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Featured
Defense Department Rejiggers List of Recognized Religions After Backlash, Narrows It to 30
The fast-evolving list was met with blowback from critics who suggested its changes were an attempt to impose Christian Nationalism on the military.
Southern Baptists Want to Shrink First Amendment Protections
Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor unpacks a significant problem with a proposed resolution for consideration at the 2026 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention.
The Challenges of Graduating From a Christian School in the Age of AI
We live in an era saturated with more means of communication than ever before, and yet we also face unprecedented threats to our genuine human connections.
Church
Taylor Tomlinson’s Netflix Special Is Too Ungodly for Many Churches. This One Welcomed Her.
Fountain Street Church, founded in 1869 through the merger of two Baptist congregations, has a legacy of rejecting dogma and pushing the envelope.
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.
Nation
Did the Founders Create a Christian Nation? No, but Religion Did Shape Their Thinking
‘Most — nearly all — serious historians agree that America was not founded as a Christian nation in any meaningful legal, philosophical, or constitutional sense,’ says the group Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Anti-Christian Bias Task Force Blasts Biden for Targeting ‘Traditional Christians’
Many Christian leaders have criticized the report, saying it's narrowly focused on concerns of conservative evangelicals and obscures Trump’s own conflicts with other faith groups, including entire denominations.
Marching Against an ‘Illegal and Unholy War’
This week, Rev. William Barber II gathered in front of the White House along with dozens of other clergy to protest the conflict that the Trump administration started against Iran.
World
Trump Threatens Nigeria With Potential Military Action, Escalates Claim of Christian Persecution
While Christians are among those targeted, analysts say the majority of victims of armed groups are Muslims in Nigeria’s Muslim-majority north, where most attacks occur.
Samaritan’s Purse to Play a Larger Role in Gaza Aid Distribution
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is being phased out, said Samaritan's Purse CEO Franklin Graham. Johnnie Moore, the evangelical PR guru who has served as GHF chairman, recently stepped down.
A US Senator Claims ‘Christian Mass Murder’ Is Occurring in Nigeria. The Data Disagrees
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has been trying to rally fellow evangelical Christians and urge Congress to designate Nigeria as a violator of religious freedom with unfounded claims.
Editorials
What is Truth?
This piece was originally published as the cover story of Word&Way magazine in October 2020, but which has never been published online. Read the piece online in our e-newsletter A Public Witness.
DeSantis Preaches Dangerous Armor of God
Word&Way Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on dangers of rhetoric by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as the Republican politician misquotes Ephesians 6 to demonize his opponents.
Good Samaritan with a Handgun?
On Sunday evening, a man opened fire in a shopping mall in Greenwood, Indiana, killing three people and wounding two others before also being shot dead. What city officials said in response sparked some odd headlines.
Word&Way Voices
Unsettling Advent 2025, Day 3
The first candle we light during Advent symbolizes hope: the hope of Christ’s coming, the hope of light always shining for the oppressed and the marginalized.
Standing in the Gap: Why World AIDS Day Matters More Than Ever
In 2025, the U.S.-led global fight against AIDS grew more complicated as the Trump administration dismantled most foreign aid and barred State Department employees from commemorating World AIDS Day.
Unsettling Advent 2025, Day 2
As wannabe tyrants arise and the authoritarian logic of empire finds purchase among Christian Nationalists, sincere followers of Jesus should listen afresh to Mary this Christmastime.
E-Newsletter
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.
Review & Giveaway: Furious Minds
Political theorist Laura Field provides an intellectual tour of the MAGA New Right, a movement that has twice carried Donald Trump into the White House.
The Room Where a Bad Bill Happens
The head of the Missouri Senate Education Committee thinks we should force public schools to teach that the Constitutional Convention prayed after Benjamin Franklin said they should — even though it very much never happened.
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The State of the Senate, from SC to ME to TX to KS
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 death of Sen. Lindsey Graham as well as issues of faith and morality in Senate races in Maine, Texas, and Kansas. You can… -
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…
Books
An ‘Essential,’ ‘Must-Read’ Book
With ‘The Bible According to Christian Nationalists’ coming out soon, we’re honored to share these prepublication endorsements. Trust these experts on why you should pre-order the book today!
Review: Rooted — A Spiritual Memoir of Homecoming
This book follows Christy Berghoef on a journey from a conservative Christian upbringing in rural Michigan to the halls of Washington, D.C., and back again.
Review & Giveaway: Rereading Revelation
Greg Carey, a scholar of the New Testament and apocalyptic literature, shows how the Book of Revelation can serve as a guide to resisting imperial culture.
Review: Staying at the Table
This book from Rev. Terri Hord Owens, general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), serves as something of an encyclical for mainline Protestants.