Richard A. Kauffman
Episcopal misconduct?
Two days after Christmas, Heather Elizabeth Cook, suffragan bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, ...
Who's afraid of Ebola?
I imagine some of the people freaking out about Ebola consider themselves Christians. How ironic is that?
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One store, many churches: Bookseller Byron Borger
"I suppose some liturgical types don't like our Amish novels, and some evangelicals are perplexed by our Catholic stuff. But it used to be worse."
Me and the devil
Comparisons between C. S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters and Thomas Davis’s The Devil Likes to Sing are inevitable, but I can’t go there....
John Hedley Brooke on religion's role in the development of modern science
John Hedley Brooke, retired historian from Oxford, gave what I thought was a brilliant lecture on "The Historical Roots of Modern Science" at t...
Some observations from the Faraday Institute conference on science and religion
My educational background is in the humanities; my exposure to the sciences has been almost nil....
Beware of the book buzz
The book publishing world depends on buzz. The best kind of book buzz is created by readers who tell their friends about the books they love. Anyone who is part of a circle of reading friends knows that, despite dire predictions about the demise of book publishing, the appetite for reading books is alive and well. But readers have to find out about a book somehow, and that is where promotion comes in—either by publishers or by the authors themselves.
I understand the growing need for writers to promote their own work.
Forbidden poems
Rahila Muska, a teenage girl, lived in the Helmand province of Afghanistan, a Taliban stronghold....
Old growth
When our family lived in western Pennsylvania we had a rather large yard. It was like a magnet for kids in the neighborhood, which was okay with us....
Never again?
In 1920, not long after the Great War, a little-known agitator gave a speech in Munich on the topic, "Why Are We Anti-Semites?" The speaker concluded that it was important to prevent Germany “from suffering a death by crucifixion."
Of course this agitator became quite well known—it was Adolf Hitler—and we know what his antisemitism led to.
Contested space in church kitchens
If you want to understand the politics of a given church, start with the kitchen: who is in control, and what conflicts arise there?
Regretting things done and left undone
When writer Philip Caputo was almost 69, he took a road trip across the country—diagonally, from Florida to Alaska....
Progressive faith on the FM dial?
Driving in northern Indiana one recent evening, I came to the conclusion that religious broadcasters pretty much own the FM band in this part of the country. One station was playing contemporary Christian music, another gospel music. And three different stations were airing James Dobson’s radio program. Dobson, formerly of Focus on the Family, was touting a new novel he has coauthored, which fictionalizes all the bad things supposedly resulting from a decline in the American birthrate.
Preparing to read
Over time I have come to believe that the reading of scripture in public worship is as important as expounding on scripture (i.e., preaching)....
Jesus the Homeless, by Timothy Schmalz
In an era when homeless people can be seen sleeping on city sidewalks and park benches, Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz wanted to convey the idea that Jesus too was homeless....
He Was Received Up Into Heaven, by Hanna Varghese
Hanna Varghese is a Malaysian artist who often works in batik, as she does with this image of the ascension....
Holy digital: The Bible on iPad
I switched to a digital Bible for ease and versatility. But I gave something up: a sense of the sweeping history of God's engagement with God's people.