Sign up to receive full essays in your inbox!
Featured
Let’s Make Texas Senate Race About Character
James Talarico’s attempt to make the election about ethos — character, credibility, and integrity — throws a Nolan Ryan fastball at Ken Paxton and MAGA and showcases their departure from 1990s conservative Christianity.
Review: The Didache Discoveries
This groundbreaking study digs beneath the surface of one of early Christianity's most enigmatic documents and finds there two texts hidden side by side for nearly two millennia.
When Blasphemy Flashes on the National Mall
This issue of A Public Witness strikes at the heresy in Trump’s Fourth of July remarks and thunders some disapproval for similar rhetoric recently offered by Speaker Mike Johnson.
Church
Southern Baptists Pass a Ban on Women Pastors Again. This Time, They Hope It Sticks.
The proposed ban on churches with women pastors or those that allow women to preach was approved by three-quarters of church messengers gathered in Orlando.
The Country’s Largest Protestant Adoption Agency Is Dropping LGBTQ Couples — Again
The reversal comes five years after the foster care and adoption agency first agreed to partner with LGBTQ couples.
Willy Rice, Florida Pastor and Abuse Crisis Skeptic, Elected SBC President
Rice’s win is a triumph for critics who argue that the nation’s largest Protestant denomination has lost its way in recent years.
Nation
As Supreme Court Clears Way to Deport Haitians and Syrians, Faith Leaders Grieve, Prepare for What’s Next
The Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration can end temporary protected status for Haiti and Syria, leaving hundreds of thousands vulnerable to deportation.
Monthly Pentagon Worship Service Features Catholics for First Time
Jonathan Morris, a former priest and current Fox News commentator, and Washington Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams led the service in Pete Hegseth’s absence.
Which Bible Passages Are in Texas’ Proposed Student Reading List? Here’s What the Sections Reveal.
The chosen readings, to be voted on by the State Board of Education, draw heavily from Christian perspectives.
World
Pentagon-Vatican Meeting Latest Flash Point in Trump’s Clash With Religious Leaders
The increase in faith-fueled militaristic rhetoric is pitting the president against a growing list of faith leaders, ranging from local clergy to the pope.
Faith Has Always Gone to Space. Artemis II Shows How Much It Has Changed.
Both Apollo 8 and Artemis II missions included public references to religion, but astronauts aboard the Artemis’ Orion spacecraft struck a broader, more global tone.
Easter Came to Empty Pews in Jerusalem. For Palestinian Christians, Orthodox Easter May Be No Different.
Restrictions imposed by Israel against large gatherings due to the Iran war is casting a long shadow on Easter celebrations, but Palestinian Christians may be feeling it most acutely.
Editorials
Mike Johnson Violates Spirit of Congressional Chapel
When Jesus said to go pray in a closet, he didn’t mean you should then show it off to Fox News or The Associated Press.
Missouri Lawmakers Should Reject Fake ‘Chaplains’ in Schools Bill
A chaplain is not just a pastor or a Sunday School teacher or a street preacher shouting through a bullhorn. This is a unique role, often in a secular setting that requires assistance with a variety of religious traditions.
What Kind of Baptist Was Jimmy Carter?
Editor-in-chief Brian Kaylor reflects on what is missing in coverage of the religious faith of the late Jimmy Carter as news reports consider the life and legacy of the former president, humanitarian, and Sunday School teacher.
Word&Way Voices
A Flag Gained, the Gospel Lost
In significant sectors of American evangelical Christianity, Israel is a theological object beyond moral scrutiny. This is not political support for an ally. It is worship. And by Christianity’s own doctrinal standards, it is sin.
Why America Loves War
Stanley Hauerwas writes that ‘war is America’s central liturgical act necessary to renew our sense that we are a nation unlike any other nation.’ Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy connects this idea to our TV habits.
The Enemy Within: Apocalyptic Nationalism and the Corruption of Christian Witness
When Christianity becomes publicly associated with nationalist aggression and eagerness for war, it presents a face to the world that is, by any honest reading of the New Testament, a misrepresentation of the faith.
E-Newsletter
The Gospel According to Markwayne
This issue of A Public Witness considers how the Department of Homeland Security Secretary under Mullin continues to do violence to Scripture even after Kristi Noem was ousted.
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.
Hegseth Prays for ‘Armor of God’ on Military at Pentagon Worship Service
The government service also featured a sermon about hope from Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner, who is a former NFL football player and Southern Baptist pastor.
-
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: Undoing Manifest Destiny
L. Daniel Hawk exposes the belief systems and practices that settlers developed to justify the displacement, destruction, and cultural erasure of Indigenous peoples, beginning in the early American colonial period and extending to the present day.
Review: Becoming Neighbors
Amar D. Peterman explores how the common good can be cultivated through the practice of neighbor love and encourages Christians to join their neighbors at what he calls ‘the shared table.’
Review & Giveaway: Beyond Deconstruction
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.
Review: Beyond Deconstruction
Writing in a personal, conversational style, New Testament scholar James McGrath shares his experiences of outgrowing a narrowly defined Christianity and learning how to inhabit a more dynamic Christian faith.