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Christians have always been uncomfortable with the Magnificat. Advent takes us places we would rather not go.

The passage (Mark 12:41–44) about the poor widow who put “everything she had” in the temple treasury was among the lectionary readings a few weeks ago, and it’s a frequent text for stewardship sermons. The example of the widow’s generosity seems clear enough, and it’s part of the church’s standard repertoire about sacrificial giving.  But Fergus Kerr suggests that the story is about not generosity but exploitation. 

Who or what is the book of Job about? Many of us would say the book is the story of Job and about the problem of suffering. When in the past I read Job as the Bible’s discussion of why bad things happen to good people, I found it a frustrating book. While the question of suffering is discussed for chapter after chapter, the question of why people suffer isn’t ever answered--even when God shows up and speaks to Job. God doesn’t answer Job’s and my question.

New today from the Century: the widow's mite, Reading Job, John Buchanan on the Magnificat, more.

The Gideon Bible treats the Bible as comfort food. But a diet of the Bible consists of conflict and confrontation.

Those of us in violence-plagued neighborhoods look forward to winter's reprieve. Our teenagers understand Advent waiting all too well.

Does Christian stewardship look different for millennials who grew up in our increasingly post-Christian world replete with Facebook, Justin Bieber, and legalized marijuana? Is the sky blue? Is North Dakota cold in winter? The good folks at Luther Seminary’s Center for Stewardship Leadership and I have been in some conversations recently about young adults and stewardship.

New today from the Century: The editors on abortion, Ashley-Anne Masters on urban violence and Advent, more.

On Nov. 6, our church building was both a polling place and a place for worship. At some point I began to see the latter as the main event.

“I’m a Christian,” said my oldest daughter, seven-year-old Miriam.  “Really?” I replied. “So what makes you believe that you are a Christian?” “Because I love God, God loves me, and I know Jesus came back to life after dying on the cross.”

New today from the Century: Reflecting back on election-day communion, a Catholic scholar on Peter Singer, more.