Authors /
Miroslav Volf
Miroslav Volf teaches at Yale Divinity School, where he is founder and director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture. He is the author of Flourishing: Why We Need Religion in a Globalized World (Yale University Press).
Six traits of a pluralist Christian vision of human flourishing
Can Christianity make universal claims without being exclusivist?
February 6, 2019
Rejoice in the Lord always—and especially in Lent
When we give something up, we realize that its goodness doesn't depend on our ownership of it.
February 12, 2018
Joy is for Epiphany, too
From the wise men to the wedding at Cana, joy comes from recognizing and affirming the good.
December 27, 2017
What is good? Joy and the well-lived life
"Look at the birds of the air," said Jesus. Our lives are more akin to the frantic scurrying of rats and the disciplined marching of ants.
July 1, 2016
The giver and the gift: A Christian's delight in things
If the world is a gift, then all the things to which you relate—and many to which you don't—are also God's relation to you.
December 22, 2015
Life exam
In a culture that finds repentance unintelligible, impractical, or unnecessary, we are called to witness to its intelligibility, beauty, and importance.
April 11, 2014
All due respect: Honoring others
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?
August 1, 2011
Fear and relief
We are right to feel a sense of relief that a major source of evil has been removed. But we should reflect also on the flip side of that relief: the nature of our fears.
May 3, 2011
Allah and the Trinity: A Christian response to Muslims
The oneness of God is the principle at the very heart of Islam. This is the central issue for Muslims disputing Christian claims about God.
February 25, 2011
God is love: A basic Christian claim
What do Christians mean when they say that God is love?...
October 27, 2010
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How safe can we be?
Unlike in previous eras, when the majority of our risks came from natural sources, today the majority of our risks are "manufactured." We humans create them.
October 6, 2010
Body counts: The dark side of Christian history
With its long coastline, rugged mountains and haunting sand dunes, Oman is a paradise for desert lovers, hikers and boaters. Muscat, the capital city, is a gem—its arched white buildings and flat roofs squeezed between the blue ocean and black mountains. Yet call me an egghead, but what I remember most from a trip to Oman is a booklet I read there with an ominous title: Body Count: A Quantitative Review of Political Violence Across World Civilizations (2009). In it, author Naveed Sheikh claims that “the Christian civilization emerges as the most violent and genocidal in the world history.” Compared to Islam, Christianity is a clear winner: 31.94 million deaths by Muslims to 177.94 million deaths by Christians.
April 20, 2010
No offense given: Commotion over caricatures
Early in October, Yale was abuzz with passionate debates about the freedom of expression....
November 17, 2009
Reluctant pilgrim: A visit to the Jordan
Since ancient times, travelers have journeyed to sites of religious significance in order to deepen their faith. But I’ve never been much of a pilgrim....
November 3, 2009
Sikh wisdom: India's Golden Temple
One of the most recognizable pieces of religious architecture in the world is the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India, the most significant place of worship of the Sikhs....
May 19, 2009
An ultimate somebody: The bow that sets the arrow flying
When Toma and I became friends, he was somebody. I was 16, he was 22. He was a body builder, one of the best in the country, with aspirations and good prospects of becoming Mr. Universe. But then he embraced Christian faith and joined the church where my father was a pastor. He felt that God required him to abandon his athletic pursuits, which until then had been his god. He transposed the dreams of becoming Mr. Universe onto a religious plane: he wanted to be the apostle Paul of Yugoslavia, and maybe a new Billy Graham to the world.
October 21, 2008