In his important new magnum opus, A Thicker Jesus, my friend Glen Stassen suggests that Christianity is ill in America, but in two very different ways. One form of Christianity is ill, according to Stassen, because it is essentially theologically and…
2012 a turning point for faith in politics
David Gushee President Obama’s narrow re-election came despite fierce lobbying against him and on behalf of Mitt Romney by an array of conservative Catholic and evangelical leaders and groups. Those groups went “all in,” and they lost. Now they are…
A zeal he does not own
By Bob Burroughs There is a wonderful, thought-provoking text by the hymn writer Frederick W. Faber (1814-1863) titled “There’s A Wideness In God’s Mercy. It speaks to this generation perhaps even more powerfully than to his own. It is not…
Pitfalls of worship
By Bob Burroughs There are some pitfalls in worship. Sometimes, things go wrong at the right time. We try hard to overcome these obstacles as they appear and try to patch them as best we can with temporary solutions, but…
A fundamentally unserious culture
By David Gushee Months ago I agreed to a heavy travel schedule that would take me away from the television during the climax of our endless presidential campaign. I caught glimpses of the VP debate at a diner in New…
What I saw at the debate
David P. Gushee I chose to tweet my way through the first presidential debate in the company of a number of students and others who have joined that virtual world. The perspective of this cohort of 20-somethings definitely affects my…
What I saw at the debate
David Gushee I chose to tweet my way through the first presidential debate in the company of a number of students and others who have joined that virtual world. The perspective of this cohort of 20-somethings definitely affects my own…
What I would ask the candidates
David P. Gushee It’s the political silly season, when the daily campaign news concerns mainly swing-state strategizing and gotcha gaffes. But soon the debates will begin. The quality of these four encounters between the contenders for president and vice-president depends heavily on…
First take on Obama’s DNC speech
By David P. Gushee Following up on last week’s column analyzing Mitt Romney’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, here’s a parallel analysis of last night’s speech by President Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C….