Holocaust survivors say the hostage videos published in recent days recall for them their own torture and deprivation under the Nazis eight decades ago.
2024 Election Post-Mortem: Atheists and Agnostics
My first book was entitled The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going. It was published—what feels like a lifetime ago—in 2021. I’m pretty proud of that little volume because it established my approach to thinking…
Put Down the Shofar
One day a student approached me after class with an urgent question. The course was on the doctrine of the church, and we’d spent a few weeks on Abraham, Israel, and the law of Moses. Some years back, my student’s…
‘This is domestic terror’: Shaken by ICE raids, pastors rethink ministries
When the Rev. Tanya Lopez talks about the day in June when she had to confront masked agents in her church parking lot, she focuses on the man they detained. As the pastor of Downey Memorial Christian Church near Los…
The Book of Psalms Is the Bible’s ‘Little Bible’
Late in the fourth century, a man named Palladius of Galatia left his home (somewhere in present-day Turkey) and journeyed into the Egyptian desert, intent on meeting the ancient monks we now remember as the Desert Fathers.
Spurgeon’s College to close with immediate effect, citing ‘significant’ financial challenges
Spurgeon’s College has expressed its “deep sadness and great regret” as it prepares to close its doors after 169 years of service.
Opus Dei Catholic who led Dallas ICE lawyers now defends immigrants
When Paul Hunker approached Dallas Bishop Edward Burns to introduce himself at the bishop’s 2017 installation Mass, he did so almost “sheepishly.” Hunker, then the lead counsel for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Dallas, worried Burns might give him…
American Baptists Explore the Church’s Prophetic Role in Addressing the Humanitarian Crisis in Palestine
On Wednesday (July 30), the American Baptist Home Mission Societies held a virtual session in their Justice Dialogues series titled “Being Church in the Face of Genocide.” The Justice Dialogues program, launched in 2020, is broadly meant to help Christian…
ELCA elects first Black presiding bishop, calls Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America elected its first Black leader on Wednesday (July 30) at its churchwide assembly meeting in Phoenix.
Lithuania scraps years of planning by Jewish groups to convert sports complex into Jewish heritage site
A Jewish group is outraged by Lithuania’s plans to convert a sports complex into a convention center at the site of a historic Jewish cemetery, reversing decades of advocacy to commemorate the memorial site.
Inside The Rightward Drift Of Kerala’s Syrian Christians
Once known for its secularism and high levels of literacy and political consciousness, the Indian state of Kerala is witnessing a quiet but significant ideological shift — one surfacing not only in its mainstream politics but also within its religious…
American Jewish Committee to donate $25K to damaged Gaza church
The American Jewish Committee said Thursday (July 31) that it will donate $25,000 toward the “rehabilitation” of the Holy Family Church and community in Gaza. The only Catholic church in Gaza was damaged by what the Israel Defense Forces called a munitions…