
Since 1900, the Christian Century has published reporting, commentary, poetry, and essays on the role of faith in a pluralistic society.
© 2026 The Christian Century.
Shared holy places might puzzle American or European Christians. In the rest of the world, religions have rarely enjoyed such a monopoly.
We don’t know which experiences specify our humanity. But the Abrahamic faiths agree that we are made of dust and ashes, a bit of clay or a mere clot.
The Protestant was sitting alone at a table in the far corner. I assumed it was because no one else spoke Protestant.
by Brian Doyle
It's ironic that multicultural approaches to Christianity are dismissed as novel or “politically correct.” They are deeply rooted in our past.
In the pristine white glare of the airport corridor, the linoleum became my prayer rug. But my solitude was short lived.
Forty-two percent of U.S. marriages are interfaith. Naomi Schaefer-Riley convinced me that this is one of the biggest stories in religious life.
Each autumn, Fourth Presbyterian Church's sanctuary is full to overflowing with Jewish worshipers attending High Holy Days observances.
A number of activist organizations are declaring March 15-17 "National Gun Violence Prevention Sabbath Weekend."
It's not clear if this is meant to replace The Brady Center's "God Not Guns Sabbath," which has been observed on the last weekend of September for a number of years. But the organizers seem eager to keep the event broadly ecumenical and interfaith.
John Lennon's peace anthem "Imagine" can also be seen as an antidiversity hymn. Brian McLaren imagines something different.
by S. Mark Heim
Ever since Westerners discovered Asian cultures they have been intrigued by possible relationships between Christianity and Buddhism.
"I hope the shootings in Oak Creek will lead to interfaith education around the state," says Scott Anderson, director of the Wisconsin Council of Churches. "There is a hunger for this kind of engagement."
by Amy Frykholm
"More than ever, people are building interfaith marriages," says Joyce Shin of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago. "Too often, religion is seen as an impediment to this instead of as a resource."
In a place where the religious other quite recently meant the invading army that killed your father, Pontanima's work is remarkable.
When I first came to Harvard, the weekly
worship service was recognizably Protestant but flexible and welcoming. Over the years, our students have urged us toward
new ways of gathering.
Miroslav Volf believes that Christians and Muslims
worship the same God. On November 3 he took that argument to
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
How we relate to the "other," ethnically, nationally, religiously, is
the most important moral and theological issue of our time.
We should respect people with whom we disagree. Should we also respect their convictions, even when these comprise an overarching interpretation of life with which we fundamentally disagree?