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In “Kingdom Racial Change: Overcoming Inequality, Injustice, and Indifference,” three authors combine personal narratives and sociological research to teach Christians how to work together for racial justice.

The resolution shines a spotlight on a critical moment in the history of the Baptist church, signed two years after the issue of slavery prompted southern Baptists to split from northern Baptists and form the SBC.

This issue of A Public Witness features a guest essay centered on four creative proposals to disrupt Christian Nationalism within a distinctively Christian vernacular.

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Church

The church court stripped the Rev. Thomas Jay Oord, of Nampa, Idaho, of his preaching credentials and expelled him from membership in the 2.5 million-member global denomination.

This issue of A Public Witness takes off on a quest to understand what the recent Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission Brent Leatherwood debacle tells us about religion and politics.

The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act bars governments from imposing land use regulations that put a substantial burden on religious exercise without a compelling reason for doing so.

Nation

Arkansas became the latest flashpoint in church-state politics this week as legislation introduced less than a month ago now only needs one more round of voting to make it to the desk of Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Hilary Rantisi, the associate director of the program, and the sole Palestinian American employed at the divinity school, said she was told her position was not renewed.

The report serves as both a theological and data-driven refutation of the president’s campaign pledge to enact ‘the largest deportation in US history.’

World

Pope Francis and the Vatican are pursuing peace in the globe’s two major conflicts, working through official and unofficial channels.

This issue of A Public Witness considers Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reference to Amalek from Deuteronomy and unpacks what it means when politicians invoke such passages during war.

Though he has allowed new houses of worship to be built and old ones to be reopened, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan needs to do more, observers say, to restore respect for a truly pluralistic society as much as for church property.

Editorials

Brian KaylorOn occasion, I write short devotionals for other publications. What could be a better, more blessed way to start your day than in prayer and with a few brilliant words from me?

Brian KaylorThe forced resignation of Patrick Conroy as chaplain for the U.S. House of Representatives quickly sparked questions and concerns about the intermingling of religion and politics. Some lawmakers believe Speaker Paul Ryan pushed

Brian KaylorWatching the news Saturday night as missiles from the United States, United Kingdom and France struck Syria, I found myself pondering questions about the attack — and about how Christians should react

Word&Way Voices

Wendell Griffen connects attacks on public schools in Arkansas, Florida, and other states to similar efforts in the past and argues that the current situation demands we unite against an effort to replace democracy with authoritarianism and fascism.

Contributing writer Rodney Kennedy challenges the presumptions of anyone claiming they hate what God hates. Such a statement, he argues, is a product of bad religion.

Contributing writer Sarah Blackwell makes the case that in our emphasis over the last four decades to tell our girls that they could be anything they want to be, we missed a critical step: we forgot to liberate the boys as well.

E-Newsletter

This issue of A Public Witness takes you inside Sunday’s Independence Day service at an influential megachurch to better understand the heretical danger of Christian Nationalism and its pervasiveness in our churches and culture.

This issue of A Public Witness takes you inside Trump’s Faith & Freedom Coalition remarks as he framed himself in messianic terms as the only one who can save Christians from the alleged persecution of the Biden administration.

This issue of A Public Witness looks at an Episcopal Church resolution, a PC(USA) recommendation, and a regional UMC resolution to see how some mainline Protestant groups are wrestling — or not — with their own complicity in spreading Christian Nationalism.

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Books

Robert D. Cornwall reviews A Basic Guide to Eastern Orthodox Theology: Introducing Beliefs and Practices Paperback by Eve Tibbs. The book is written with Protestants in mind and offers readers who might be unfamiliar with Eastern Orthodoxy a basic introduction

The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy by sociologists Philip Gorski and Samuel Perry is so important that we’re not just highlighting it in this review, but we’re also giving away a copy autographed

Robert D. Cornwall reviews My Body Is Not a Prayer Request: Disability Justice in the Church by Amy Kenny. The book uses the author's own story to call on the church to rethink how it understands and relates to disabled

Robert D. Cornwall reviews Chasing after Wind: A Pastor's Life by Douglas J. Brouwer. This book serves as a post-retirement memoir from a longtime Presbyterian (PCUSA) pastor that contains insights for clergy and non-clergy alike.