Home - Word&Way

Featured

This issue of A Public Witness explores how challenging White supremacy and Christian Nationalism requires both honesty and repair.

‘Taking what has long been understood as a global message religiously and stamping it with the flag of one nation is the type of thing that for centuries theologians would call heresy,’ said Brian Kaylor.

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, led by the late evangelist’s son the Rev. Franklin Graham, has said it might sue over the ad’s use of clips from a 1988 Graham sermon.

This issue of A Public Witness details the religious background of Kamala Harris, now one of the two leading contenders to be the 47th president of the United States.

Dangerous Dogma

Church

At St. Paul's Episcopal Church, the Rev. Jean Beniste, a Haitian immigrant and Episcopal priest turned internet curses into blessings during an annual blessing of the animals, held in honor of St. Francis.

A defamation lawsuit filed by Hunt has cost the nation's largest Protestant denomination $3 million so far. A trial date is set for Nov. 12 in Nashville.

Nation

This issue of A Public Witness explores how challenging White supremacy and Christian Nationalism requires both honesty and repair.

‘Taking what has long been understood as a global message religiously and stamping it with the flag of one nation is the type of thing that for centuries theologians would call heresy,’ said Brian Kaylor.

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, led by the late evangelist’s son the Rev. Franklin Graham, has said it might sue over the ad’s use of clips from a 1988 Graham sermon.

World

The Ulmer Münster in southern Germany is the world's tallest church. For now, anyway. The Gothic-style Lutheran church's reign — begun in May 31, 1890 — could end in 2025.

Christians in Jordan compose about 2% of the population and many are committed to the boycott, driven by ethical principles and a desire to show empathy and a shared sense of humanity with suffering Palestinians.

Responding to crisis, a coalition of church organizations is providing education, skills trainings, and farming equipment to help refugees become self-reliant.

Editorials

While messengers to last week’s annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention debated how to treat churches with women in pastoral roles, Baptist Women in Ministry showed up to offer a counter witness.

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.

Word&Way Voices

Palestinian journalist Daoud Kuttab documents how a leading evangelical group recently took a bold step away from pro-Trump American evangelicals.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy connects recent racist rhetoric aimed at immigrants to the early 20th-century Baptist pastor J. Frank Norris.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell reflects on ancient understandings of the heart and how they relate to our modern grief.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness explores how challenging White supremacy and Christian Nationalism requires both honesty and repair.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at the origins of the unbiblical phrase ‘Jezebel Spirit’ and the danger it poses in today’s politics.

This issue of A Public Witness unpacks the devotion to Saint Michael the Archangel, why Donald Trump recently posted about him, and what it means for our politics today.

Sign up to receive full essays in your inbox!

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 “Another Gospel: Christian Nationalism and the Crisis of Evangelical Identity,” Joel Looper communicates an insider’s perspective on how a false gospel has colonized American evangelicalism.

In “Defiant Hope, Active Love: What Young Adults Are Seeking in Places of Work, Faith, and Community,” scholars investigate how faith communities can be more hospitable to the next generation of Christians.

Matthew Taylor makes a compelling case that the New Apostolic Reformation, whose leaders and ideas have migrated from the fringes to the center of American evangelicalism, is a dangerous threat to democracy.

In “The Quest of the Historical Muhammad and Other Studies on Formative Islam,” scholar Stephen J. Shoemaker attempts to approach the figure of Muhammad in a manner comparable to efforts to recover the historical figure of Jesus.