By David Gushee The week of Sept. 11, 2008, I had the privilege of hosting a national summit on torture at Mercer University in Atlanta. (To learn more about the program called “Religious Faith, Torture, and Our National Soul,” and…
On morality and our faltering economy
By Benjamin Cole America faced an unprecedented challenge requiring military intervention halfway around the globe. Russia was recalcitrant in the face of international diplomatic pressure, and rogue South American dictators scoffed at democratic reforms. Africa suffered the stresses of modernization….
The Trinity and other concrete things
By Beth Newman Being a teacher of theology has given me a rather distorted sense of priorities. I suppose that whatever one’s line of work is, though, it will cause some such skewing. My husband once worked in a shop…
Of teenage pregnancies and New Orleans levees
By Benjamin Cole Before a convention of thousands and a television audience of millions Sept. 3, GOP vice-presidential hopeful Sarah Palin was given a historic election debut that had most pundits awarding high marks for her performance. Joining the Alaska…
A true ‘Bold Mission Thrust’
By Beth Newman Years ago (more than I like to remember), I did Southern Baptist home-missions work in Paducah, Ky. At the beginning of my sojourn there, I received a small hand mirror, which came in a glossy case embossed…
Torture: A moral issue
By David Gushee We live in a time and culture in which genuine moral discourse is rapidly disappearing –swallowed up by partisanship, spin, politics and self-interest. By “moral discourse” I mean conversation between persons of good will about the rightness…
Developing ‘Conservative radicals’ in Christian higher education
By David Gushee In his recent book, The Great Awakening, Jim Wallis suggests that it is time to move beyond the conservative vs. liberal paradigm to a framework he calls conservative radicalism. This is true in American culture, in evangelicalism…
View scandal in light of private and public story
By Beth Newman The recent spectacle of John Edwards’ confession of adultery managed to be at once pathetic and instructive. While bearing in mind Lily Tomlin’s observation that no matter how cynical one becomes, it’s impossible to keep up, I…
Gay Christians can’t wait any longer
Editor’s note: The recent series of articles by David Gushee on homosexuality generated an unusual amount of response. ABP solicited these two representative responses — from Peggy Campolo, an advocate for gay Christians, and George Guthrie , a professor at…