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The defense secretary’s tattoos of the Jerusalem Cross and “Deus Vult” are frequently invoked as literal signs of his Christian Nationalism — and rightly so. But the same symbols on his Bible were overlooked until now.

'This is one important step in our struggle for justice and my call to live out Jesus’s command to care for the captives,' said the Rev. Susie Hayward, who is cited in the legal case and was in court for the ruling.

This issue of A Public Witness heads down to Georgia to consider the devil in the details of the race to determine who will be the next Republican nominee for governor.

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Videos

Church

In the mid-1970s, a group of high schoolers and their former youth pastor started a church in a movie theater and named it Willow Creek. American religion hasn’t been the same since. The church celebrates its 50th anniversary Oct. 11-12.

Graham said the standards mandating a leader care plan ‘puts ECFA into the role of trying to be the moral police of the evangelical world.’

Curry succeeds the Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, who served the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for 12 years and was the first woman to lead the mainline Protestant denomination.

Nation

In the opinion released Friday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it was too early to make a judgment call on the constitutionality of displaying a highly edited version of the Ten Commandments in public schools.

During an address at the National Religious Broadcasters convention, the defense secretary told attendees that President Donald Trump is fighting for their faith and returning America to its Christian foundations.

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.

World

On a rare solidarity visit, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III and Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa asserted that Israeli authorities ‘facilitate and enable’ the presence of settlers who have intensified attacks.

The attack has raised fears of a mass exodus of Christians similar to what happened in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 and the rise of sectarian violence.

Catholic and Protestant leaders in Germany are challenging a connection among far-right politicians in Germany and the U.S. that is built on a common rejection of immigrants.

Editorials

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on the news that an actor who plays the part of Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar was arrested for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on the choice of Robert Jeffress as the keynote preacher for the 2021 Missouri Baptist Pastors’ Conference organized with the theme of Romans 12:2, a passage where Paul warned against conforming to the patterns of this world.

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on the call to “never forget” 9/11, as well as the ways we seem to struggle to even remember or acknowledge deaths today.

Word&Way Voices

The co-founder of the Prayers for Peace Alliance makes the case that Johnnie Moore, the recently appointed chairman of the embattled Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, is getting away with using the Gospel to justify genocide.

Hiccup from the ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ movie shows his community a better way to be a Viking in a manner that keenly echoes the life and teachings of Jesus.

A new film by Mike Flanagan, based on a Stephen King short story, deals with the power and significance of one life and points to the Story within the story.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness explores the story of Rev. Michael Woolf, an American Baptist/Alliance of Baptists pastor who became the latest clergy to experience violent state tactics being used against peaceful protesters.

We’re excited to announce this year’s themes for our award-winning Unsettling Advent series, which begins in one month: Advent in a time of religious nationalism, starvation, and soldiers in the streets.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at the danger of religious attacks against politicians as MAGA comes after Republicans for non-Christian beliefs or for offering kind words to Americans celebrating a non-Christian religious holiday.

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Recent Episodes

Books

In “Latter-Day Saint Theology Among Christian Theologies,” Grant Underwood asks the question: How do the beliefs of Latter-day Saints compare with traditional Christian theology?

In “Safe Church: How to Guard Against Sexism and Abuse in Christian Communities,” Andrew J. Bauman provides an honest look at how misogyny masquerades as biblical truth.

In “Evangelical Idolatry: How Pastors Like Me Have Failed the People of God,” Jeff Mikels is concerned by the evangelical church’s embrace of cultural and political idols.

In her new book, journalist and pastor Angela Denker ventures into contested spaces to help readers understand what is going on with the radicalization of American boyhood.