Baptist News Global

‘The church of fear is still in effect,’ author says

The fear and rage that drove evangelical support for Donald Trump has not abated since his return to office, journalist and author Christine Emba observed during a webinar on Christianity and democracy hosted by the Brookings Institution. On the contrary,…

Evangelical leaders appear to have no comment on Trump’s plan to take over Gaza

This article was updated Feb. 6 to include comments from the Keep God’s Land coalition. Christian leaders were noticeably silent Tuesday as President Donald Trump shocked the world by proposing the United States “take over” Gaza and expel all…

A benediction gone bad

As sociologist Orrin Klapp observed in his 1962 book Heroes, Villains, and Fools: The Changing American Character, “The celebrity cult celebrates the triumph of ordinariness — charm without character, showmanship without ability, bodies without minds, information without wisdom.” The critique…

Racism is a series of lies

What precisely is so bad about racism? Part of me hopes I ask this question to a sympathetic audience who knows something is wrong with how we view race. But perhaps you can’t quite put your finger on what is…

Truth on the scaffold: Bonhoeffer’s witness to American Christians today

Anyone watching the beginning of Donald Trump’s presidency can see that truth itself is on the scaffold. Bonhoeffer’s life and thought gives us a lens to see our present dilemma as a nation and church. Dietrich Bonhoeffer is among the…

House bill to censure preacher assigned to committee led by a Southern Baptist

The bill asking the U.S. House of Representatives to censure Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde for her sermon at Washington National Cathedral Jan. 21 has been referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. That powerful committee is chaired…

NAMB skewered for its nonresponse response on Hunt’s compensation

Some of the most conservative media outlets covering Christianity in America are skewering the Southern Baptist Convention North American Mission Board for its policy of communication by obfuscation. Protestia represents the far-far right of American evangelicalism. The latest headline at the…

Donald Trump’s January 6 insurrection is now a coup

On Feb. 2, private actors reportedly employed by Elon Musk took over U.S. Treasury computer systems that control the nation’s payments for government benefits. That action followed a Trump-ordered takeover of the USAID independent federal agency responsible for distributing foreign…

Two versions of Christianity cross swords at the National Cathedral

On Jan.21, President Donald Trump and a thousand invited guests filed into Washington’s National Cathedral to take part in “A Service of Prayer for the Nation.” The lengthy service (it clocked in at two hours and 18 minutes) featured Scripture…

‘It’s a hard time to be a pastor,’ refugee advocate says

Leading churches with ministries to internationals or with multi-ethnic congregations is becoming more challenging under a federal government hostile toward immigrants and refugees, faith leaders said during a recent webinar hosted by World Relief. Panelists focused on how the Trump…

Presidents, pardons, prevarications and (women) preachers

On Jan. 20, the newly inaugurated 47th president of the United States of America issued a presidential pardon to about 1,600 individuals who, on January 6, 2021, illegally broke into the U.S. Capitol, mercilessly beat Capitol police, threatened Congress members…

Bishop’s sermon inspires United Methodist hymn writer

Mark Gruber-Lebowitz of Baltimore is among thousands of Christians moved by the Jan. 21 sermon of an Episcopal bishop asking President Donald Trump to have mercy on vulnerable people — but not in the way some people are moved. The…

Trump’s war on ‘woke’ targets federal grants and foreign relations

Reflections on In the Twilight of the Christian West

Why rural families need support now

Why do we keep sounding the alarm?