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August 26, 2020

Volume 137, Issue #18
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Features

Can classical music come out of Nazareth?

Nabeel Ashkar has worked for years to bring Western art music to Arab young people in Galilee.

by Mordechai Beck

Critical Essay

The shape of liturgy when everything is changing

Even stones are constantly being transformed.

by Claire Miller Colombo

How My Mind Has Changed

Brought to life by Christ

Theology was not optional for me as a child. It was a matter of life or death.

by James Alison

Critical Essay

Virtual worship has become the people’s work

Discovering the limits—and possibilities—of common prayer via Zoom

by Bryan Cones

Reflection

How Killer Mike helped me rethink the work of Christian activism

Protesting in Jesus’ name is an outward act that yields inner transformation.

by Johnathan C. Richardson

Books

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How Heather Cox Richardson looks to the past for hope

The “Letters from an American” author provides historical context for today’s threats to democracy.

by LaVonne Neff
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The treasure of the Psalms

The psalter’s wisdom, illuminated from five perspectives

by Jason Byassee
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A desire to return home

Aharon Appelfeld’s novel of wartime survival among Jewish partisans in Nazi Europe

by Emily Soloff

Departments

Mollywood produces films portraying Christians as a normal part of the South Indian landscape

A growing number of Malayalam-language films feature Christian characters or themes.

by Philip Jenkins

Faith Matters

Separated from one another—yet still in harmony

Evagrius Pontus and Howard Thurman knew God as simultaneously far and near.

by Stephanie Paulsell

First Words

Compassion begins in the eyes

The pandemic hasn’t taken away our ability to look our neighbor in the eye.

by Peter W. Marty

On Art

The Planters, by Hari Mitrushi

Planting seed is an act of faith in the future. The sower struggles with poor soil, meager rainfall, choking weeds, and predatory birds—with no guarantee of a plentiful harvest....

art selection and comment by John Kohan

From the Editors

Why the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act is necessary

“The vote is precious,” said Lewis. Fifty-five years after Bloody Sunday and the Voting Rights Act, many Americans remain disenfranchised.

News

People

Southern Baptist pastor resigns after celebrating former KKK leader

A Southern Bap­tist pastor who gave an invocation at a celebration honoring the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan stepped down from his rural Alabama church in late July....

by Yonat Shimron

People

Russian court fines popular, virus-denying Orthodox monk

On July 20, a Rus­sian court or­dered Father Sergiy, an influential monk who has denied the existence of the new corona­virus and urged his followers to ignore government lockdown orders, to pay a fine for fo­menting enmity through his sermons....

by Vladimir Isachenkov

Emerging ‘movement chaplains’ bring spiritual care to activists

Kimberly Jackson remembers the disappointment and devastation that erupted after the execution of Troy Davis nearly ten years ago in Jackson, Georgia....

by Alejandra Molina

Pilgrims arrive in Mecca for downsized hajj

Last month, Muslim pilgrims arrived in Mecca for a drastically scaled-down hajj, as Saudi authorities balanced the kingdom’s oversight of one of Islam’s key pillars with the safety of visitors in the face of a global pandemic....

by Aya Batrawy

New survey: people are reading the Bible less during the pandemic

People may be reading the news and “doomscrolling” through social media during the coronavirus pandemic. But what they don’t appear to be reading is the Bible....

by Emily McFarlan Miller

People

Aaron Keyak tapped to lead Jewish outreach for Biden campaign

Former vice president Joe Biden’s campaign team has hired Aaron Keyak, former head of the National Jewish Democratic Council, to oversee Jewish outreach....

by Jack Jenkins

Lectionary

September 13, 24A (Exodus 14:19-31; Exodus 15:1b-11, 20-21)

It's time for us to hear the song of Moses and Miriam in a new way.

by Christine Chakoian

September 6, 23A (Romans 13:8-14)

Loving the neighbor with whom we disagree

by Christine Chakoian

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