The Christian Century: Thoughtful, Independent, Progressive

Gifts you can read

When it comes to giving gifts, it’s hard to go wrong with words. Here are some of the wordy gifts the CC staff will be giving this Christmas.

Settling into the joy of vocation

My life must be lived as a response to something beyond myself and my material needs.

by Yolanda Pierce

When stagnant waters become fresh

The dams on the Klamath River are coming down. Their removal reflects a very different theology than their construction.

by Derek Taylor

a diagram of the interconnected spheres, or sefirot, of the kabbalistic tree of holiness

The tree of God’s mysteries

The Jewish Kabbalah tradition offers a way of understanding God in the world—one that has profoundly influenced Christianity.

by Mordechai Beck

Books

The rituals we need

Religion scholar Molly Farneth shows how rituals—both civic and religious—change us and the societies we live in.

Landscape collage of tiered farm hill, glaciers, ocean water and rainforest

Letters to Anthropocene kids

Ethicist Larry Rasmussen tells his grandchildren the truth about the earth’s peril—and calls them to embrace its beauty.

by Zen Hess

Seeking justice for a 19th-century rape survivor

In 1894, Baylor University covered up the rape of a 14-year-old girl on campus. Two Baylor professors make the case against the university.

by Devon Spencer

Burial with dignity

Allison Meier sees cemeteries as great repositories of cultural history—and as spaces deserving of reverence.

by Jessica Mesman

In This Issue

My struggle with Mary

Can Jesus’ mother be redeemed from the church’s tendency to parcel her up into a patriarchal box and then label it “glory”?

by Rachel Mann

First Words

The eerie call of John the Baptist

His followers realized there was no quick exit from the discomfort of his words.

by Peter W. Marty

The rituals we need

Religion scholar Molly Farneth shows how rituals—both civic and religious—change us and the societies we live in.

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Sunday’s Coming

The voices we hear (Mark 1:1-8)

It is noisy out there.

by Melissa Bills

My struggle with Mary

Can Jesus’ mother be redeemed from the church’s tendency to parcel her up into a patriarchal box and then label it “glory”?

by Rachel Mann

The rituals we need

Religion scholar Molly Farneth shows how rituals—both civic and religious—change us and the societies we live in.

First Words

The eerie call of John the Baptist

His followers realized there was no quick exit from the discomfort of his words.

by Peter W. Marty

Voices

Rachel Mann

My struggle with Mary

Can Jesus’ mother be redeemed from the church’s tendency to parcel her up into a patriarchal box and then label it “glory”?

Yolanda Pierce

Settling into the joy of vocation

My life must be lived as a response to something beyond myself and my material needs.

Debie Thomas

Between the Bible and me

The version of Christian history I grew up with hit fast-forward after John’s Revelation and held it until the late 20th century.

Samuel Wells

The emotion standing in the way of peace

Anger can be both healthy and helpful. Rage offers only destruction.

Philip Jenkins

The literal drama of church history

Life in the Roman and Byzantine empires was utterly theatrical.

Heidi Neumark

My Pentecostal kin

In my Argentine in-laws’ neighborhoods, there are Protestant churches on every corner. They aren’t mainline.

Politics

The rituals we need

Religion scholar Molly Farneth shows how rituals—both civic and religious—change us and the societies we live in.

When stagnant waters become fresh

The dams on the Klamath River are coming down. Their removal reflects a very different theology than their construction.

by Derek Taylor

The emotion standing in the way of peace

Anger can be both healthy and helpful. Rage offers only destruction.

by Samuel Wells