Books
Nicole Krauss’s love letter to (an imagined) Kafka
A breathtaking novel that bleeds existential urgency from every page
The autumn of our discontent
As leaves fall from the trees, Ali Smith helps us fall into the dreams and fears of her characters.
Where should the stepkids sit at the funeral?
As family configurations change, so does pastoral care.
The earnest, hilarious Al Franken
The senator's jokes are still funny, even if Trump has made his satire obsolete.
From inertia to (small) action
Mai-Anh Le Tran bravely jumps into the space where theory meets practice.
Fashion-forward faith
Muslim women’s clothing reveals—and shapes—culture, politics, and piety.
Flannery O'Connor's demonic characters bear witness to Christ
If O'Connor's stories are shocking, that's only because the gospel is, too.
Climate change and the failure of incarnational nerve
Do we really want God to live with us in a poisoned and degraded world?
Why scientific thinking matters for society
Andrew Shtulman's book isn't just about understanding data. It's about moral concern.
The Bible's place in the American imagination
Scripture shapes culture—but always through what we bring to it.
Tracing the traditions of English church music
Andrew Gant's lively book tells a history of sacred song.
Philosophy and parody in a murder mystery
Laurent Binet's latest novel is at once a lecture, a detective story, and an exploration of the limits of fiction.
Marilynne Robinson's vision for democracy
Critics are correct that Robinson doesn't offer an alternative to the Christian Right. But she never claimed to.
The personal is political—and universal—for Carter Heyward
Heyward was one of the first women priests. But her particular experiences aren't the heart of her memoir.
Who was Joseph Oppenheimer, and why was he killed?
Yair Mintzker doesn't know. He's more interested in why other historians keep trying to write a 19th-century novel about the 18th-century case.
Is popularity the goal?
Jesus wants us to be likable—but more importantly, he wants us to love.
Are Wendell Berry's Port William stories about racism?
According to Joseph Wiebe, Berry's vision of rural life starts with his reckoning with Kentucky, the Shawnee, and black slavery.
Kapka Kassabova returns to Bulgaria
A travel writer's visit to the borderlands of her childhood
How new is the new Christian Zionism?
There have been many Zionisms over the years. Only one has imagined an eventual end of Judaism.
In the face of violent white supremacy, how should I respond?
I was invited to an interfaith solidarity service. Instead I spent the day reading Congressman John Lewis's graphic novel trilogy about the civil rights movement.