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Featured
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.
After a Minnesota Church Protest, States Are Toughening Penalties for Disrupting Services
Bills have been signed into law in Republican-dominated Idaho, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. In Kansas, a bill is becoming law without the signature of Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.
After Years Fostering Interfaith Ties, San Diego Mosque Finds Allies in Grief
In the hours after the shooting, interfaith leaders and allies crowded vigils to stand in solidarity with the San Diego Muslim community.
Church
Bay Area Pastor, Shot With a Pepper Round, Files $5M Claim Against Federal Government
Rev. Jorge Bautista is seeking $5 million in damages from the federal government and plans to sue the unnnamed agent individually.
400 Christian Leaders Urge Resistance to Trump Administration on Ash Wednesday
The statement’s signers include a mix of denominational leaders, seminary presidents, scholars, and leaders of prominent congregations.
New Christian Artists Push Genre Boundaries With Rap, Afrobeats, and R&B
Often boosted by social media, many of them got their start with independent labels or by uploading self-made songs to streaming platforms. Now, bigger labels and streaming services are catching on.
Nation
Trump and Other Top Republicans Will Read Passages in a Marathon Bible Event
‘If they wanted this to be a unifying American project, there would have been a whole lot more attention to getting political diversity and ideological diversity,’ added Brian Kaylor of Word&Way.
That Viral ‘Pulp Fiction’ Prayer Story
The story about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reading a prayer based on a scene in a Quentin Tarantino film really did go viral in the U.S. and elsewhere. And it all started with our newsletter A Public Witness.
Supreme Court Will Hear From Religious Preschools Challenging Exclusion From Taxpayer-Funded Program
The state of Colorado said that faith-based schools are welcome to participate, but they must comply with nondiscrimination laws.
World
Pope Leo XIV Enters US Political Fray, Challenging ‘Inhuman Treatment of Immigrants’
The first American pope weighed in on a controversy roiling the Chicago diocese, telling journalists the Catholic Church’s political positions include more than opposing abortion.
A Doomsday Prediction About the Rapture Is Spreading on TikTok
The Rapture is near — at least according to a viral apocalyptic prophecy by one South African man. Here’s a look at the theological concept of the Rapture and its role in history.
Orthodox Patriarch Defends Recognition of an Independent Ukrainian Church
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople has long been critical of the Russian Orthodox Church and its support for the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Editorials
A Private Definition
Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on comments made about school prayer as the U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear a significant church-state case. Some conservative Christian groups are wrongly calling public prayer just a “private” act.
Boston was Right to Refuse to Fly Christian Flag
As a Jewish legal advocate and a Baptist minister, we support the arguments of Boston in this critical First Amendment case that Supreme Court justices will hear on Jan. 18. Read the Boston Globe op-ed by Rachel Laser (president/CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State) and Brian
Unsettling Advent, Day 27
In day 18 of our Unsettling Advent devotional series, Word&Way Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on the news of a camel escaping from a live nativity in Kansas.
Word&Way Voices
When a Christian Leader’s Visit to His Own Holy Site Becomes News
For decades, Western Christian leaders have avoided visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulcher — the most revered site in all of Christianity. So Vice President JD Vance’s recent visit stood out.
The MAGA Betrayal of Christianity
Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy makes the case that the quest for secular political power has led to a conservative evangelical rejection of the clear teachings of Jesus.
God Is Our Anchor
James Ellis III reflects on how being a preacher these days feels different. It’s unsettling how many people are thoroughly consumed by rage — and we as Christians should know better.
E-Newsletter
At National Prayer Breakfast, Hegseth Says US Soldiers Gain Salvation by Dying for ‘Christian Nation’
Coverage of Thursday’s event has largely focused on Trump’s rambling remarks — but the much more problematic and dangerous comments actually came later from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Blessed Are the Pepper-Sprayers?
This issue of A Public Witness explores biblical ‘peacemaker’ rhetoric from the Trump administration and how it wildly misrepresents what Jesus actually taught.
The Silence of Kristi Noem’s Church
This issue of A Public Witness explores what the Foursquare Church, a Pentecostal denomination, could learn from how United Methodists, Southern Baptists, and Catholics have spoken out against immoral politicians who sit in their pews.
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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
Review: Sister, Sinner
Claire Hoffman chronicles the dramatic rise, mysterious disappearance, and near-fall of Aimee Semple McPherson, America’s most famous woman evangelist.
Review: Christology in Early Christianity
In this collection of essays, leading historical theologian Brian E. Daley, SJ, surveys the early Church’s profound thinking about Christ.
Review: Delivered Out of Empire
In “Delivered Out of Empire: Pivotal Moments in the Book of Exodus,” Walter Brueggemann shows how Exodus consistently reveals a God in radical solidarity with the powerless.
Review: Kingdom Racial Change
In “Kingdom Racial Change: Overcoming Inequality, Injustice, and Indifference,” three authors combine personal narratives and sociological research to teach Christians how to work together for racial justice.