By Bill Leonard If the last two months are any indication, 2012 may wind up as a year of major religious-liberty decisions in America. In January, the Supreme Court issued what the New York Times called perhaps “its most significant…
The Bible tells me. So?
By Bill Leonard Everybody is quoting the Bible these days. In the church and the public square Bible-based rhetoric and mandates echo throughout the culture, often with varying, even contradictory, interpretations. Such convictions can be deep and culture transforming; they…
Sound-bite salvation
By Bill Leonard Who is a Christian, who is not and how do you know? That question, as old as the church, lurks inside St. Paul’s confrontation with the “superlative apostles” in Corinth who challenged his Christian credentials. In defending…
A shelter for conscience
By Bill Leonard Sometimes universities confront historic moments when their identity is put to the test, occasions that challenge a school’s public character, and require it to reexamine its mission in the world. The appointment of Imam Khalid Griggs as…
Blessed irony
By Bill Leonard After all, Joseph Smith, the prophet/founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had been gunned down in Carthage, Ill., 13 years earlier, the same year he declared his candidacy for president of the U.S….
The river
By Bill Leonard Then, John the Baptizer stormed out of the wilderness, demanding repentance of everyone. Jesus showed up, seeking baptism, but John hesitates. Jesus insists and under muddy Jordan he goes, taking all God’s people with him. Now, New…
Engaging the stranger
By Bill Leonard As Advent turns to Christmas and the reality of a New Year looms, we revisit that often overlooked post-nativity saga portrayed by innumerable artists as “the flight to Egypt.” Matthew 2:12-14 says that after the Magi left…
When Jesus had a pacifier
By Bill Leonard For more years than anyone remembers First Baptist Church, Highland Avenue, in Winston-Salem, N.C., has marked Advent with “The Nativity,” a living reenactment of the birth of Jesus presented in worship on the second Sunday of the…
Always reforming
By Bill Leonard Ecclesia Semper Reformanda, so the saying goes, “the church is always reforming.” Those words came to mind last week when I heard sociologist-prophet-iconoclast Tony Campolo preach at the New Baptist Covenant II meeting, that multiracial effort at…