
Since 1900, the Christian Century has published reporting, commentary, poetry, and essays on the role of faith in a pluralistic society.
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The inverse wisdom of a second-century martyr
“Perpetua was a grandstander,” says Sarah Ruden. “She saw martyrdom—and that means testimony—as a personal glorification.”
Is Sinéad O’Connor a secular saint?
A new documentary positions the fiery iconoclast as a prophet ahead of her time.
Would we recognize a modern-day messiah?
Sean Gandert’s novel asks us to decide if a man is a saint or a sham.
The unadorned self, living forward, and a great lake of beer
What I found when I looked up today’s date in four daily devotional books
Poems in honor of a Benedictine life
Philip Kolin's longtime spiritual director was a chain-smoking oblate who fed everyone.
by Paul Mariani
I was skeptical about sainthood. Then I met three people whose lives were changed by Mother Teresa.
by Dean Nelson
“Even Lucifer might well have a change of heart,” said the fifth grader. “Isn’t that right, Father?”
by Brian Doyle
When my senior colleague proposed a ten-week sermon series on the saints, I was hesitant. Would anyone find this interesting?
Angela O'Donnell's sassy poems are born of her deeply Catholic imagination. She builds a house of saints, canonized or not.
reviewed by Miho Nonaka
It’s official: our entire household is obsessed with outer space. Our children have a solar system hanging over their beds, our upstairs hallway is graced by images of the Milky Way, and when nighttime falls, glow-in-the-dark planets sing an eventide song of praise to the God who made them all and yet is mindful of one little family staring up in wonder.
Mother Teresa’s spiritual struggles remind me of Martin Luther's.
Several years ago I engaged in a public dialogue with a Roman Catholic theologian about prayers to the saints. I went into the discussion with my mind made up on the subject. We Protestants—especially we evangelicals—do not pray to anyone but God. Directing our prayers in any other direction is at best theologically confused and at worst idolatrous. I came away, though, a little less convinced that the theological case was as tightly shut as I had thought.