Journalist Ian Johnson sees faith on the rise where it was once ruthlessly suppressed. Under Mao Zedong’s dictatorship, Christianity, Buddhism, and Taoism suffered persecution and near-extinction. In recent decades, however, they have each made an astounding comeback. In The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao, Ian Johnson, a Pulitzer Prize–winning author who …
Instead of fighting injustice, we end up fighting each other. Years ago, I heard John Perkins speak at a Christian Community Development Association conference. He off-handedly mentioned voluntary poverty but warned with a wry smile that we can’t do much good by simply being poor. Instead, we should “go out and make a lot of …
Jordan Peele’s groundbreaking directorial debut challenges us to see racial sin with clear eyes. What does the glowing success of Get Out—a horror film with racism at its center—say about our cultural moment? If popular entertainment serves as a kind of barometer for national anxieties, this is a highly revealing film, one that may someday …
They have nothing to do with sex. During his 20 years as a manager in the Christian music business, Darren Tyler followed a version of what’s known in evangelical circles as the “Billy Graham Rule.” He—and members of the bands he managed—would never eat, travel, or otherwise spend time alone with someone of the opposite …
The pilot for the upcoming Starz series raises provocative questions about worship and divinity. Neil Gaiman begins his novel American Gods with an epigraph from Richard Dorson’s “A Theory for American Folklore.” In it, Dorson asks what happens to demonic beings of one culture when its people immigrate to another. The novel’s central conceit—that certain …
The virture of endurance was a ‘female’ attribute in New Testament times. On June 17, 2015, in Charleston, South Carolina, a white supremacist gunned down nine African American Christians as they participated in a Wednesday night Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Americans were outraged at such heartless and vile racism, but …
Articulating moral consensus in a pluralistic country. “We need to stand together with people of faith.” A former Canadian federal cabinet minister received a warm round of applause from the studio audience when he flourished this line during a national radio broadcast. Others who heard him were not so sure. The idea of a moral …
Skepticism about this season is based mostly on myths and misconceptions. One day early in our engagement, my then-fiancée now-wife, Laura, and I were locked in a stalemate: Where would we go to church once we were married? It began politely enough but devolved into exasperation. I wanted to find a church with great expository …
An excerpt from ‘This Is Our Time.’ In October 2015, a lone gunman entered Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, and created a scene of carnage and despair before turning his gun on himself. Within hours, our country’s political fires were raging at maximum intensity. Some blamed the lack of gun control laws; others railed …
Tragedy becomes impetus for reforms sought by Christian experts. Earlier this month, a fire at an orphanage outside of Guatemala’s capital caught international attention. Forty children died of carbon monoxide poisoning and burns; the tragic event drew worldwide condemnation. But the aftermath of the fire has given hope to those who work with the Central …