By David Gushee Responses to 9/11 and its aftermath have deepened the paradox of Christian patriotism, which may be more acute in the United States than anywhere else in the world at this particular moment. It is indeed a perennial…
Redeeming 9/11
By Jim Denison For some, 9/11 proves that the God of Scripture is a myth. Sam Harris, the atheist and bestselling author, claims that the existence of a single suffering child anywhere in the universe calls into question the existence…
Irene, Michele and theological missteps
By Bob Setzer In the wake of every natural disaster, some public figure feels compelled to utter a theological interpretation of events that is clear, compelling, and fundamentally wrong. This time it was presidential contender Michele Bachmann who told a…
Movie review: ‘The Tree of Life’
By Stuart Lamkin The Tree of Life is a piece of art. It tries to tell the story of life — at times beautiful, mysterious, moving and confusing. Writer and director Terrence Malick has made only four other movies over…
Duke McCall at 97
By David Wilkinson Thirty years ago McCall, who turned 97 on Sept. 1, was a household name in Southern Baptist life. As president or chief executive officer, he had led the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, transformed a Bible institute…
Unanticipated courage: A 9/11 retrospective
By Bill Leonard In the days ahead, we revisit graphic images that no doubt haunt survivors and families of the dead continually: A commercial airliner crashes into the World Trade Center in what seemed at first a horrible accident. A…
Dr. King’s dream for us all
By Roger Lovette This Sunday Washington will be crowded with millions who come to dedicate the national monument to Martin Luther King. Of all the monuments along the Tidal Basin this will be the only monument honoring a private citizen….
Zionisms and the quest for peace
By David Gushee A casual newspaper reader might think there are two discrete places called “Israel” and “the Palestinian territories” but a visitor soon discovers the intertwining of these populations. That intertwining could be a good thing. There were parts…
Mind the gap
By Bill Wilson Three years ago, our youngest son graduated from college. Yeah! Following graduation, he had no idea what he wanted to do with his degree. Boo! Solution: take a “gap year” and spend it in South Africa working…
There is power in the ‘blood’ hymns
By Amy Butler In worship this summer we’ve spent our time revisiting some of the basics of faith and practice in our life as a church. Each week we’ve included a ritual of some sort in worship, intended to help…
Warren Buffett, taxes and Jesus
By Andrew Daugherty The third-richest man in the world, Warren Buffett (who has pledged to give 99 percent of his wealth to philanthropic purposes), wrote in a New York Times op-ed Aug. 14 that super-rich Americans like him are not…
When theology and reality don’t meet
By Jillian Farmer The phone rang. My dad tearfully explained that he and mom had separated and would be getting divorced. I was devastated, shocked and overwhelmed. My parents’ 34-year marriage was ending. As a seminary student I’ve been in…