

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.
Prayers rising past the immanent frame
Charles Taylor helps me understand my church’s architecture—and my own struggles with faith.
How did abortion become legal in majority-Catholic Argentina?
In Latin America, faith and politics are being disentangled.
A non-Christian’s argument for Christianity’s positive influence
Tom Holland doesn’t shout that secularists have no clothes. He whispers that they bear a Christian label.
by Samuel Wells
Politics, parenting, and other secular things we put our faith in
We’re religious about lots of things, says David Zahl. Just not God.
Coming of age during the rise of Hitler
A history of the 20th century told by ordinary Germans.
In Europe, even occasional prayer is on the way out
It's not just disaffection with particular state churches. People's religious orientation itself is gone.
French Catholics' political awakening
In a nation legendary for its secularism, les Cathos are speaking up.
The apocalypse, it seems, is cultural and psychological rather than historical. One can only hope that this theory is right.
Perhaps the real lack of faith in modern society comes down to a lack of reverence for the people around us.
There’s little for us mainliners to celebrate in this new Pew study. We’re losing people, and fast. I appreciate Heidi Haverkamp’s realistic-yet-hopeful words here and Rob Rynders’ there. But, like them, I’m not interested in spinning an argument that the numbers are somehow lying.
The numbers are clearer, however, than the reasons for them.
Rowan Williams favors a kind of secularism that requires an honest broker to mediate and manage genuine difference, rather than one that aspires to little more than maximized choice.
reviewed by Samuel Wells
In religious terms, the emerging South Africa looks at once thoroughly African and surprisingly European.
The U.S. may be heading toward European-style secularization. More surprisingly, several Latin American countries mirror conditions in the States.
How has Western society become so fractious, polarized and secular? Why are we powerless to curb consumerism? Brad Gregory blames the Reformation.
"No whining!" the plaque on my study wall all but shouts. Steven D.
Smith does not whine as he invades a territory frequented by whiners.