Features
Top-down reform: Colleen McDannell on Vatican II
A response to "Unwanted Publicity" Case by case: Case by case
Unwanted publicity: Case by case
Classroom Christianity: How theology is flourishing in China
Uneasy in Cairo: Egypt’s new constitution
Voices
Thomas G. Long
Celluloid scripture?
The anxiety over Zero Dark Thirty reveals what happens when we cede the task of constructing our social narrative to the entertainment industry.
Books
China’s homegrown Protestants
According to Lian Xi, radical Protestantism flourished in 20th-century China partly by distancing itself from the Western missionary establishment.
Pity the Beautiful, by Dana Gioia
Islam: A Very Short Introduction, by Malise Ruthven
Unfolding the map
Robert Wilken's historical survey of Christianity is impressive, accessible and lively. It also leaves out a lot.
Clearly Invisible, by Marcia Alesan Dawkins
In Clearly Invisible, Marcia Alesan Dawkins explores passing—presenting oneself as a member of a racial group to which one does not belong. Dawkins argues that passing is a rhetorical act that “forces us to think and rethink what, exactly, makes a person black, white or ‘other,’ and why we care.”