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Featured
How Worship Music Became the Soundtrack of Today’s Political Right
One of the most popular worship songs, ‘How Great Is Our God,’ has moved from churches to political rallies in recent years.
Review & Giveaway: Chosen Land
Matthew Sutton’s expansive new book is the perfect resource for understanding what the United States has been over the past 250 years, not what some people wish it would be.
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.
Church
Pope Leo XIV and Patriarch Bartholomew Sign Document Urging Progress on Christian Unity
On the anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, the two Christian leaders pledged to unify their churches while warning world leaders to halt the spread of war and care for the environment.
1,700 Years Ago, Bishops and an Emperor Wrote a Creed. Millions Still Recite It in Church
Catholic, Orthodox, and most historic Protestant groups accept the Nicene Creed. Despite later schisms over doctrine and other factors, Nicaea remains a point of agreement — the most widely accepted creed in Christendom.
New Jersey Episcopal Diocese Gives $1 Million to Treat Palestinian Children
Part of a little-used fund in the Diocese of New Jersey established 100 years ago to support medical care for children will now help Palestinian youth in Gaza.
Nation
Bible Stories Would Be Part of a New Texas Public Schools Reading List Drawing Attention
Biblical stories like Jonah and the whale would be required reading for Texas public school students under proposals that are putting the state at the center of another contentious wrangling over the role of religion in classrooms.
Faith Leaders Denounce Trump’s ‘Civilization Will Die’ Threat
‘For an administration that has been using religious language to justify the war, it’s remarkable that they have completely avoided engaging Christian moral theology on this point,’ said Robert P. Jones, a Christian Nationalism scholar.
Mad Libs Mashup of Biblical Violence
This issue of A Public Witness considers how the military chaplain who authored a war prayer and the secretary of defense who appropriated it for himself performed violence against Scripture to justify violence against people.
World
Berliners Are Rediscovering Their Faith Outdoors Through Local Pilgrimages
Christian pilgrimage walks are a way for Berliners and visitors of all ages to engage with their faith without stepping foot in a church.
Queen Mary vs. King David
This issue of A Public Witness explores a monument that upsets the political and historical stories being told (or not told) and challenges the religious claims we often make.
On Anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, Christian Leaders Seek to Return to Ecumenism
Christian leaders stress that the council and its anniversary still have relevance in the modern day, despite theological divides.
Editorials
It’s Ever Given for Greed to Crash
Editor Brian Kaylor reflects on the Ever Given container ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal. And he connects this modern parable to biblical stories about Egyptian pharaohs and other rulers seeking more wealth and power.
Which Cloud of Witnesses?
Editor Brian Kaylor reflects on the painting behind Georgia Governor Brian Kemp during the signing ceremony for a new law making it harder for people to exercise their right to vote.
We Can’t Massage Away the Scandal of the Gospel
Editor Brian Kaylor reflects on the quick move by a Baptist church in Georgia to kick out the man who killed eight people at three massage parlors. And Kaylor wonders where Jesus would have instead shown up in Atlanta on Sunday.
Word&Way Voices
Stop Flopping
Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell makes the case that the culture of flopping has spread beyond sports. Who are the biggest floppers right now? Christian Nationalists.
The Weird Evangelical Dance With Science
Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy addresses climate denial among a subset of Christians and how this demonstrates a surrender of truth.
Welcoming Palestinian Christians to Jackson: A Pastor’s Call for Justice and Peace This Lent
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.
E-Newsletter
Review & Giveaway: Thriving Church & Holy Disruption
Two recent books, each co-authored by two pastors, offer insight to church leaders who feel stuck and congregations struggling to muster hope in a time where maintaining a successful religious community is more difficult than ever.
Christ the Christian Nationalist Sunday?
This issue of A Public Witness looks at the not-so-immaculate conception of Christ the King Sunday and the theological conflict today between different visions of Christ as King.
No Amazon for Advent
The Center on Faith & Justice at Georgetown University recently launched a campaign encouraging people to pledge not to shop on Amazon during this Advent season — and A Public Witness is one of the official partners.
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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: The Wounds Are the Witness
In “The Wounds Are the Witness: Black Faith Weaving Memory into Justice and Healing,” Yolanda Pierce, dean of Vanderbilt University Divinity School, weaves together her own memories, vignettes from Black life, and scenes from scripture.
Review: Karl Barth — A Life in Conflict
In “Karl Barth — A Life in Conflict,” Christiane Tietz compellingly explores the interactions between Barth's personal and political biography and his theology.
Review & Giveaway: Money, Lies, and God
Katherine Stewart has created a collection of dispatches from the front lines of the current assault on American democracy.
Review: Journey to Eloheh
In “Journey to Eloheh: How Indigenous Values Lead Us to Harmony and Well-Being,” Randy and Edith Woodley help readers learn lifeways that lead to true wholeness and justice.