Features
The certainty summit
In 1978, a who’s who of conservative evangelical leaders met in Chicago to draft a statement on biblical inerrancy. It would change the course of church and state.
Trump the savior-king
The president, just as the Christian Reconstructionists intended, sits at the top of a violent system as the mouthpiece of a silent, abusive God.
The imitation of the Spirit
Christians are taught to practice imitatio Christi, empowered by the Holy Spirit. What if we flipped this narrative?
God cares about people, not what you call the West Bank
A US House committee will now use the biblical names Judea and Samaria. The point is to frame a political conflict as a religious war.
In Martin Marty’s classroom
One evening, Marty had the whole class out to his house. There were shelves of books that he wrote or edited and even more books by his students. I thought, I do not belong here.
Criticize J. D. Vance’s ordo amoris comments all you want—but please, leave Jews out of it
Christian responses that appeal to the gospels have misrepresented both the biblical texts and Jewish ethnocentrism.
Gospel inefficiency in the age of DOGE
God doesn’t count the same things we do.
Martin Marty’s unfinished conversations
The historian’s energetic affirmation of the unfinished—whether books or lives—invariably made encounters with him memorable events.
Voltaire’s encounter with the crucified Christ
The Enlightenment thinker was fiercely critical of religion. But what did he mean by religion?
Mariann Budde stoked fires of mercy
It’s been said that a sermon should be judged by its impact beyond the moment when it’s preached. In the last month, the bishop’s sermon at the National Cathedral has been making a difference.
Kindled in the wild
Many young people love going to church camp. How does it shape their spiritual lives after they return home?
J. D. Vance, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and the parable of the Good Samaritan
The vice president’s mangling of the Christian ordo amoris is just a smokescreen for the largest deportation operation in American history.
America’s real sister act
“When we narrate the history of the church from the perspective of Black nuns,” says historian Shannen Dee Williams, “myths about the Catholic past fall quickly and they fall hard.”
Sanctuary in houses of worship has always been tenuous
It’s a practice marked by promise and difficulty—both in the Bible and today.
What is active citizenship in the era of rule by decree?
American political theology has tended to take democracy and the rule of law for granted. What now?
How the West Bank settlements have changed Israel
The settler movement has spent decades pushing its views to the mainstream and building its political power.
Kendrick Lamar is playing a different game
The “great American game” is played to win and to exclude. Lamar’s halftime show made the case for turning our attention to something better.
How and what to think
I’m only trying to teach my religion students one of these things. At least that’s what I tell them.
Does God want America to be great?
Six reflections on what God really wants for the world
Political demons
For theologian and civil rights activist William Stringfellow, understanding American politics means taking demons seriously.