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This issue of A Public Witness takes you inside the SBC meeting to explore debate over the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance and other moments where Southern Baptists considered issues of patriotism, politics, and Christian Nationalism.

Over the past nine months, student-led encampments popped up at universities across the country. For many students, multi-religious programming at the encampments became unexpected sites for religious connection.

And Clint Pressley, who is senior pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, will be the next Southern Baptist Convention president after winning 56% of votes in the final run-off race.

This issue of A Public Witness looks back at Thomas Jefferson’s letter to Baptists penned 202 years ago this week and explores why prominent figures deliberately misrepresent the metaphorical “wall of separation” between church and state.

Dangerous Dogma

Church

After losing nearly half its membership in just five years, the RCA’s General Synod will consider 10 proposals aimed at charting a path forward.

This issue of A Public Witness takes you inside the SBC meeting to explore debate over the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance and other moments where Southern Baptists considered issues of patriotism, politics, and Christian Nationalism.

And Clint Pressley, who is senior pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, will be the next Southern Baptist Convention president after winning 56% of votes in the final run-off race.

Nation

Over the past nine months, student-led encampments popped up at universities across the country. For many students, multi-religious programming at the encampments became unexpected sites for religious connection.

Amid more typical homeschool concerns such as combating screen time and filling gaps in math curricula, the overarching message of the 40th annual Florida Homeschool Convention was about politics, not education.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at how a progressive mainline Protestant minister stamped Christian Nationalism on our nation in ways none of today’s evangelicals have.

World

He offered an ethical take on an issue that is increasingly on the agenda of international summits, government policy, and corporate boards alike.

Ordained and lay representatives from the five major global religions — Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism — have been working together for months to set up a shared hall in the Olympic village.

He recalled that Saturday marked the 10-year anniversary of a peace prayer he hosted in the Vatican gardens, attended by then-Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Editorials

The thinning of the UMC’s conservative ranks makes this week’s conference a perfect time to address the issue.

Missing in all the jokes and news reports about the Trump Bible is that this isn’t the first time a presidential stamp of approval was sought for the Good Book.

Brian Kaylor reacts to claims that God is sending a message through a 4.8 magnitude earthquake shook the northeastern part of the U.S. on Friday or a solar eclipse going across much of the U.S. on Monday.

Word&Way Voices

A Jordanian worship band has made it their mission to perform and record hymns composed around the middle of the 20th century that might have otherwise been lost to time.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy explores how the pilgrimages made by various politicians to Trump’s Manhattan trial are all about religion.

Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon of Churches for Middle East Peace argues we need a new foreign policy that stops alienating young people, Muslim and Arab voters, and millions of American Christians committed to justice.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness takes you inside the SBC meeting to explore debate over the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance and other moments where Southern Baptists considered issues of patriotism, politics, and Christian Nationalism.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at how a progressive mainline Protestant minister stamped Christian Nationalism on our nation in ways none of today’s evangelicals have.

Before Southern Baptists gather for their annual meeting next week, this issue of A Public Witness offers some helpful context to explain how we got to the point where Donald Trump and Mike Pence — both speaking during the event — represent different wings of the SBC.

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Podcasts

We had a lot of great podcast conversations this year. So let’s count down the top 10 most-downloaded of episodes of Dangerous Dogma in 2023.

In episode 104 of Dangerous Dogma, Jay Augustine, senior pastor at St. Joseph AME Church in Durham, North Carolina, talks about his book When Prophets Preach: Leadership and the Politics of the Pulpit. He also discusses preaching about current events,

In episode 103 of Dangerous Dogma, Craig Lamar Brown and Andrea Summer talk with about their movie Between Mercy and Me. They also discuss issues of racism, church worship, and creating music and movies. 

In episode 102 of Dangerous Dogma, Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, talks about attending the ReAwaken America Tour and a Pastors for Trump meeting at Trump Doral in Miami, Florida.

Books

In “Machen’s Hope: The Transformation of a Modernist in the New Princeton,” Richard E. Burnett crafts a nuanced narrative of J. Gresham Machen’s intellectual journey from enthusiastic modernist to stalwart conservative.

We’ve once again asked several Word&Way writers to each offer two books perfect for curling up with at the beach, on your couch, or in your backyard as you listen to the singing of the cicadas.

In "Thinking About Good and Evil: Jewish Views From Antiquity to Modernity," Rabbi Wayne Allen traces the most salient ideas about why innocent people suffer, why evil individuals prosper, and God’s role in such matters of (in)justice.

In "Miracles for Skeptics: Encountering the Paranormal Ministry of Jesus," Frank G. Honeycutt draws out the deeper truths in the weird incidents from the Bible.