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Magazine /

June 7, 2017

Volume 134, Issue #12
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Features

St. Patrick mosaic
Critical Essay

How St. Patrick evangelized a violent culture

It is hard to imagine a time or place more opposed to the gospel than fifth-century Ireland.

by Timothy M. Muehlhoff and Richard Langer

image of Ouija board
First Person

An oracle of the word of the Lord?

In the late 70s, two friends of mine housesat for the poet James Merrill—and got out his Ouija board.

by Peter S. Hawkins

image of eye
Readers Write

Surprise: Essays by readers

We gave our readers a one-word writing prompt: “surprise.”
river rapids current
First Person

Ministry is out of control

Being a pastor is like jumping into a river. You have to let the current take you.

by Charles Lattimore Howard

Zeki Saritoprak
Interviews

Who is Jesus for Muslims?

“According to Islam, Jesus always speaks the truth. The question is how we understand it.”

Amy Frykholm interviews Zeki Saritoprak

Books

image of book of interviews with Robert Bresson

Improvising the music of daily life

Robert Bresson’s films are adventurous, brooding, and deeply religious.

by Jon Sweeney
image of Michael Kinnamon's book on religion and fear

Facing fear with Christ

Our collective panic is hurting us. Can faith help?

by William H. Willimon
image of Timothy Tyson's book about Emmett Till

The Till family’s agony

Carolyn Bryant changed her story. Does this change the meaning of Emmett Till’s death?

by Debra Bendis
Kao Kalia Yang’s memoir of her family’s refugee flight

Refugee, poet, father

Kao Kalia Yang’s memoir of her family’s flight from Laos is devastating and lyrical.

by Stina Kielsmeier-Cook

Departments

Chile Pentecostals

Why Chile has Pentecostal bishops

When a revival took root among Methodists, U.S. church authorities demanded that local leaders disavow it. They refused.

by Philip Jenkins

Wall Street
Faith Matters

When the financial market is god, who pays?

Most religions acknowledge the contingencies and paradoxes of human life. Not this one.

by Stephanie Paulsell

image of artwork
On Art

#24 Freud’s Last Words: Dreams Follow the Mouth, by Dana Kadison and Earl Kallemeyn

Mexican bingo cards, or lotería, are an unlikely starting point for Talmudic exploration. But artist Dana Kadison and letterpress printer Earl Kallemeyn use the form to create art works that explore texts, including religious texts....

Art selection and comment by Lil Copan

Waiting for health care
From the Editors

A health care bill that takes away people’s health care

Caring for the sick means keeping them in our risk pool.
Trump at Liberty
First Words

An executive order churches didn't need

Trump says pastors are bullied and silenced. That comes as a surprise to me.

by Peter W. Marty

News

People

Filmmaker wins Gabriel Award for Reinhold Niebuhr documentary

Martin Doblmeier, founder of Journey Films, won a Gabriel Award for his documentary An American Conscience: The Reinhold Niebuhr Story....

by Christian Century staff

People

United Lutheran Seminary in Pennsylvania names first president

Theresa F. Latini has been named the first president of United Lutheran Seminary, with campuses at Gettysburg and Philadelphia....
People

Hungarian priest welcomes refugees amid differing local views

In Körmend, a Hungarian town of 12,000 people about 160 miles and two train rides from Budapest, the community has been split by the decision of Zoltán Németh, the local Catholic parish priest, to shelter asylum seekers....

by Brian Dooley

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama

Indonesian Christian leader jailed under blasphemy law

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, an Indo­ne­sian Protestant whose popularity as a politician in the world’s largest Muslim nation appeared to be a sign of inter­religious tolerance, was convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to two years in jail....

by Celeste Kennel-Shank

Duke Divinity professor disciplined amid diversity training complaint

Duke Divinity School has taken disciplinary action against a professor who wrote in an email to all faculty that a racial equity training event they had been encouraged to attend was “definitively anti-intellectual” and had “totalitarian tendencie...

by Celeste Kennel-Shank

When a church closes, where does its pipe organ go?

A 112-year-old pipe organ in the sanctuary of a now-closed church needs a new home....

by Holly Meyer

Religious liberty executive order draws mixed reviews

In a Rose Garden ceremony at the White House on the National Day of Prayer, President Trump signed a highly anticipated executive order on religious liberty, basking in the praise of religious leaders who blessed his action as an answer to their p...

by David Gibson

Clash over Bear Ears land tests years of progress on Native American spirituality

(The Christian Science Monitor) Davis Filfred wishes President Trump would take a page from General “Stormin’ Norman” Schwarzkopf’s playbook in thinking about Bears Ears National Monum...

by Henry Gass

Pope visits Egypt and joins imams, Coptic church in calling for rejection of violence

Pope Francis used the political capital he has built up with the Islamic world to issue a powerful condemnation of religion-inspired violence, calling on Muslim leaders to unite against terrorist acts....

by Christopher Lamb

Lectionary

July 2, Ordinary 13A (Matthew 10:40–42)

Matthew 25 is not the only way that Christ appears in our world.

by Liddy Barlow

June 25, Ordinary 12A (Matthew 10:24–39)

We have value because we are creatures, like sparrows.

by Liddy Barlow

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