Tangible objects of faith play an essential role in binding a community of believers together. When I was in Sunday school in third grade, my teacher seemed ancient. Each Sunday, with hair a bit askew, he’d pump our hands as we walked in the door because he was so glad to see us. We’d earn …
What a sixth-century monk can teach all of us about public engagement In sixth-century Europe, unprecedented chaos gripped the dying remnants of the Roman Empire. As Europe entered a period of political chaos and moral decline, a young Christian by the name of Benedict started a movement that would radically reshape Christian habits of life …
Conservative Christians in Canada didn’t vote for Trump. But they are affected by his faithful followers. It’s been an interesting year for Canadian evangelicals. This winter, the Canadian government announced that organizations applying for summer youth employment grants had to first affirm their support for abortion. Several weeks ago, in a 7-2 vote, Canada’s Supreme …
Even after 40 years of ministry, the Southern Baptist luminary still starts and ends every day on his knees. At 84, Charles Stanley still prays on his knees every day and preaches every week at First Baptist Church Atlanta, where he’s served as senior pastor since 1971. His age hasn’t come close to forcing him …
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove’s necessary rebuke on race rests on a sadly truncated gospel. In 1846, the abolitionist Samuel Brooke published a book called Slavery, and the Slaveholder’s Religion; as Opposed to Christianity, in which he condemned human bondage as “the violation of every principle of human brotherhood, of natural right, of justice, of humanity, of Christianity, …
Exploring the multiple meanings behind a New Testament “political cartoon.” In one of the strangest stories in the Gospels, Jesus delivers a demon-oppressed man, only to send the demon(s) into a herd of pigs, which promptly charges down a cliff and drowns in the sea. You can read it in Mark 5:1–20, and it’s just …
Why idolatry is an economic issue and what to do about it. The tomatoes caught me off guard. Sitting in a small Anglican church in Kenya, I was prepared for the invitation to put some money in the offering plate. I was not prepared for tomatoes. But that’s what the members of that farming village …
Children with the greatest need for a supportive community were the most likely to feel unwelcome. America’s religious communities are failing children with chronic health conditions such as autism, learning disabilities, depression, and conduct disorders. And they have been doing it for a very long time, suggests a just-published national study following three waves of …
Why Revoice has stirred debate about temptation and sin. Here’s how the Revoice Conference describes itself: “Supporting, encouraging, and empowering gay, lesbian, same-sex-attracted, and other LGBT Christians so they can flourish while observing the historic, Christian doctrine of marriage and sexuality.” (Read Quick to Listen host Mark Galli’s interview with its founder.) Since the website …
Why a Scriptural imagination is essential to the making and enjoying of art. Recent years have witnessed fruitful conversations about the interplay between Christian theology and the arts. But what these dialogues need most, according to Duke Divinity School theologian Jeremy Begbie, is a firmer grounding in Scripture, the classic creeds, and a Trinitarian imagination. …