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In this edition of A Public Witness, we dig around between the couch cushions to explore the relationship between religion and politics as American Christians are confronted with what belongs to God when Caesar becomes more demanding.

We’re partnering with Moravian University’s School of Theology to offer a four-week online course (with synchronous and asynchronous options) to explore how religion is covered and communicated in the media today.

If HGTV decided to cast a show about fixing up your old religion, few could compete with James McGrath to be the star who transforms outdated edifices into contemporary spiritual structures.

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Videos

Church

A medical emergency cut her installation service short, but the Rev. Winnie Varghese’s message of unity and interfaith witness endured.

‘I don’t know how many strategic plans I’ve led, and I tell people I’m never going to do another one because events simply wipe them out,’ said the Rev. Wes Granberg-Michaelson.

The split reflects the dilemma immigration poses for evangelical leaders. Most evangelicals want reform that both secures the border and provides a path to citizenship — and want limited deportation. But few leaders want to clash with the MAGA movement.

Nation

A virtual media briefing titled ‘America at 250: Religion, Democracy, and the Promise of Pluralism’ covered solutions to the pressing issues of social isolation, political polarization, and bridging divides in the workplace and on college campuses.

The controversial ‘paleo-Confederate’ Christian Nationalist pastor stood at a podium on Tuesday as the guest preacher for the latest monthly Christian worship service held for leaders of the U.S. military.

‘I don’t think Jesse Jackson saw his political life as something different from his call from God as a preacher,’ said the Rev. Valerie Bridgeman.

World

Joining this year are dozens of leaders from different Christian denominations, making the journey not only an expression of personal devotion but a public show of unity and spiritual leadership in a region challenged by political instability, poverty, and insecurity.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at what’s happening with U.S. refugee resettlement and the South African Christians pushing back against the apartheid theology propping up the Trump administration.

The 69-year-old Chicago-born missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and belongs to the Augustinian religious order caught the world by surprise when he was elected to be the 267th pope.

Editorials

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reflects on preachers spreading anti-vaccination messages amid a continuing COVID pandemic. Kaylor also highlights the medical and biblical wisdom of Francis Collins of the National Institutes of Health.

Editor Brian Kaylor reflects on the guilty verdicts in the trial of Derek Chauvin and the concept of justice. Kaylor argues that while holding someone accountable for murdering George Floyd is a step toward justice, we must not confuse it with justice itself.

Word&Way Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor responds to the decision by Southwest Baptist University to bar Word&Way from attending an upcoming SBU trustee meeting. Kaylor questions the motivations behind the decision to limit media access.

Word&Way Voices

A delegation of young Palestinian Christian leaders are traveling through the American South to explore the deep parallels between racial injustice in the U.S. and the oppression Palestinians face in their homeland.

Biblical scholar Greg Carey makes the case that in a time of conspicuous Christian Nationalism, the rest of us need to articulate our most basic Christian values in ways that are affirmative rather than defensive.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy makes the case that the story of Titus in Crete is the best metaphor for what has happened to America since Donald Trump was elected again.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness looks at Lance Shockley’s extensive history of Christian leadership while in prison, as well as the role restorative justice should play in our criminal legal system.

Some Christians today argue that empathy is wrong, even calling it a sin and unbiblical. For Angela Parker, associate professor of New Testament and Greek at the McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University, this idea is absurd.

With the weaponization of Scripture regularly making headline news, “The Bible According to Christian Nationalists” officially releases today to point to better ways of reading and applying sacred texts.

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Recent Episodes

Books

In “The Anti-Greed Gospel: Why the Love of Money Is the Root of Racism and How the Church Can Create a New Way Forward,” Black Christian historian Malcolm Foley explores racial capitalism.

In “American Christianity Today: Establishment, Decline, and Revival,” Dyron Daughrity gives readers a panoramic view of current Christianity in the U.S. — its people, conflicts, differences, and common ground.

In “John of History, Baptist of Faith: The Quest for the Historical Baptizer,” James F. McGrath sheds new light on the historical John the Baptist and his world.

Amanda Tyler draws on her experiences, conversations with pastors and laypeople, research, Scripture, her Baptist convictions, and her work as a constitutional law expert to help us confront Christian Nationalist fervor.