Latest Articles
February 23, Epiphany 7C (Genesis 45:3–11, 15)
Joseph’s brothers witness love in action, in both his personal forgiveness and his prudent national planning.
Sanctuary in houses of worship has always been tenuous
It’s a practice marked by promise and difficulty—both in the Bible and today.
What is active citizenship in the era of rule by decree?
American political theology has tended to take democracy and the rule of law for granted. What now?
How the West Bank settlements have changed Israel
The settler movement has spent decades pushing its views to the mainstream and building its political power.
Simone Weil’s anti-fascist blueprint
Ros Schwartz’s translation of The Need for Roots makes Weil’s masterpiece feel as urgent today as it was in 1943.
Nosferatu and the horror of enlightenment
Robert Eggers’s film reminds us that much of what presents itself as common sense is just a contingent arrangement, one form of folklore instead of another.
Kendrick Lamar is playing a different game
The “great American game” is played to win and to exclude. Lamar’s halftime show made the case for turning our attention to something better.
Did the mainline church pave the way for Christian nationalism?
Brian Kaylor and Beau Underwood plumb history to show how the Protestant mainline has intertwined church and state interests.
I still have a voice
After the election, I was worried about people being silenced. So I joined a choir.
The role of judgment in Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s sophomore novel
Most reviews of Long Island Compromise blame the characters’ misery on their family’s wealth. But the reality of their predicament is far more serious.
February 16, Epiphany 6C (Luke 6:17–26)
I want to be surprised by God, even if that surprise might scare the bejesus out of me.
Politics close to home
What’s the next right thing we can do? It might be getting involved at the state or local level.
Imagining God’s call (Isaiah 6:1-13; Luke 5:1-11)
I wonder what Isaiah is expecting when he raises his hand.
How and what to think
I’m only trying to teach my religion students one of these things. At least that’s what I tell them.
God’s maternal love
I wonder if what I felt, feared, and learned as a young mother mirrors what God experiences when she tries to feed us.
Unlocking the gates of Genesis through poetry
Jessica Jacobs breathes new life into ancient voices.