Christmas recommendations from Century editors and columnists.
For many of us, Advent is the most meaningful season of the church year. It’s not passive waiting; it’s living into the promised future.
As many as 13.6 million people have been displaced by the conflicts in Iraq and Syria. What can American Christians do?
Social microhistories can capture big ideas. I’d like to write one on pickles, which are as fundamental to civilization as anything in Chesterton’s pockets.
As new forms of congregations arise, new musical forms are developing. Walls are coming down—secular vs. sacred, intellect vs. emotion, contemporary vs. traditional.
“Are we alone in the universe?” is always a question about God’s existence. The film Interstellar shows this clearly.
It is not as though Mary and Joseph have a choice.
God’s word to Nathan and Gabriel’s word to Mary hold a tension that’s at the heart of biblical faith.
Mary’s song marks a transformation from seeing her condition’s weight to receiving a new power within the situation. And then, finally, she is a participant in the work of God’s spirit.
Healthy Churches, Faithful Pastors, by David Keck
David Keck offers a refreshing addition to the conversation about vocational expectations. Eugene Peterson’s vision of holiness resonates with Keck, but Keck takes a different tack.
Days of Fire, by Peter Baker
Few Americans today could identify any of FDR’s vice presidents. Yet little surprise is occasioned by Peter Baker’s treatment of Dick Cheney as a costar with George W. Bush.
Aquinas on the Beginning and End of Human Life, by Fabrizio Amerini
Fabrizio Amerini’s analysis creates precision about Aquinas on beginning-of-life issues—something other accounts, especially abortion polemics, often lack.
The preacher’s wife
In a crucial scene of Marilynne Robinson’s new novel, Lila spends the morning thinking, has lunch, then thinks some more. Why isn’t this boring?
Jesus against the Scribal Elite, by Chris Keith
Chris Keith sets out to answer two questions. What lay at the heart of the conflict between Jesus and some of the religious authorities of his day? And how, if at all, did Jesus read Israel’s scriptures?