Sign up to receive full essays in your inbox!
Featured
How Worship Music Became the Soundtrack of Today’s Political Right
One of the most popular worship songs, ‘How Great Is Our God,’ has moved from churches to political rallies in recent years.
Review & Giveaway: Chosen Land
Matthew Sutton’s expansive new book is the perfect resource for understanding what the United States has been over the past 250 years, not what some people wish it would be.
In His First Encyclical, Pope Leo XIV Says AI Must Serve Humanity, Not the Powerful Few
In ‘Magnifica Humanitas,’ Leo's 83-page manifesto on AI, the pope tackles the social, economic, and political challenges associated with artificial intelligence.
Church
2 Ohio Pastors Emerge As Faithful Allies for Haitian Migrants During Trump’s Crackdown
Carl Ruby, pastor of Central Christian Church, takes pride in the fact that Springfield’s resistance to Trump’s immigration crackdown is faith-based.
Over 100 Latino Christian Leaders Say Trump Adviser Samuel Rodriguez’s Reach Is Misrepresented
The letter’s signers say they were prompted to speak out because of the damage the Trump administration’s immigration policies have done to Latino communities.
‘A Lie From the Pit of Hell’: Episcopal Leaders Push Back on Rumors of Fatal Decline
More than 850 Episcopal Church leaders gathered in Charlotte to talk about the future of the church and what the denomination still has to offer.
Nation
The Pastor of the Nation’s Largest Methodist Church Is Running for the US Senate in Kansas
Rev. Adam Hamilton has a national following among mainline Protestants, and he’s built his Church of the Resurrection over the past 35 years in the Kansas City area with about 22,000 members.
Evangelical Broadcasting Group Asks FCC to Investigate ABC Over Jimmy Kimmel Joke
TV host Jimmy Kimmel joked about the first lady having ‘a glow like an expectant widow,’ during a sketch about the White House Correspondents' Dinner that aired two days before the actual reception.
Advocates for Church-State Separation Find Humor, Joy Amid Challenging Work
This week’s Summit for Religious Freedom, organized by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, struck a tone of joyful resistance.
World
African Christian Leaders and Health Nonprofits Seek to Fill Gaps After USAID Cuts
The leaders from 10 countries on the continent called for more local funding to restore essential resources to fight malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis.
Groups Urge Christians to Light Red Candle During Advent for Palestine
A coalition of Catholic, mainline Protestant, historic peace church, and advocacy groups want Christians in the U.S. to remember Palestinian Christians this Advent by lighting a red candle.
Orthodox Christian Clergy’s Visits With US Officials Draw Accusations of Russian Influence
The visits have caused feuds among both US Orthodox Christian groups and Republicans.
Editorials
Holiday Gift Guide for the Christian Nationalist on Your List
In this issue of A Public Witness, Brian Kaylor introduces us to 10 gifts the proud “Christian Nationalist” on your list will love. But please don’t buy these unless you want to end up on the naughty list (and make the baby Jesus cry). Instead, these gift suggestions show us
Unsettling Advent 2022, Day 1
For day 1 of our Unsettling Advent devotionals, Brian Kaylor reflects on the importance of learning from those who have lived under authoritarian occupation like what is happening today in Ukraine.
How I Became a Marxist Pastor
Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reacts to being called a "Marxist pastor" by political trickster Roger Stone. The incident arose because of Kaylor's critiques of the ReAwaken America Tour at which Stone has spoken.
Word&Way Voices
Unsettling Advent 2025, Day 7
This Advent, we hold a simple question close: Where am I trusting the sword to do what only the cross can accomplish? Where have I expected political power to secure what only Jesus can give?
Unsettling Advent 2025, Day 6
What will future Americans say about us 150+ years from now, when Bible verses are being used to cheerlead military action and aggressive immigration enforcement in ways that reveal how our theological imaginations have failed us once again?
Unsettling Advent 2025, Day 5
As we enter this season, may we denounce attempts to use Bible verses to justify the oppression of our neighbors. May we reject the siren call of Herod’s court and worship the baby in the manger.
E-Newsletter
Rewriting the Ten Commandments
Check out the first episode of ‘A Trick of State,’ a special occasional series from Dangerous Dogma investigating underexplored issues at the intersection of church and state that expose the false promises of Christian Nationalism.
