Books
In praise of (imperfect) images
Depictions of Jesus reveal God—but never adequately.
Marilynne Robinson's beautiful, cranky nonfiction
Robinson's essays are sometimes tedious. Yet they provide glimpses of the capacious faith undergirding her novels.
Essential reading: Fiction
We asked some of our favorite novelists and poets to tell us about three recent works of fiction that speak to them in a deep way.
Christian Wiman and the poetry of joy
In this anthology of poems selected by Wiman, joy comes in modest and unlikely guise.
Miguel De La Torre’s ethic of hopelessness
De La Torre has little use for hope in a God who only seems to show up for Christians, never for their victims.
An American childhood in Haiti
Apricot Irving writes with love—and hurt—about her father's misplaced desire to be a savior to others.
The black social gospel and the civil rights movement
Gary Dorrien chronicles the influential—but often forgotten—work of Mordecai Johnson, Benjamin Mays, and Howard Thurman.
James Comey read a lot of Reinhold Niebuhr. Did he learn anything?
For a Niebuhrian, the former FBI director doesn't seem to have much self-doubt.
James Cone's theology is easy to like and hard to live
If Jesus is black, he's calling us to do a lot more than affirm the color of his skin.
Seeing the image of God in our selfies
Craig Detweiler draws on art history, psychology, and religion to argue that staring at ourselves can be an act of faith.
Poetry and transience
National Poetry Month is over, but there's plenty of good poetry to get us through the next 11 months.
Pastoral care in a neoliberal age
Bruce Rogers-Vaughn believes that modern capitalism isn't simply anti-government. It's also anti-human and anti-church.
Zionism’s competing visions of Israel
Michael Brenner shows that contemporary debates have precedents in the origins of the movement.
The Bible in conversation with the liturgy
Biblical images and stories don’t just give us information about Jesus, says Gordon Lathrop. They also give us something more.
When free speech in the classroom hurts
School can't simply admit students from diverse backgrounds and expect them to know how to talk to each other.
Did Christianity destroy classical pagan culture?
Catherine Nixey is right: the early Christians were violently destructive. So were the Romans, the Persians, and the plagues that swept across the ancient world.
Democrats and Republicans both follow liberalism's playbook
Both parties advocate freeing individuals to pursue self-interested goals, argues Patrick Deneen. This has fractured society.
Clarence Jordan's radical experiment in following Jesus
What makes a person able to see evil and stand against it without fear?
A fictional world where abortion and IVF are illegal—and the women who live there
Leni Zumas's novel makes a political point. More importantly, it cultivates empathy.
Kate Bowler faces off against cancer and bad theology
Bowler’s memoir honestly confronts the pervasive idea that we get what we deserve.