The staunch theological and political support for the state of Israel that the Southern Baptist Convention is known for today was preceded by decades of diverse opinions among Baptists about the Zionist movement that eventually birthed the Jewish nation in…
Next up: Abortion rights cases based on religious liberty claims
Expect a proliferation of religious liberty cases for abortion access as the issue of reproductive rights moves to the states, predicts Holly Hollman, general counsel and associate executive director of Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. While legal claims that…
Baylor researchers get $2.5 million grant to help theologians and psychologists work together on human flourishing
A team of Baylor University researchers has landed a $2.5 million grant to train theologians how to use insights gleaned from the psychological sciences to study how human beings can live their most fulfilling lives. But the scholars involved also…
Measure your political ideology against the life and witness of Jesus, Bishop Curry advises
Don’t be fooled by the “Christian” in Christian nationalism, warns Michael Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. “What we’re actually describing is an ideology that’s not really a religion, but it looks like a religion and uses and invokes…
Once again, white evangelicals are outliers on beliefs about race and American history
White evangelicals are much more likely than other U.S. adults to believe white Americans face as much discrimination as Blacks and other people of color, Public Religion Research Institute found in its recently released 2022 American Values Survey. A smaller…
Is talk of ‘Christian nationalism’ a ‘Maoist insurgency’ against Christians or are Christian nationalists a ‘threat to democracy’?
The term “Christian nationalism” was invented by the nation’s liberal “occupiers” as part of a “Maoist insurgency” to deny evangelicals’ religious freedom and democratic rights, according to a recent town hall moderated by Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. The…
PRRI’s new national survey shows chasm between Americans growing wider
Few would be surprised to learn that the latest American Values Survey shows Americans moving increasingly apart on issues such as race, sexuality, politics, immigration, democracy and the overall state and direction of the nation. Even so, Robert P. Jones,…
New book gathers essays by women called to ministry across the generations
A new collection of essays by women in ministry illustrates the passion and determination women have mustered in overcoming the barriers they faced in answering their callings. “We wanted to hear the honest stories of a woman’s call to ministry,…
Before you make church property decisions, consider your mission and calling
Congregations must put faith and calling before revenue when contemplating renting, leasing or selling church property in response to declines in giving and attendance, said Dominic Dutra, author of Closing Costs: Reimagining Church Real Estate for Missional Purposes. Church leaders…
‘Christian nation’ myth is fundamental to Christian nationalism, speakers warn
One of the scariest things about Christian nationalism — especially for a Black Baptist minister— is its symbiotic relationship with white supremacy expressed through the myth that America was founded as a Christian nation, Christopher McKee Jr. explained to an…
Embrace new ways of relating to mental health and spiritual challenges of Gen Z or risk losing them, researcher urges
Religious leaders must learn to embrace new ways of relating to the mental health and spiritual challenges of young people or risk contributing to their continued alienation from faith institutions, the coordinator of a new national study says. Josh Packard…
Campaign calls Christians to oppose solitary confinement on moral grounds
Natasha White spent more than a quarter of a 15-year prison sentence in New York banished to solitary confinement, an experience that inflicted so much emotional and physical trauma that it has shaped the course of her life since her…