

Since 1900, the Christian Century has published reporting, commentary, poetry, and essays on the role of faith in a pluralistic society.
© 2023 The Christian Century.
America the biblical
In a breathtaking scholarly work, Mark Noll explores the doomed experiment of a republic built on an unwritten law of sola scriptura.
Extravagant consumption
For Jesus, the inverse of scarcity isn’t abundance—it’s accumulation.
Reading scripture through the lens of nature
Daniel Cooperrider understands the Bible as an outdoor book, open to the sky.
YouVersion Bible app hires former Facebook exec to fuel growth
by Bob Smietana
An even better Bible
The leaders of the NRSVue project talk about translation, reception, and what Bibles are for.
Interview by Annelisa Burns
We do not read alone
Brad East offers a rigorous argument for the ecclesial context of scripture.
by Zen Hess and Chris Palmer
Episode 20: Activist Liz Theoharis, author of We Cry Justice
A conversation with activist and scholar Liz Theoharis about the Poor People’s Campaign, Paul’s letters, jubilee, and more
The Bible’s imprints on US politics are noticeably masculine
Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza wants us to reform our collective subconscious.
by Zen Hess
Sacred wrestling with the Bible’s “harsh passages”
That God would fight for Israel is meant to elicit horror.
Why ‘sorcery’ was the fastest-growing biblical search term in 2021
Seven things I learned by teaching a Me Too Bible class
Scripture is filled with sexual violence. So, we learned, are our own lives.
The distortions of the God Bless the USA Bible
The conflation of Christianity and American patriotism has never done either one any favors.
Virginia Mollenkott’s Women, Men, and the Bible shaped my life
The lesbian evangelical scholar bravely shared her view of God—in love.
by Amy Frykholm
The undergrads in my Bible class taught me a few lessons
Teaching online made me realize my goal is to teach them to think, not to teach them to think like me.
What I’d like to say to President Trump about the Bible
I’d tell him a secret I learned from Eugene Peterson.
Robert Alter’s Hebrew Bible translation is at once accurate and eloquent
Precision and beauty have kissed.
Imagination is at the heart of faith
It’s not that we lack information about religion. It’s that we don’t deeply inhabit the religious stories we do know.