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This issue of A Public Witness looks at responses to Richard Dawkins recently claiming the label 'cultural Christian' despite his past tirades against religion to consider what this reveals about the unChristian nature of Christian Nationalism.

After a four-year COVID-19 delay, and the departure of about 25% of its U.S. churches, the United Methodist Church is meeting again and the issue of human sexuality is back on the agenda.

‘There’s the sense that the liberal order is so corrupt that elite Catholics have to find positions of influence and use them in a kind of noble and appropriate way,’ said Kevin Vallier.

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Dangerous Dogma

Church

Confusion over the status of a DOJ investigation into the SBC has strained already tense relationships between abuse survivors and the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

This issue of A Public Witness looks back at the 'kneel-ins' of the civil rights movement to consider recent protests at prominent churches.

This issue of A Public Witness gives you an inside look at disgraced former Lt. General Michael Flynn’s latest QAnon crusade called “Get in the Fight” being held in sanctuaries around the country.

Nation

The biggest change came among those who said they quit their religious upbringing because of its treatment or teachings of LGBTQ people.

The presumptive Republican nominee released a video on his Truth Social platform urging his supporters to buy the 'God Bless the USA Bible,' which is inspired by country singer Lee Greenwood’s patriotic ballad.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at recent and dangerous efforts from Donald Trump, Michael Flynn, Charlie Kirk, and others to define religious adherence by partisanship.

World

If approved by Parliament, the law will allow the government to “disapply” sections of U.K. human rights law when it comes to Rwanda-related asylum claims and make it harder to challenge the deportations in court.

Churches are often suspected of sympathy with opposition groups, even though they are more commonly used as places of refuge for civilians seeking to shelter from fighting.

Many Christian converts have lost their spiritual connection to the forests and lore. Meghalaya is 75% Christian in a country that is almost 80% Hindu.

Editorials

Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor reacts to being called a "Marxist pastor" by political trickster Roger Stone. The incident arose because of Kaylor's critiques of the ReAwaken America Tour at which Stone has spoken.

As the Jan. 6 insurrection showed, our democracy is under attack. And Christian nationalism, which seeks to privilege one faith tradition over others, has fueled the anti-democratic efforts. Rather than serving as a balm for our fractured nation, religion is being used to further divide us.

With the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference beginning this coming Sunday in Egypt, we are offering a piece originally published as the cover story of Word&Way magazine in October 2019 but which has never been published online. In addition to making an argument for why Christians should care about

Word&Way Voices

Former pastor of Gaza Baptist Church Rev. Hanna Massad writes that we find solace in knowing that, like Mary and Joseph, we have a place of refuge — the “ark of the cross.”

Rev. Alex Awad, a retired minister who served as pastor at East Jerusalem Baptist Church and a professor at Bethlehem Bible College, reflects on modern-day Herods and how the Christmas story gives oppressed people around the world hope.

Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon, executive director of Churches for Middle East Peace, offers this first entry in our week exploring the theme of Advent during a time of bloodshed in Israel.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness explores the subversive power of public mourning — like what happened recently after the state murder of Russian political dissident Alexei Navalny — to better understand a Beatitude of Jesus.

This issue of A Public Witness cues up the soundtrack of American evangelical Christianity as covered in Leah Payne’s “God Gave Rock and Roll to You: A History of Contemporary Christian Music.”

This issue of A Public Witness explores the wild Superbowl dreams of Lance Wallnau — a key figure in the New Apostolic Reformation movement — to consider the heresy of the MAGAchurch world.

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Podcasts

Stephen Bullivant, a professor religion and sociology at St Mary's University in London and the University of Notre Dame in Sydney, talks about his new book Nonverts: The Making of Ex-Christian America.

On episode 84 of Dangerous Dogma, Terrell Carter, pastor of Webster Groves Baptist Church and executive director of Rise in St. Louis, talks about his new book Family Feuds: Forgotten Bible Rivalries and What the Church Can Relearn About Reconciliation.

On episode 83 of Dangerous Dogma, Lisa Weaver Swartz, a sociologist, talks about her new book Stained Glass Ceilings: How Evangelicals Do Gender and Practice Power.

We had a lot of great conversations this year. So, let’s count down the top 10 most-downloaded of episodes of Dangerous Dogma.

Books

In "Defending Democracy From Its Christian Enemies," David P. Gushee calls us to preserve key democratic norms — even as many Christians take a reactionary and antidemocratic stance.

In "The A to Z of the New Testament: Things Experts Know That Everyone Else Should Too," James F. McGrath cuts through common myths and misunderstandings of problematic Bible passages.

In "Walter Brueggemann's Prophetic Imagination: A Theological Biography Paperback," Conrad L. Kanagy peers deeply into the theologian's interior life, about which little has been understood by even those closest to him.

Carolyn Chen’s "Work Pray Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley" explores how work has displaced religion in so many people’s lives. If we can’t serve both God and mammon, it feels like a lot of people have chosen