

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.
Is Our Town everybody’s town?
The play’s universal themes rest on a Christian eschatological vision.
What Christian hope looks like during a pandemic
Living into the desired new creation is our work—and God’s promise.
by Jesse Zink
Jesus the (Second Temple-era) Jew
“If we don’t understand the Judaism of Jesus’ time, how can we understand him and his message?”
David Heim interviews Matthias Henze
Catherine Keller’s political theology for the end of the world
Our era’s poet theologian begins by retranslating Paul: “the remaining time is contracted” (1 Cor. 7:29).
The value of apocalypse
Who is Jesus for Muslims?
“According to Islam, Jesus always speaks the truth. The question is how we understand it.”
Amy Frykholm interviews Zeki Saritoprak
Norman Wirzba views theology and ecology through 1 John 4:8, "Whoever does not love does not know God."
Emptiness can alternatively mean too little or too much. It is sometimes unclear where emptiness is distinct from excess.
I want the kingdom of God to be civilized. If possible I'd like to be able to keep sleeping in my own bed.
These days, we need a strong current of theological explication of Christian eschatology. Richard Middleton has stepped forward—and his book doesn't even mention zombies.
reviewed by James C. Howell
Franklin Graham, son of the famous evangelist, recently warned that the rise of Ebola signaled that we are living in the last days. Few people noticed. Christian filmmaker Paul Lalonde released an awful movie in October about the end of the world. Despite snagging Nicolas Cage for the lead role, Lalonde’s retooling of Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins’s bestselling Left Behind books fell flat with audiences.
Evangelical apocalypticism looks almost dead.
N.T. Wright aims to show how Paul's story of the crucified and risen Messiah is at the same time the story of Israel rescued from extended exile.
reviewed by Alexandra Brown
In these short talks, Gerhard Lohfink revisits themes from Jesus and Community. His account of Jesus is determinatively eschatological.
Stanley Hauerwas’s book is about learning how to die and training how to be human. Broadly speaking, it is a book about time and purpose—or, better said, the purpose of time.
reviewed by Clay Thomas
"A virus breached the campus computer network last week and the entire system crashed. Repair has been difficult, but I bring a word of hope.” The director of information technology at the college where I was about to lecture on eschatology added, “This has been frustrating for everyone. Files have been corrupted and programs do not run properly. Please be patient. Some files have been restored. . . . Any day now we will be back to full operation.”