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Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy makes the case that the best approach to this question is investigating how Jesus interacted with the Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, and Zealots throughout the Gospels.

By appealing to maternal concerns about what kids eat or learn and offering a sense of clarity, community, and stability, conservative influencers are creating an on-ramp for political engagement framed as part of a spiritual war.

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.

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Videos

Church

They reject climate science but accept medical science, according to the National Survey of Religious Leaders published this week.

The number of nondenominational churches has grown, as have the ranks of the religiously unaffiliated. As a result, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Methodist, and other historic mainline groups have had to do less with less.

The investigation cost the SBC's Executive Committee $2 million in legal fees and led to one former Southern Baptist seminary leader pleading guilty to lying to the FBI.

Nation

This issue of A Public Witness looks at four recent promotional videos created by the DoW that co-opt Bible verses to glorify the U.S. military.

The superintendent of public instruction, who recently pledged to put a Turning Point USA chapter in every high school to honor Charlie Kirk, will now ‘destroy the teachers unions’ from the private sector.

Many Black pastors in the largest African American Christian denominations linked the veneration of Kirk — who used his platform to denigrate Black people, immigrants, women, Muslims, and LGBTQ+ people — to the history of weaponizing faith to justify colonialism, enslavement, and bigotry.

World

With more than 750,000 people displaced by annual flooding, churches in the country have become involved in constructing dikes to safeguard thousands of lives at risk.

Experts say that while most neo-Pentecostal proselytizing is peaceful, the spread of the faith has been accompanied by a surge of intolerance for traditional African-influenced religions.

The evangelical leader of Good News, Paul Mackenzie, is accused of instructing his followers to starve to death for the opportunity to meet Jesus.

Editorials

Some people wanting to reopen their church amid coronavirus restrictions say churches should be treated like Costco. So, I decided to test this theory out. What if my church service could operate like a Costco?

As a child, I imagined the bandits who beat and robbed the man in Jesus’s parable about being a good neighbor wore masks. Now, I’m pretty sure the Samaritan who helped the man was the one really covering his face.

As states across the country shut down non-essential businesses in March and April, debates started about what should count as essential. But one unessential business apparently remained open as “essential” across the country: state lotteries.

Word&Way Voices

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell explores 'hidden' stories that stood right next to the biblical scriptures as having a valuable word to say about who we are as a people of faith.

The story of this former youth pastor and Jan. 6 insurrectionist is worth highlighting because his more recent words show a person facing the prospect of prison and also now confronting the notion that he was duped by his religious elders.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy explores how recent rhetoric from Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas surrounding 'illegitimacy' reveals broader stakes for democratic deliberation.

E-Newsletter

Why does Charlie Kirk, the new face of Christian Nationalism, say the church is in ‘wartime’ when Trump is in the White House and his party controls D.C.?

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.

This issue of A Public Witness heads to the Cheese State to consider the church politicking of an Elon Musk-backed court hopeful.

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Recent Episodes

Books

In "Pluralism in Practice: Case Studies of Leadership in a Religiously Diverse America," Elinor J. Pierce invites close reading, reflection, and discussion on the dilemmas and disputes of our multireligious society.

In "God's Monsters: Vengeful Spirits, Deadly Angels, Hybrid Creatures, and Divine Hitmen of the Bible," Esther J. Hamori offers an entertaining deep dive into the creaturely strangeness of scripture.

In his timely new book, noted scholar David Gushee brings his incisive ethical lens to defending democratic commitments and articulating the need for Christians to recommit themselves to its practices.

In "Every Step Is Home: A Spiritual Geography from Appalachia to Alaska," globetrotting travel writer Lori Erickson explores spiritual sites and experiences closer to home.