Features
More people, looser ties: Social life in the megachurch
The rise of megachurches has created a larger public role for some churches—even as it has signaled the loosening hold of organized religion.
Speech bearers: The divine in the human
In John's prologue, the incarnate Word is the God of creative address.
The force of silence: Uneasy holiness in the Sinai desert
People assume that silence and peace can be simply harnessed together, silence as Xanax for the soul. But that's not how deserts work.
Dying in Oregon: A critical look at death with dignity
Brittany Maynard's story is compelling—but not typical. Basing policy on cases like hers can be dangerous to the people the policy affects.
Rushing toward death? Assisted dying in the Netherlands
As a review committee member, I assured foreign delegations that the Dutch model was a good one. That conclusion has become harder to support.
Books
Cultivating equality
Even if increased equity were to involve a slightly smaller pie, the resulting social order may be preferred. When poverty declines, the social costs of poverty fall, and despair is replaced by hope.
Revelation, by Dennis Covington
Dennis Covington is famous for seeking faith in extreme places. Twenty years ago it was the snake-handling, poison-drinking Christians of southern Appalachia.
Everyday theosis
Theosis is mission’s starting point. Believers are called to “become” the gospel through participation in the divine life.
The faith of the Dones
The Dones aren’t leaving church because they’re burned out. They’ve hit so much bureaucracy that they seek more efficient venues.
History and Presence, by Robert A. Orsi
History of religion meets ethnography in this complex, intriguing account of Catholic devotional practices. Orsi, who teaches at Northwestern University, operates on several levels at once.
Teaching love
Honestly facing the conflict of self with self—and choosing words that reveal its particular manifestations in one life—is hard, hard work.
Departments
Making saints in Africa
Within a decade, a sixth of the world's Catholics will be African—yet the continent has few canonized saints. This is starting to change.
A likely story
Each year I ask my students to devise arguments for God. They respond less like well diggers than like beachcombers, gathering bits of evidence.
Choosing to die
The church can be a space for difficult conversations about choices at the end of life—along with being a place for communal care.
Grave digging
I keep a 36-inch utility shovel in my church office. I use it to dig the graves that hold the cremains of our congregation's saints.
Outreach, by Malak El-Shazly
In her multimedia collages, Cairo artist Malak El-Shazly layers different mediums—printed text, photographs, paint, and acrylic—in order to create a narrative....
Women’s war stories
A new film and a hit podcast both feature women telling war stories—a role that’s usually reserved for male protagonists and male narrators.
News
Elaine Heath named dean of Duke Divinity School
Elaine A. Heath, a theologian and preacher, will be the next dean of the Duke Divinity School, beginning July 1....
Stephen H. Webb, theologian and author, dies at 54
Stephen H. Webb, theologian and author, perhaps best known for his work on animal rights, died March 5 at age 54 in Brownsburg, Indiana. He died by suicide, the county coroner said....
Virgilio Elizondo, 'father of U.S. Latino religious thought,' dies at age 80
Virgilio Elizondo, 80, a Mexican-American Catholic priest and theologian described as “the father of U.S. Latino religious thought,” died March 14 in San Antonio....
Report on Church of England finds failures in abuse case, government inquiry continues
The Church of England has promised to make broad changes in dealing with sexual abuse cases after the publication of the first independent review commissioned by the church into its handling of such cases in the past....
Moral Mondays movement connects with populism of the election season
(The Christian Science Monitor) The picture might have seemed like something out of a Bernie Sanders rally....
Resisting Trump is motivating Muslim voters
Salim Jaffer moved to the United States when he was 14 years old. His family, along with the rest of the Indian community, had been expelled from Uganda in 1972 under the violent dictator Idi Amin and came to America....
UN report details killings, rapes in South Sudan as peace deal is questioned
Churches and mosques have been centers of “searing” human rights abuses in South Sudan, where a civil war has been raging since 2013, according to a United Nations report....
Verdict on polygamous sect: Religion is not a shield for criminal activities
(The Christian Science Monitor) The federal prosecution of criminal and civil rights violations in two remote towns on the Utah-Arizona border suggests that law enforcement agencies ar...
Exit poll religion questions are misleading, critics say
Evangelicals vote for Donald Trump. No, Ted Cruz. Wait. Aren’t some Christians voting for Hillary Clinton, who is Methodist, and Bernie Sanders, who is Jewish?...
Israeli entrepreneur creates jewelry-sized full Bibles through nanotechnology
Nanotechnology has been revolutionizing science, medicine, and industry for decades, but it took until now for someone to turn it into a religious fashion statement....
Lectionary
May 1, Sixth Sunday of Easter: John 14:23-29
It’s common to confuse ministry leaders with Jesus. We can see ourselves in Judas’s question to Jesus, “How is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?” Why do we have to carry the message?
April 24, Fifth Sunday of Easter: John 13:31-35
Jesus uses both words and deeds to prepare his followers for his absence. Are the disciples watching for what it means to really, really love? Are we?