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March 15, 2017

Volume 134, Issue #6
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Features

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Interviews

A police officer’s view from street level

“At any given moment, I may need to be a psychologist, centurion, street lawyer, or soothsayer.”

David Heim interviews Adam Plantinga

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Opinion

Don't repeal the Johnson Amendment, fix it

We should limit political activity by churches—but not speech from the pulpit.

by Douglas Laycock

Rain and benches
First Person

The housed, the homeless, and the right to be somewhere

Faced with someone trying to deny me shelter from the rain, I thought, are you kidding?

by Jennifer M. McBride

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Critical Essay

Is the Reformation over? Yes and no.

Until Christians can all share the Lord’s Supper, the rift continues. But there is no denying how massively the ground has shifted.

by Sarah Hinlicky Wilson

Books

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Poet in black?

Johnny Cash was a lot of things. Was he a literary writer?

by Jeffrey Johnson
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The grace of real and virtual presence

Theologian Deanna Thompson used to criticize the pervasive technological creep overtaking our lives. Then she was diagnosed with cancer.

by Alan Van Wyk
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Practical wisdom from the business world

Heather Bradley and Miriam Bamberger Grogan offer a hard-working playbook for addressing ministerial overload.

by Cynthia G. Lindner
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Inventing a voice for Louis Till

John Edgar Wideman counters the official record of Emmett Till’s father with a more empathetic version.

by Amy Frykholm

Departments

Kenyans welcome pope

The new Catholic homeland

Within a few decades, a third of all Catholics will live in Africa.

by Philip Jenkins

Ramanuja
Faith Matters

A toast to Ramanuja

Martin Luther isn’t the only theologian for whom we celebrate a major anniversary this year.

by Carol Zaleski

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On Media

Run the Jewels and the burden of prophecy

What counts as truth in a post-truth world? Run the Jewels 3 makes the case that truth sounds like rap music.

by Adam Hearlson

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On Art

Mural at Zaatari Syrian refugee camp, Jordan, 2013

Over several years Joel Bergner (aka Joel Artista) worked with children at Zaatari Syrian refugee camp. Artista led workshops on water conservation, hygiene issues, artistic techniques, and conflict resolution....

Art selection and comment by Lil Copan

Vietnam refugees
First Words

A refugee’s gift

In offering another refugee his citizenship, Chuong Nguyen is not submitting a transactional sort of sacrifice. He is giving a gift of selfless love.

by Peter W. Marty

From the Editors

The spiritual practice of politics

Be an activist. But approach it with intention, care, and clear limits.

News

People

Like others with DACA status, United Methodist pastor faces uncertain future

Orlando Gallardo was 15 when his mother decided it was worth the risk to send her youngest child across the border of Mexico to give him a chance at a better future....

by Kathy L. Gilbert

Zahra Roodi and Mohsen Kadivar
People

Iranian dissident, a Duke professor, rushes return to U.S. in fear of another travel ban

Iranian dissident Mohsen Kadivar had begun what he expected would be a semester-long fellowship at Berlin’s Wissenschaftskolleg to work on a book. Instead, he returned to the United States on February 16....

by Yonat Shimron

Christian aid group cuts staff members in wake of Trump’s executive order on refugees

World Relief has announced it will lay off more than 140 staff members and close five local offices as a “direct result” of President Trump’s order to more than halve the number of refugees resettled this year in the United States....

by Emily McFarlan Miller

Polls say most Europeans want to ban Muslims from immigrating

When Americans demonstrated against President Trump’s recent entry ban on immigrants from seven mostly Muslim countries, marchers in London, Paris, Berlin, and other European cities quickly joined in the protest....

by Tom Heneghan

Why a Muslim police officer is suing the NYPD

(The Christian Science Monitor) A Muslim NYPD officer has filed a lawsuit against New York City and its police department, alleging that the department turned a blind eye to years of r...

by Gretel Kauffman

Another cave that once housed Dead Sea Scrolls discovered

(The Christian Science Monitor) This time it was a team of archaeologists, rather than a Bedouin goat herder, who made a potentially history-shaping discovery....

by Charlie Wood

Christian and Jewish groups form partnerships to care for Holocaust survivors

When Ya’akov Edelstein, an 86-year-old Holocaust survivor, agreed to a bar mitzvah ceremony he never had as a child, he asked that it take place at Haifa’s Home for Holocaust Survivors....

by Michele Chabin

Lectionary

April 9, Liturgy of the Palms

Psalm 118:1–2, 19–29; Matthew 21:1–11

by Christine Chakoian

April 9, Liturgy of the Passion

Isaiah 50:4-9a; Matthew 26:14–27:66; Philippians 2:5–11

by Christine Chakoian

April 2, Fifth Sunday in Lent

Romans 8:6–11; John 11:1–45

by Christine Chakoian

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