Theology
A habit of attending
I am thankful for the ways that writing this column has invited me to discover what it means to live a prayerful life.
Ninety-nine names for a God beyond measure
As anthropologist Amira Mittermaier asks Egyptians who God is to them, she both attends to Islamic tradition and refuses to let it impose limits.
An interfaith pioneer
John Pawlikowski, a founding faculty member of Catholic Theological Union, stood as a bridge between Christian and Jewish communities.
Barth’s refusal
When the intelligentsia attempted to enthrone German culture as divine, he would not join them.
Sacred longing
Immigrants’ stories capture a deep desire for something better. Scripture shows that God longs for a better world, too.
Hildegard’s living stones
The 12th-century polymath’s worldview exposes the limits of our supposedly enlightened one.
From shame to gift
Humans have a special talent for screwing things up. I think acknowledging this offers liberation.
Understanding polyamory
Alternatives to monogamous marriage are going mainstream. How will Christians respond?
A sacred migration to a changing future
Colonialism wants to keep Native America locked in the closet of the past. But we have something important to say about the present—and about what comes next.
What Gen Z knows about the church
It’s not that they know nothing; it’s just that we don’t like to talk about what they know.
A Jewish exploration of Christian theology
Alan Brill offers both scrutiny of our doctrines and a word of correction to his fellow Jews.
The philosophers vs. the mystics?
Jamie Smith’s talents are rare and his insights clear. But his rejection of either/or thinking is so stark that it creates a false binary of its own.
My dying best friend’s wedding
She collapsed on the sidewalk the night of my wedding. Eighteen months later, I stood by her hospital bed and offered to plan hers.
The future of dying?
Physician-assisted suicide is morally complex. For Christians, it requires wrestling theologically with concepts like suffering, autonomy, and dignity.
The social failure behind assisted suicide
Why are people in pain? Why are their illnesses incurable? Neither advocates nor opponents of PAS tend to ask these questions.
Afro-pessimism and Christian hope
Reading Saidiya Hartman alongside Vincent Lloyd has helped me get through the night.