Home - Word&Way
logo
mobile-logo

Featured

This issue of A Public Witness hops on a cross-country bus to sightsee the pluralist resistance to Christian Nationalism — and picks up some religious hope for our divided country along the way.

Nostalgia for a ‘Christian America’ overlooks the realities of religion in the founding era — which included taxes, jail time, exile, and even public hangings for anyone who defied state-run churches.

This issue of A Public Witness journeys to the Big Apple to consider two coincidentally timed appeals: Rev. William Barber II at Riverside Church and the Trump campaign at Madison Square Garden.

No posts were found.

Dangerous Dogma

Church

At its national synod, the Christian Reformed Church in North America voted to put congregational leaders on 'limited suspension' if their churches publicly welcome LGBTQ+ members.

At a recent PCA meeting, critics of ‘Jesus Calling,’ written by Sarah Young, called for an investigation to see if the book was safe for Christians to read.

Once relegated exclusively to gay bars and nightclubs, drag is increasingly in the open these days — at libraries, music festivals, and, yes, churches.

Nation

This issue of A Public Witness unpacks how Kamala Harris’s decision to skip the Al Smith Dinner — and the legacy of Smith (the first Catholic nominee for president) — offers important insights into this year’s campaign.

Last week it was revealed that Robinson had posted regularly at a porn site called Nude Africa. In those posts he called himself a “Black NAZI,” praised Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf,” and wrote “(s)lavery is not bad.

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act passed with widespread bipartisan support in December 2022 and was widely considered a victory for women who are low-wage workers.

World

The commissioners recommended the State Department also retain the dozen countries that are currently designated as ‘countries of particular concern.’

Dmitry Safronov held a memorial service by Navalny’s grave in Moscow on March 26 to mark 40 days since the politician’s death, an important ritual within Russian Orthodox tradition.

The starring role in a June auction at Christie's will be taken by the Crosby-Schoyen Codex, the oldest known book in private hands. Written on papyrus in the Coptic language, it contains the oldest complete version of the First Epistle of Peter and the Book of Jonah.

Editorials

Editor Brian Kaylor reacts to comments by Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear, who on Monday attacked those in Southern Baptist life spreading “misunderstandings, distortion, and often outright lies.”

Editor Brian Kaylor reflects on the deaths of two individuals he listened to as a teenager: Christian singer Carman and talk radio show host Rush Limbaugh. And Kaylor considers what those formative voices mean for him today.

Editor Brian Kaylor reflects on the second impeachment of Donald Trump, the role of religion in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and biblical stories of Moses and Jesus that offer a different path.

Word&Way Voices

Often it doesn’t seem like Jesus was terribly concerned with politics, and certainly not with obtaining earthly power. But he was playing the long game of spiritual, social, and yes, political transformation.

Kicking off this week's theme — Advent in a time of political anxieties — Rev. Dr. Kristel Clayville contemplates how changes in our political leadership trickle down to our everyday decisions.

Despite the horrors of ancient and current tyrannies, genocidal regimes, profit-driven greed, religious charlatans, social bigots, and political hypocrites, the heart of Advent is that God will not give up on humanity and the world.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness asks you to keep your eyes open and head straight so you can read about the Seven Mountains theology and how it’s seeping into the National Day of Prayer with a more violent twist.

This issue of A Public Witness tackles Chicago Bears stadium pastor Rev. Charlie Dates and offers some postgame analysis about what went wrong with his recent prayer controversy.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at the problems with recent public school chaplaincy bills by considering what a chaplain really is and what religious freedom actually looks like.

Sign up to receive full essays in your inbox!

Podcasts

In episode 21 of Dangerous Dogma, John Fea, professor of American history at Messiah University and executive editor of Current, talks with Word&Way President Brian Kaylor about contemporary politics and how history informs our understanding of it.

In episode 20 of Dangerous Dogma, Angela Parker talks about her new book ‘If God Still Breathes, Why Can’t I?: Black Lives Matter and Biblical Authority.’ She discusses issues of biblical interpretation, race, and inerrancy.

In episode 19 of 'Dangerous Dogma,' Adam Taylor, author of 'A More Perfect Union,' talks about his book and his hope for building the Beloved Community. He also discusses his advocacy efforts and his role as president of Sojourners.

In episode 18 of 'Dangerous Dogma,' Jen Butler, author of 'Who Stole My Bible?,' talks about her book and what it means to read the Bible a handbook for resisting tyranny. She also talks about her advocacy work as executive

Books

In "Religious Liberty in a Polarized Age," author Thomas C. Berg makes the case that religious freedom for all is part of the cure for our political division.

This issue of A Public Witness explores Andrew Whitehead’s compelling new book "American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church."

In "Theology without Deception: God, the Poor, and Reality in El Salvador — Conversations with Charo Marmol," Jesuit Jon Sobrino explores faithful discipleship in a world marked by injustice.

In "Multiracial Cosmotheandrism: A Practical Theology of Multiracial Experiences," Aizaiah G. Yong considers how the lives and spiritual experiences of mixed-race people can transform efforts for racial justice.