A sociologist might see in football a society's need to control and ritualize violence. The church fathers, however, weren't much for sociologists.
My files are full of stewardship sermons. So it came as a shock when people would say, “We know you don’t like to talk about money.”
Race lies behind the widespread belief that Obama is a Muslim, was born outside the U.S. and is something other than a genuine American.
The newlyweds stood in worship surrounded by examples of the options for how their marriage will end. And 100 percent of marriages do end.
If agriculture survives at all on the Great Plains, it will be very limited. What will take its place? Not many people, that's for sure.
Font of Life, by Garry Wills
Garry Wills presents Ambrose as a forerunner of Desmond Tutu, who also opposed a government that intruded upon the church's claims.
Grand theory
Kitty Ferguson's biography of Stephen Hawking is an important book for anyone interested in who and what we are—and where we're going.
A Door in the Ocean, by David McGlynn
In his sparkling new collection of essays, David McGlynn wrestles with some of the same fierce angels that haunt his short stories.
Can medicine be cured?
Jeffrey Bishop is both a physician and a philosopher. Here he turns his clinical and analytical gaze on medicine, and his diagnosis is bleak.
Seeking the Straight and Narrow, by Lynne Gerber
Lynne Gerber's interaction with the discourses of evangelical weight loss and sexual reorientation is engaging, surprising and admirably charitable.
Once Upon a Time; Mirror, Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman
Several current tales of Snow White nod at feminist critique—while leaving the old paradigms for female power and beauty intact.