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The Trump administration often speaks of protecting Christians from discrimination worldwide. But that concern seems to vanish when Israel is involved — even with a Baptist pastor serving as the U.S. ambassador to Israel.

The shape-note tradition emerged from New England’s 18th-century singing school movement that aimed to improve Protestant church music and expanded into a social activity.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy argues that if our democracy has a chance to return to a vibrant life in the future, its ambiguous and messy universal principles will need to be in fighting form.

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Church

In recent decades, many mainline Protestants have moved away from the Calvinist theory of penal substitutionary atonement, which summons up the idea of an angry God who needs to be appeased.

In the sessions, Black faith leaders are schooled on the differences between Sunni, Shia, and Nation of Islam sects and discuss the privileges Black Christians can enjoy compared to Black Muslims.

Campbell, who also was the director of religion at the Chautauqua Institution, was described as 'an extraordinary ecumenist and activist' by Bishop Vashti McKenzie, the current NCC general secretary.

Nation

This issue of A Public Witness opens up the Aitken’s Bible to consider the tale of a flop and how Christian Nationalists misleadingly repackage it as ‘a Bible approved by Congress.’

While a majority of Americans disapprove of Trump’s job performance, his evangelical supporters remain on his side, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at the dustup over St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School in Oklahoma and the religious freedom arguments before eight black-robed justices.

World

The Pew Research Center’s annual report on government restrictions on religion highlights that governmental attacks on religion and social hostility toward religion usually ‘go hand in hand.’

Homes were set ablaze, claiming the lives of two children, ages 2 and 4, of the overseer of a United Methodist school and nursery. Another 10 church members were reported injured.

The small Christian community has begun to fracture under pressure from forces they say threaten them and the multifaith character of the Old City.

Editorials

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor offers some seasonal advice to the music director at First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, ahead of Sunday’s worship service that will include former President Donald Trump.

In day 18 of our Unsettling Advent devotional series, Word&Way Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on violent insurrections during the time of Jesus’s birth and what that can teach us today.

In day 9 of our Unsettling Advent devotional series, Word&Way Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on racial injustices in the U.S. and how this helps us understand the birth of Jesus.

Word&Way Voices

Exploring Advent in a time of rulers clinging to power, Andrew Whitehead reflects on how Jesus taught us to reject the promise of earthly authority focused on only serving ‘us’ at the expense of others.

The state will likely begin to fund private Christian academies while also funding Bibles in schools — promoting the idea that the U.S. is a Christian nation.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy makes the case that the structure of populism cries out for a new rebellion against the 'elite' in every generation.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness heads to the Cheese State to consider the church politicking of an Elon Musk-backed court hopeful.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at the U.S. government coming for a Palestinian student activist for exercising his free speech rights and the Christian and other religious voices speaking out for him.

Historian David Swartz unpacks his new seven-episode narrative podcast series on conversations in his Kentucky community about a local Confederate statue.

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Recent Episodes

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.