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Practicing abolitionist spirituality
What are we willing to sacrifice for racial justice?
Why I’ve come back around to substitutionary atonement
Sometimes sacrifice is an act of love.
The crucified Christ isn’t a tragic hero
In a comic reversal, says Terry Eagleton, the death of God incarnate reveals a fragile social order.
Can Christians display a life together that’s as compelling as war?
Much of what Christianity has long been saying about the cross of Christ is problematic. So what is to be done about it?
If your mother is drowning in one location and two strangers in another, should you save your mother or the two strangers?
The ancient stories of Genesis bear witness to a created world that is interconnected and has value in God’s eyes.
We pastors are not likely to encounter Jephthah. But we might encounter someone like the young man who sought me out after a stint in jail.
Sacrifice has real moral resonance—but it can also be exploited. In Iraq, past sacrifices don't offer a guide for U.S. policy.
For Sharon Baker, theological consistency is essential, because “our perception of God influences how we behave.”
reviewed by Deanna A. Thompson
I try not to get too worked up about the commercialization of church holidays. It seems inevitable in our culture, in which most people are at least nominally Christian yet the real national faith is capitalism. The Christmas shopping season is annoying and the Easter candy aisles are dangerous, but it seems futile to rail against things that are more symptom than illness.
It is pretty perplexing, however, when marketers try to capitalize on Lent.
Explanations of the cross have been subject to major critiques in recent decades. Is it really the case that, given human sin, someone has to pay?
God sent Moses on a mission to rescue his people from oppression. He was asked to risk his life in a costly but exciting adventure--a mission of compassion and justice on behalf of a million other people.
Rephibia is the kind of pet store that most other stores don’t want around. It doesn’t carry cats or dogs or anything else that is cute and cuddly. All its animals are cold-blooded, and some are quite large. The first thing you see as you walk in the door is a massive python almost 18 feet long. But there are also monitor lizards that are bigger than most dogs, frogs the size of dinner plates (they look strangely like Jabba the Hutt), and even an alligator snapping turtle that is so big you think it might be older than you are.