Ezekiel was weird, but he wasn’t wrong. The Bible is a tough read because it was forged in hell. When the armies of Nebuchadnezzar stomped Jerusalem flat, the people of Judah lost everything in a single stroke. Thousands of innocent…
When discussing the war in Gaza, we must ask the question about genocide
Invocation “Schindler’s List” — violin solo by Braimah Kanneh-Mason § § § Following Hamas’ brutal execution of nearly 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s words have become infamous: “I have ordered a complete siege…
A troubling question: Has Southern Baptist mission work among Palestinians been a bad investment?
Troub, short for Troublemaker, is the well-earned nickname of a fellow I got to know some years back. You say “up” and “hot,” he says “down” and “cold. Probably comes from his stormy days while studying at one of our…
To refrains of ‘But the Bible,’ I respond, ‘But the women’
As readers of Baptist News Global are aware, opponents of women in ministry often appeal to Scripture as the reason for women’s exclusion from pastoral leadership. Some well-meaning male ministers may even assert that if it were up to them,…
Monetizing Baptist saints
If Southern Baptists have saints, there are only two and they are both women. Each are revered for their dedication to ministry and circumspect way of living. Neither was flashy or given to being the life of the party. This…
What would Hannah say to Southern Baptists about IVF?
As my social media feed filled this week with posts and updates in the face of yet another gathering of Southern Baptists hell-bent on stripping away any leadership opportunities for women in ministry, I found myself angry and disheartened. While…
Reading the Bible without a leaf of hierarchy
Sunday before last in worship, we read from Genesis 3:8, a passage that says in the NRSV English translation: “They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and…
Christian nationalism: Religion or politics?
I am a cultural anthropologist, and I was doing a study in Cabbagetown, a predominantly white, evangelical neighborhood of Atlanta, in the 1970s when I began to hear local pastors talking about taking America back for Jesus. They argued the…
Pressler’s death brings overwhelming sadness
The formal death notice of Herman Paul Pressler III, a former Texas state appellate judge and the chief strategist behind a now 45-year rightward shift in the 14 million-member Southern Baptist Convention, hit me like a brick. For months, I…
Politics, faith and mission: A conversation with Nathaniel Jung-Chul Lee
Nathaniel Jung-Chul Lee is an Episcopal priest who studied with Stanley Hauerwas at Duke, completed a Ph.D. from Baylor and teaches at St. John’s University. We’ve had the opportunity to collaborate on issues of race and faith at the Episcopal…
Bill Walton loved hoops, the Grateful Dead — and people
It is better to give than to receive, in basketball and in life. Let’s start with basketball. When it’s played the right way, there’s nothing more beautiful in sports, whether it’s a March Madness matchup on national TV or a…
A death wish granted
On April 4, 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. called on the United States to lead the world in what he termed “a radical revolution of values” during a speech at Riverside Church in New York City. He urged the United…