Brian Stanley’s global history makes connections and draws lessons that others are apt to miss. A reader might well approach Brian Stanley’s Christianity in the Twentieth Century: A World History with a mix of intrigue and skepticism. How on earth, we might ask, can even the most skilled writer incorporate every major theme and movement, …
Six tangible ways congregations can shift their gatherings from me to us. I grew up during America’s Moral Majority years, when putting an ichthus on your business card would up your professional game. In an era when group belonging seemed a foregone conclusion, evangelism emphasized a personal relationship with Christ, and corporate worship grew to …
How I found eternal life on death row. I grew up in the 1960s in one of the many daisy-chain suburbs surrounding Los Angeles. Seven of us, two adults and five children, struggled for living space in a tiny two-bedroom rental house. My father worked on an assembly line during the day; my mother worked …
Augustine, T. F. Torrance, John Owen, and more. Selected by Kelly M. Kapic, professor of theological studies at Covenant College and the author of The God Who Gives: How the Trinity Shapes the Christian Story (Zondervan). On The Trinity (De Trinitate) Augustine This book is not for the faint of heart, but it is hard …
It may sound weird, but knowing we have an enemy is encouraging. The gospel is full of odd comforts. Discovering I’m afflicted with depravity brings the relief of the doctor’s diagnosis: “There is something wrong with me. It’s not all in my head.” More importantly, it provides the good news that in Christ there’s a …
How to disciple in an era of male floundering. The mid-1990s were a pretty great time to be a Christian man. The televangelist scandals of the ’80s were in the past. Today’s megachurch scandals and #MeToo hashtags were far in the future. Instead, Christian men were making headlines for getting together en masse to pursue …
A new book crawls into the lives of children at risk, enters their desperation, and accompanies them on their journey toward redemption. The great beauty of the Christian narrative is redemption, and redemption shines powerfully through Ericka Andersen’s Leaving Cloud 9: The True Story of a Life Resurrected from the Ashes of Poverty, Trauma, and …
What makes a college “evangelical” or “fundamentalist?” The dividing lines weren’t always so clear. Let’s say you attended Wheaton College, Gordon College, or Biola University. Or perhaps you’re an outsider who just thinks highly of those schools. If so, you might be turned off by a book that groups them together under the label “Fundamentalist …
A scholar’s journey through the region reveals much more than Baptists and church barbecues. In the spring of 2008, my wife and I loaded up a truck and moved to Tennessee, where I’d taken a job as the religion writer at a newspaper in Nashville. I’ve spent the decade since then covering religion in the …
The state of faith in the East African country nearly 25 years after its brutal genocide. Over the past two months, authorities have closed more than 7,000 churches across Rwanda for failing to comply with health, safety, and noise regulations. As CT has previously reported: President Paul Kagame welcomed the shutdowns but was stunned at …