Latest Articles
Paul Thomas Anderson’s biggest question
One Battle After Another explores what it means to find agency in a world we can’t control.
Learning from people who can’t quit
Musicians never stop being musicians. I hope it’s the same for justice seekers.
Songs that call me home to Puerto Rico
Bad Bunny’s music and activism have reconnected me to roots I thought were severed beyond repair.
Who gets to define Christianity?
David Congdon links postliberal theology to the exclusionary politics of the Christian right.
A day of mourning each November
I have been asked more than once to participate in civic Thanksgiving services. And more than once, I’ve declined.
November 23, Reign of Christ/Christ the King (Jeremiah 23:1-6)
The prophet Jeremiah knew about hard times.
What history are we making?
I remember when my son first asked me what history is. I told him it’s the story we write with our lives.
Apocalypses all around us
Martha Park unearths surprising connections between the natural and the supernatural, the material and the ineffable.
Pastors in exile
Clergy who have fled Russian-occupied Ukraine are finding new ways to provide pastoral care for parishioners who are still there.
Born a feminist
Phyllis Trible mesmerized scholars and preachers alike with her fearless biblical exegesis.
Strategic spiritual resistance (Luke 21:5-19)
Personal salvation isn’t about sin management. It’s about refusing to cede the soul to power and its interests.
November 16, Ordinary 33C (Isaiah 65:17-25)
In Isaiah, every promise of newness is an indictment of present brokenness.
Whose victory? (Psalm 98)
People want to be champions. Psalm 98 offers something different.
Illuminating the icons
Theologian Eve Tibbs’s book on Eastern Orthodox iconography is accessible, enlightening, and beautifully illustrated.
Art that stretches us
I’ve been thinking about different ways visual art can challenge our perceptions and assumptions.
When Caesar gets demanding
“What will be God’s,” asks Tertullian, “if all things are Caesar’s?” It’s a challenging question at a time when the state is asking us to acquiesce to a secret, unaccountable police force.
Shared songs with new meaning
My colleague’s Black church was taking a break from anti-racism work with White churches. So we decided to sing together.
“That girl from Andover”
Phyllis Trible gave me two gifts: her groundbreaking biblical scholarship and an unassuming friendship.
God’s relentless gaze
Like the surveillance state, the Christ Pantocrator icon asserts an omnipresent authority. But it also asserts divine mercy and love.