Attacks on Iran Draw Fire From Mainline, Catholic, and Middle Eastern Christian Leaders
While figures like Franklin Graham and Pete Hegseth bet on a holy war where God is on their side, many Christian leaders in the U.S. and around the world were quick to condemn the so-called ‘Operation Epic Fury.’
The State of Trump’s Prosperity Gospel Christian Nationalism
This issue of A Public Witness explores the theology behind viewing the United States as a nation that God asks to perform miracles, as expressed in the State of the Union address on Tuesday.
-
Southern Baptists, the Pentagon, & UFC
This episode of Dangerous Dogma features a conversation between Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor, Lutheran minister and journalist Angela Denker, and Disciples pastor and author Beau Underwood. The conversation includes discussion about the Southern Baptist Convention's push against women in ministry, the Pentagon changing how it codes the faith of military members, and the latest in… -
Southern Baptists, Women in Ministry, & a Billboard
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor talks with Meredith Stone, executive director of Baptist Women in Ministry. The conversation includes discussion of efforts in the Southern Baptist Convention to further target women serving in churches and how BWIM is advocating for women (including with a billboard to greet SBC messengers next week in Orlando,… -
Divergent Visions for Rededicating the Nation
This episode of Dangerous Dogma features a conversation between Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor, Lutheran minister and journalist Angela Denker, and Disciples pastor and author Beau Underwood. The conversation includes discussion about Rededicate 250, gerrymandering, Adam Hamilton's Senate campaign in Kansas, and the MAHA movement. You can watch a video version of the conversation here. Here are a few pieces… -
The Christian Past That Wasn't
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor talks with Warren Throckmorton, a retired professor who has spent years debunking false claims by Christian Nationalist pseudo-historian David Barton. Throckmorton is the author of the new book, The Christian Past that Wasn't: Debunking the Christian Nationalist Myths that Hijack History. You can watch a video version of… -
Trump vs. Leo
This episode of Dangerous Dogma features a conversation between Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor, Lutheran minister and journalist Angela Denker, and Disciples pastor and author Beau Underwood. The conversation includes discussion about President Donald Trump's attacks on Pope Leo XIV, Leo's witness against the Iran war, Trump's AI image of himself as Jesus, and the electoral… -
Fight Like Jesus with Jason Porterfield (Reissue)
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor talks with Jason Porterfield about his book Fight Like Jesus: How Jesus Waged Peace. This episode originally aired in 2023, except for a new introduction noting a violent prayer by Pete Hegseth during a recent Pentagon worship service and Palm Sunday comments by Pope Leo XIV. Note: Don't forget… -
Pete Hegseth's Crusader Bible (A Trick of State)
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor considers Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's use of the English Standard Version of the Bible, patriarchy in the faith communities Hegseth has been a part of, and his Christian Nationalism. It also reveals that Hegseth's ESV Bible includes two Crusader symbols stamped onto the cover (and that match… -
An Unholy War
This episode of Dangerous Dogma features a conversation between Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor, Lutheran minister and journalist Angela Denker, and Disciples pastor and author Beau Underwood. The conversation includes discussion about the Iran war, Christian opposition to the war, and viral claims of military leaders claiming this will bring "Armageddon." It also includes consideration of… -
Rewriting the Ten Commandments (A Trick of State)
In this episode, Word&Way President Brian Kaylor looks at legislation across the country that purports to want the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. But the version mandated by lawmakers cannot be found in any Bible. Kaylor unpacks where the edited language came from, why such legislation is an attack on religious liberty, and the… -
198. American Christianity Divided in Responses to ICE
This episode of Dangerous Dogma features a conversation between Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor, Lutheran minister and journalist Angela Denker, and Disciples pastor and author Beau Underwood. The conversation includes discussion about ICE actions in Minneapolis, how many clergy are leading protests against ICE while others are supporting ICE, and new research worried about the loss…
Books
Review: Hungry for Hope
In this timely book, young adults voice their concerns and laments about the church’s past and present, as well as their hopes and dreams for its future.
Review: Eating With Jesus
The latest book from Robert D. Cornwall laments how Christians have historically built ‘fences’ around the Eucharist and explores just how radical Jesus’s vision for table fellowship can be.
Review: Seeing the Gospel
This new book makes the case that learning to read Orthodox icons can offer Protestants an opportunity to engage with Scripture through the fresh lens of a visual biblical language.
Review: The Missionary Kids
Historian Holly Berkley Fletcher — herself a missionary kid — unmasks the myths of White evangelicalism with penetrating research, sly wit, and an empathic gaze.