure.
The bishop’s dashboard: William Willimon’s experiment in accountability
With William Willimon set to retire as bishop of the North Alabama Conference in
2012, it is appropriate to consider how the Willimon experiment in the
episcopacy has turned out. It has not been business
as usual.
Books
In Ishmael’s House, by Martin Gilbert
Sir Martin Gilbert, an author of many books, has written an argument for one of the silent participants in the Israeli-Palestinian conundrum....
After disaster
Rebecca Solnit’s thesis is that paradise can arise from hell. If I am more pessimistic, perhaps that is due to accounts of natural disaster such as Emma Larkin's in her new book.
Nuns Behaving Badly, by Craig A. Monson
Music historian Craig Monson had the rare privilege of doing research in the Vatican Archive reading room....
To Make the Earth Whole, by Marc Gopin
This is a case study in citizen diplomacy, defined as the attempt by private citizens to develop relationships with people in countries that are hostile toward one's own country....
Opening to God, Life with God, Lectio Matters and Lectio Divina
A member of an adult education course that I taught on the book of Acts showed up one Sunday morning with his own maps and charts, a CD by an evangelical preacher whose credentials seemed suspect, ...
Year of Plenty, by Craig L. Goodwin
Presbyterian minister Craig Goodwin's odyssey into local food began with a postholiday argument with his wife about who was more to blame for their rushed, packed and disappointing Christ...
Faith of the founders
John Fea
brings humility, patience and objectivity to controversial questions of religion and the founding era of
American history. His book is a model of scholarly restraint.
The Long Goodbye, by Meghan O’Rourke
The Long Goodbye is poet Meghan O'Rourke's account of her mother's colorectal cancer and the year of mourning that followed her death....
Christianity and Contemporary Politics, by Luke Bretherton
I'll be giving Christianity and Contemporary Politics to my graduate students and others seeking to become authors and academics....
Departments
South African "Zionists"
The Zion Christian Church—an African-initiated church that's powerful in South Africa—traces its origins to John Alexander Dowie, a 19th-century Scottish spiritual entrepeneur who founded the city Zion, Illinois.
C. S. Lewis’s Aeneid
For C.S. Lewis, Virgil prepared the way for all subsequent Christian epics by changing the subject from the adolescent theme
of heroism to the adult theme of vocation.
Staying together
For Jesus, unity among his disciples is an instrument of the evangel itself. Presbyterians have a great evangelical opportunity to show a fractured world that it is possible for people to disagree and yet remain in fellowship.
Mutanabbi Street exhibit poster
On March 5, 2007, a car bomb exploded on al-Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad, an area of booksellers that is the literary heart of the city. The bomb killed 30 people and wounded others. In response, a group of U.S....
Truth about torture
It's useful to meet the argument that torture works with the facts: actually, there is not much evidence
that it does. In the end, however, the question is not whether torture is ever useful but whether it is morally permissible.
News
Religion news gets boost from Lilly, writers group
In a complex transaction designed to strengthen nonpartisan religion reporting, the newly nonprofit Religion News Service received a grant of almost $3.5 million from the Lilly Endowment and was acquired by the Religion Newswriters Associatio...
Catholic bishops resist reforms on clergy abusers, says academic study
A sweeping new report on the Catholic Church's clergy sexual abuse scandal compares the church to police departments, with similar hierarchies, moral authority and isolated work environments....
Donation spurs multifaith university in Claremont
Looking to support "tolerance and respect among religions," a United Methodist couple has upped its total donation to $50 million to launch a multifaith university that will educate professional leaders for churches, synagogues and mosques wh...
Muslims wait for signs of change from Obama
Officially, President Obama was talking to the Muslim world in his
State Department speech in May, but U.S. Muslims were equally interested
in how their faith will be treated in a post-Osama bin Laden era....
Israel removes landmines from Jesus baptism site
Pilgrims are flowing back to the traditional site of Jesus' baptism
on the West Bank of the Jordan River as Israel removes 40-year-old
landmines and makes improvements to the area....
Taking time in worship to counter bigotry
Religious and human rights activists are asking U.S. churches to
invite Jewish and Muslim clergy to their sanctuaries June 26 to read
from sacred texts in an initiative designed to counter anti-Muslim
bigotry....
When a church’s honesty is a liability
When officials at a Presbyterian church in Virginia decided to
acknowledge the church's failures in handling reports of sexual abuse by
a youth ministries director, they thought it might upset some in the
congregation....
Immigration pits Mormons against church hierarchy
For decades, Mormon conservatives have believed that their politics
matched the positions of their church—opposing abortion, the Equal
Rights Amendment and same-sex marriage, for example....
Abuse victims oppose pick for new House chaplain
The nation's leading advocacy group for victims of clergy sexual
abuse is opposing an Oregon Jesuit's bid to serve as House chaplain,
saying he failed to follow up on alleged abuse 25 years ago....
Bishops defend criticism of woman theologian
Under fire for criticizing a popular theologian, the U.S. Catholic
bishops said they must occasionally assume the role of referee and rule
wayward thinkers out of bounds....
Group says Park Service stalls on faith displays
A national alliance of public employees is accusing the National Park
Service of "leadership paralysis" for not addressing questions about
religious displays at federal parks....
Lectionary
Sunday, June 26, 2011: Genesis 22:1-14
Obedience to God must be rooted in ethics.
Sunday, June 19, 2011: Genesis 1:1-2:4a; Matthew 28:16-20
At my baptism, I giggled.